Derwent 1sts delivered a resounding statement of their College Cup intentions after an emphatic victory against Langwith 2nds.
Having reached the Cup final last year, the efficiency and panache of the Derwent play will instil a belief they can emulate last year’s fate.
Ahead of the game, Langwith captain Louis Pegg suggested his team could “surprise a few people,” but his words proved powerless against the incessant Derwent steamroller.
A sense of foreboding began to linger for Langwith when Derwent’s Tom Shelbourn somehow managed to direct his poked effort from a Harrison corner right into Rudden’s grateful hands inside a minute.
A curled effort from Jamie Trant followed, before Ollie Harrison directed a header full on the frame of the goal. The floodgates finally opened when a shot from Joe Easter was parried into the path of Trant, who calmly slotted home.
Chance after chance then fell Derwent’s way, with Trant and Brandreth both missing the target from close range. Eventually, Langwith’s loose grip on the game slipped with a destructive Derwent ten minute salvo.
Brandreth began the demolition job when he nodded in from a Harrison corner, before a wonderful flick-on from Mirhire Overo-Tarimo allowed Ryan Gwinnett to guide his header past Rudden. Moments later, Gwinnett added a second to his tally after latching onto a Rudden spill. Langwith’s miseries worsened just before half-time when Trant wriggled himself into space before rifling an effort into the bottom right corner for his second and Derwent’s fifth of the game.
Langwith’s first half misdemeanours proved all too much for a number of their players at the interval, who began pointing the blame at one another in a fiery exchange of words.
Such loss of composure proved detrimental as a Derwent side now oozing with confidence turned on the style and began running Langwith to the ground.
A brilliant sixth was added by Sam Earle as he jinxed his way past the Langwith midfield, shrugged off a challenge from Langwith’s Ope Okusanya, and drilled a shot into the bottom left corner with Rudden rooted.
Substitute Eddie Fotheringham then flashed an effort wide of goal, before another mazy run from Earle ended in a tap in for striker Josh Bew which was judged by the referee to have crossed the line.
The Derwent onslaught was mercifully ended when Brandreth nodded in another free header from a Gwinnett corner to make the final score 8-0.
Though the Derwent 1sts will undoubtedly encounter tougher opposition, such a rampant performance will only add to their momentum. Particularly impressive were Derwent’s centre midfield trio of Earle, Easter and Overo-Tarimo, all of which launched devastating runs forward throughout the game whilst petering out any Langwith counter-attack.
Derwent and UYAFC captain David Belshaw seemed pleased with the positive impact of the 4-3-3 formation: “we didn’t get to really look at it defensively that much , but all three of our midfielders can get forward so we don’t want to shackle any of those in a holding role”. Belshaw also insisted that “our aim is to win the tournament”.
Despite the thrashing, Derwent midfielder Sam Earle refused to get carried away: “I think we can get away with being this fluid against Langwith, but I think as we progress into the elimination rounds we’re going to have to get less fluid and more structural in the midfield three”.
Vison MOTM: Sam Earle (Derwent)
Derwent 1sts XI (4-3-3): Aylett; Askham, Brandreth, Shelbourn, Harrison; Overo-Tarimo, Easter, Earle; Gwinnett, Bew, Trant.
Goal Scorers: Trant (2), Gwinnett (2), Brandreth (2), Earle, Bew.
Langwith 2nds XI (4-3-2-1): Rudden; Brooks, Starling, Morley, Gates; Henn, Shonibare, Mallett; Hazel, Pegg; Parsonson.