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Photos: Oliver Todd
In a tie that would not have looked out of place in the College Cup proper, it was James firsts who reached the Plate final as they swept aside an unusually lacklustre Vanbrugh seconds, with all the goals coming in the first half.
The game began brightly for Vanbrugh, as striker Kieran O’Dwyer juggled the ball through the James defence, only to skew the ball wide. Moments later, Henry Cust was able to test James’s right side, squaring the ball to Jon Gill whose left foot curler whistled just over the bar. Indeed, at this point Vanbrugh’s midfield pairing of Gill and Alex Willings were controlling the play, as James struggled to get into the game.
Gill was again threatening as he lofted a perfect ball over the James backline for striker Adam Lewis to run onto, only to blaze over. Unfortunately for the men in blue and red, James took this as a final warning and slightly against the run of play, they broke the deadlock. The ball was flighted in by James Offord, and Richard Baxter made no mistake with a header, with the Vanbrugh defence nowhere. Things only got worse for Vanbrugh, as just seconds after the restart Offord collected the ball and with keeper Kallum Taylor attempting to close the angle, slotted the ball under him to make the score 0-2.
Vanbrugh looked visibly shaken and it came as no surprise when James increased the lead. A run from the menacing Angus O’Brien was crudely brought to an end by centre back Dan Radford, who earned a booking in the process, and Baxter stepped up to superbly curl the free kick past a sprawling Taylor. The nightmare fifteen minutes was not over yet for Vanbrugh as Josh Brownlow threaded a probing pass through to Offord who made it four with a cool finish. The half time whistle came with Vanbrugh in a state of shock, after a crushing quarter of an hour from James.
The second half was less hectic, as the heat and score line ensured that, through no lack of effort, Vanbrugh never really looked like effecting a comeback. Having said this, a lovely through ball from the lively O’Dwyer was met by winger Rory Sharkey, who was only just denied by James keeper Sam Clitheroe. However, it was Baxter, buoyed by his brace, who began to dominate the midfield, with able support from teammate Simon Kreienbaum. After good work from the former in the centre of the park, he sliced the Vanbrugh defence open with a pass which Brownlow collected, but he took too long and Taylor smothered well.
The heat and disappointment of the first half was telling on the Vanbrugh team, with gaps beginning to appear between their defence and midfield. Alex Willings was tireless and committed but it was of no use as James looked decidedly comfortable. Henry Cust speculatively shot wide from range, and substitute Paul O’Beirne had a couple of tame efforts, but even a consolation looked unlikely and with the game becoming increasingly subdued the referee brought the game to a close.
It was in truth a disappointing way for this Vanbrugh seconds team to exit the competition, as they are undoubtedly capable of much better than today’s performance. Captain Kallum Taylor echoed these sentiments as he bemoaned his team’s ‘fifteen minutes of madness.’ His James counterpart, Richard Baxter, was in contrast happy with his team’s performance, saying that ‘the class of a firsts team was obvious in the first half.’ For James, they now have a superb chance of clinching the Plate, even if they feel they should have been in the running for the Cup proper instead.
Vision MOTM Richard Baxter – a real leader on the pitch today, as he bagged a brace and dominated the midfield with some accomplished touches and passing.