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Photos: Oona Vernermo
James 1sts kept yet another clean sheet and Tom Clarke notched his 13th goal in five College Cup games to comfortably see off Derwent 2nds 2-0 and all but seal their place at the top of Group B.
Derwent provided James with their biggest test of the group stages so far, and did well, particularly in the second half, to keep the men in black at bay. However, they never really recovered from Clarke’s fourth minute strike which allowed James to cruise to victory without ever leaving second gear.
They were not as clinical as in previous games, and this must go down in part to the stronger opposition. Derwent centre backs Moro and Elven did well to keep Tom Clarke and James Davies, perennial threats for the blacks swans, relatively quiet, but Derwent struggled to create much in the way of threats of their own.#
Whilst Derwent were able to limit James’ opportunities on goal, James still dominated the game. Ralph Gill’s tap in from a corner 10 minutes from time sealed the victory for the side who are set to have a fairly easy path through the quarter-finals, where they will meet their own third team.
As in earlier group games, Spurling and Kreienbaum gave James a base to play from in midfield, and it was Spurling who started the move that led to their early opener.
The shaggy-haired midfielder played the ball over the top to Jopson wide left, who pulled the ball back to Tom Clarke in space in the centre of the D. Clarke was never going to miss – he slotted past Woodcock and into the bottom right to make it 1-0.
Another excellent Spurling ball gave James the chance to double their lead just a minute later. He again found Jopson down the left and the winger broke into the area but had his shot well saved. O’Donoghue headed the resulting Davies corner just wide of the mark.
Jopson continued to be James’ main threat, he made a storming run down the left as part of a flowing James counter-attack but his ball in was scuffed into the ‘keeper’s arms by Davies. Four minutes later and he had a sharp strike stopped at the near post by Woodcock.
Halfway through the first half Derwent had a sterling opportunity to level the scores courtesy of some excellent work from Alex Nock. He jinked his way through the James defence and layed the ball off to Mark Askham, who pulled it back across goal, only for Jon Garness to scuff a simple chance barely beyond his own feet to the dismay of the Derwent support.
James had a couple of chances late in the half – Tom Clarke smashed a 25-yard strike against the bar and then saw a later shot blocked. Davies jumped on the rebound but his shot came back off the post and bounced worryingly off the ‘keeper and just wide of the net to avoid an unfortunate second.
Derwent improved in the second half an managed to create a couple more of their own chances, most notably when Askham flicked against the post 40 minutes in.
The game could have been so different had the redhead right back found the net, but it wasn’t to be, and ten minutes from time James sealed the victory.
O’Donoghue tapped a James Davies corner back across goal from the far post and Ralph Gill tapped in simply much to the relief of the rest of his side.
It was almost three before the end as Clarke saw another effort come back off the bar, this time from closer range, but it wasn’t to matter for James who continued their 100% record in this year’s College Cup. The real tests will come later in the tournament, when they finally clash with another of the tournament favourites, for as yet, it has been all too easy for James 1sts.