84 matches have been played, and now only 2 remain, the two finals. First up is the College Cup Final, the big one, the one we’ve all been waiting for. Halifax 1sts and Vanbrugh 1sts have defeated everyone else in their path, now they face one last struggle, as they look to seal the ultimate victory in college sport. Monday 3pm, put the time in your diary, that is when the battle will commence between these two teams seeking glory.
Halifax are the defending champions, and they know what it takes to win in the final. In that way they hold the mental edge, and already have that belief that they can win. That belief has served them well to date, as they bounced back from a catastrophic first defeat to James 2nds, with six straight victories, going from strength to strength. They have still not played to their full potential, and will be looking to put in an even better display in the final, than they did against James 1sts last week.
There, in the first half they were excellent, but faded slightly in the second, having to withstand some heavy pressure during the closing stages. Hamish Denham is Halifax’s top scorer with five goals, whilst Matt Mawdesley has particularly impressed throughout the tournament. More worryingly however, Tom Day has yet to find the back of the net in this College Cup. His link up play and touch has been excellent, to date he has just lacked that end product. In the final he will be looking to correct that issue.
Vanbrugh will be no pushovers, and after fighting back to defeat Derwent, they will be looking to be crowned champions for the first time. Last week they broke their semi-final hoodoo, ending their run of four straight semi-final defeats, to finally reach the final in 2012. Throughout the tournament their form has been excellent, apart from a blip against Halifax 2nds at the end of the group stages.
Defensively they have been solid, with Ziggy Heath a towering presence, whilst goals have flowed freely at the other end. Phil Taylor’s equaliser in the semi-final took his tally to eight, whilst Jon Gill and Ben Stanier have also made useful contributions from midfield. Penalties were called on to defeat Derwent in the semi-final, and their captain and goalkeeper James Wilson excelled. Wilson stepped up to calmly score himself, whilst saving three Derwent penalties to book his side’s place in the final.
A close final lies in store, as the two teams appear on paper evenly matched, and predicting a winner is challenging indeed. Big crowds are likely to line the astro, and the biggest college match of the year is well worth a watch.
Ones to Watch:
Matt Mawdesley (Halifax): Mawdesley has played either in the centre of midfield or at centre back to date, and wherever he has shone. He has been arguably Halifax’s star player, scoring four goals, distributing play effectively, and three times being awarded Man of the Match.
Elliot Rous-Ross (Vanbrugh): It would be too easy to mention Phil Taylor again, so instead we’ll focus on Vanbrugh’s striker, a big physical presence, who has netted three times so far this season. Again he’ll be called on to lead the line, and trouble the Halifax defence.
Prediction: This is very hard to call. I’m going to say penalties and when we get that far it’s a lottery, so I won’t even hazard a guess.