Despite a poor start, James 2nds produced a remarkable performance to put their College Cup campaign off to a dream start, beating Halifax 1sts 1-0.
Going into the match James were of course the significant underdogs and it showed in the opening of the first-half, with Halifax dominating possession early on. There was some slick play from the men in white, with Jack Beadle combining well with Geo Pilides through the middle, but they failed to really penetrate the James defence, who were steadfast especially down the right wing.
James didn’t see much of the ball for the first fifteen minutes, with Route 1 really not working for them, as Halifax were always quicker off the mark in gaining possession from James’ long goal-kicks.
Halifax tried working the ball down the left wing where Ash Daly and co could find more space than their teammates on the right– this approach proved to work when a driving run from Beadle inside from the left-wing drew a foul in a good position. Daly took the free-kick which sailed past the wall and forced a decent save from Andy Kirkwood, the James goalkeeper, low to his right.
Daly’s corners were also very threatening, with the ball being swung in close to the goal and often meeting the hands of the ‘keeper.
It was just when Halifax looked to be becoming more dangerous in the face of goal, after a fierce shot from Beadle just sailed past the left post from a tight angle, that James took the lead against the run of play, from the boot of captain Andrew Yates.
The goal, which came after about 20 minutes of Halifax dominance, was mainly down to a defensive error on the part of Halifax when right-back Dan Turley’s failed clearance fell straight to the feet of the opponents who capitalised, working the ball out to Yates whose ambitious shot-come-cross swept into the top-left corner, deflecting off the crossbar. Halifax goalkeeper Jonny Sim was left helpless.
With James 1-0 up, Halifax continued to press for the remainder of the first half but were clearly frustrated, still failing to properly test the James goalkeeper. James went into the break with the advantage but having had less of the ball in the first-half.
The second half started well for James, with an impressive through-ball from Yates putting striker James Briars in on goal in a centre-right position, but his first touch let him down, playing the ball straight into the arms of the waiting keeper.
The game was more balanced following the break, with both sides trying to push through each others’ defence. James came close to doubling their lead through Kreienbaum’s floated lob hitting the right-hand post.
As the second half progressed James became more and more confident, with the striking partnership of Ferrao and Briars working well – at one point the two combined to almost walk the ball into the net but instead forced a decent close-range save from Sim.
As the game reached its final stages Halifax were eclipsed by the James team, with the favourites not posing much threat at all and any efforts being way off target. James centre-back Angel Sahi was superb in cutting out many Halifax attempts to penetrate the penalty area.
There were jubilant scenes from the James players when the final whistle was blown; their overpowering of Halifax firsts clearly meant a lot to them as it puts them in a powerful position going into their next match against Vanburgh thirds next Friday.
Captain Andrew Yates said his team deserved the win: “Some people will be surprised as they’re a good team,” he commented, “but we knew we could do it – we pressed them well and got a lucky goal but I think the result was fair.”