College Cup: James 3rds 2-0 Langwith 1sts

Photos: Ruth Gibson

 

James 3rds have shown themselves as one of the best 3rds teams in the Cup, and they augmented this reputation today with a fairly simple win over a Langwith 1sts team who in contrast seemed to do an injustice to their ranking as a 1sts outfit. Two second half James goals were enough to see off Langwith, who themselves rarely threatened in a decidedly scrappy game.

The beginning of the first half really set the tone for the rest of the game, with some scrappy interchanges in midfield, and clear cut chances hard to come by. Langwith were perhaps the most threatening in the opening exchanges, with Patrick Khosravi floating a corner onto the bar. Moments later, a determined run by Luke Gardner set up centre midfielder Duncan Sills, who blazed over. Liam Condron also squandered a decent opportunity to break the deadlock, slamming a close range freekick into the James wall. Half chances seemed the order of the day.

James were even less threatening at this point. Their main chance of the half fell to winger Matthew Hewitt, after some great work from teammate Tim Green, who on the turn played a delightful lofted ball through which Hewitt skewed well wide of the mark. James did, however, look very solid at the back, with centre back Nathan McCusker continuing his good College Cup form.

The second half arrived with the match very much in need of a goal. There were some heart stopping moments for the James faithful as a Langwith corner led to confusion in the box, with the ball being somehow cleared. Not long after though, a long James punt up the pitch found itself bounce over the Langwith backline and land at the feet of Hewitt who made no mistake in putting his team 1-0 up.

Unfortunately the goal failed to liven up the match and despite some menacing Andy Hutt runs, a Langwith equaliser looked improbable. In such a scrappy tie, perhaps it was no surprise that tempers began to fray and referee Phil Taylor had to endure some dissent from the James players after giving a free kick just outside the area after what certainly looked like a foul. The handbags were all for nothing as Langwith’s Bruce Starkey hit an ineffective shot that ricocheted off the James wall.

James were able to apply salt to Langwith’s wounds as the game reached in final stages. The ball was played through to Andrew Yates who took it in his stride and slammed a shot onto the base off the post. Fortunately for James, the ball rebounded to striker Green who applied a simple finish to put the game to bed. This was the last meaningful action of the game and with the score at 2-0, James wrapped up an impressive victory.

It was an unhappy Langwith camp, to say the least, but really they could have no complaints as they created little, and any half chances were scuppered. Clear cut chances for both teams were certainly at a premium, but the difference was James’ ruthlessness in front of goal. It was a frustrating day for the men in yellow, but James can take great heart from a gritty performance against a superior side on paper.