Langwith 1sts 3-1 James 1sts
Langwith pulled off one of the shocks of the tournament today, coming from behind to beat James 3-1 courtesy of a Bruce Starkey hat-trick.
It had all started so well for James. They opened the scoring after only five minutes of play when striker James Offord,
racing onto a chipped through ball, managed to cleverly feint his way past Langwith goalkeeper Tom Lambert and finish from a tight angle.
It was a strike that oozed class, and was in keeping with the assurance and complete dominance on the ball that James exhibited in the first half an hour. With Oscar Lynch conducting play confidently in the middle of the park, and Richard Baxter tenaciously shielding the defence, James spent most of the first half camped in Langwith’s half.
James couldn’t turn this dominance in possession into goals though. Despite threatening play around Langwith’s penalty area they lacked the incisiveness necessary to extend their lead. They created few actual chances, and when they did Lynch was unable to convert a free header from two yards. With star player Mark Johnson curiously out of form, a Langwith team that had been chasing shadows started to take heart from James’ inability to score a second. They began to assert their authority on a game, and it was a sign of things to come when, near the end of the first half, Bruce Starkey was brought down for a free kick only just outside James’ penalty area. The resulting free kick was a tame effort that bobbled wide, but Langwith went into half-time with the belief that they could get something from the match.
James continued their search for a second after the break, with Offord forcing a save from goalkeeper Lambert after latching onto Oscar Lynch’s searching 50-yard cross-field ball. Lynch then proceeded to blaze a shot just over the crossbar from the resulting corner.
Langwith striker Bruce Starkey started to threaten after this, at one point causing visible panic in the James defence when running at them and at another causing goalkeeper Sam Clitheroe to spill the ball after a powerfully hit shot from distance.
Down the other end of the pitch forward Alex Collins attempted to inject some purpose back into the James attack, smartly turning his marker and finding himself through on goal, opting unselfishly to lay the ball off for a teammate. His pass was too heavy though, and James remained only one goal up.
James lost their lead soon after. Starkey sprinted onto a through ball on the counter, outpacing and outmuscling James’ full back Carroll before opening up his body and curling an unstoppable shot past the stranded Clitheroe.
With James urgently pushing men forward to regain the lead they were exposed once more, as Langwith again caught them on the counter. With only two James players back to defend, Starkey raced clear and thrashed a fierce shot into the net from close range to make it 2-1.
Starkey got his hat-trick, and put the final nail in James’ coffin, from the penalty spot. Once again James’s defence was left exposed by the rest of the team’s desperate search for an equaliser, and with Langwith’s striker through on goal James captain Joe Jenks slid in for a last-ditch tackle, only to take the man before the ball and give away a penalty.
Starkey coolly dispatched the resulting free kick and, as the final whistle blew, celebrated a well-deserved victory with his euphoric teammates. James will be left to rue their first-half profligacy and the loss of their record of clean sheets in the tournament, and will now look to pick themselves up for next week’s game.
Goodricke 2nds 3-1 Halifax 2nds
In the second of today’s matches Goodricke emulated Langwith by coming back from a goal down, storming to victory 3-1 with goals from John Sharp, Sam Lewis and Nick Dheir.
The opening ten minutes were frantic, with the action end-to-end as both teams attempted to get a foot on the game. On fifteen minutes Halifax got the opener after winning a corner. The ball was whipped to the far post, headed back across goal and Harry Gompertz was on hand to head over the keeper into the roof of the net.
Chances were few and far between after the goal, with the referee’s erratic decision making drawing the most attention from a visibly annoyed crowd. It was just before halftime when Goodricke equalised, the goal owing much to poor Halifax defending.
With the ball bouncing precariously in their box, Halifax’s defenders were too slow to clear the danger, allowing John Sharp to volley past the goalkeeper and into the corner of the goal.
After halftime Halifax’s Alex Reid tried to regain the lead for his team, going on a marauding run that finished with a stinging shot from distance, one Goodricke’s goalkeeper did well to save. This was Halifax’s only chance of note though, and ten minutes into the second half Goodricke went ahead thanks to a spectacular goal by Sam Lewis. Once again given space outside the box by hesitant Halifax defenders, the Goodricke attacker let a bouncing pass roll onto his left foot before crisply smacking a half-volley that, although the Halifax goalkeeper got a hand to, nestled in the bottom left hand corner of the goal to make it 2-1.
Halifax, despite being a goal behind, never seemed likely to find an equaliser. Striker Sahil Sha was left isolated in attack, fed a diet of only punted long balls and half-hearted through passes. It was no surprise then when Goodricke scored their third, and the final, goal of the match, with Nick Dheir tapping in after a goalmouth scramble.