James 1sts 2 Goodricke 2nds 0
James 1sts continued their impressive start to the College Cup campaign after a closely fought victory against a talented Goodricke 2nds side. In a game which drew strong parallels to their earlier win over Halifax 3rds, James were indebted to two second half goals from Mark Johnson to break the deadlock after a goalless first half.
Goodricke will surely look back on this one as a missed opportunity. Despite their opponents boasting several highly skilled university players, it was Goodricke who had the better of the game in the first half. Matt Sutherland forced a good save from Dom Mcmahon in the James net and the keeper must have been relieved 5 minutes later to see a scorching 30 yard effort from Adam Botterill go just past his post. At the other end Goodricke were rarely troubled, with keeper Matthew Brennan confidently mopping up any half chances.
James were clearly not happy with their first half display and showed a renewed appetite for the game after the restart. The breakthrough came soon after, with Johnson, surely the player of the tournament so far, drilling home from just outside the area to give James a barely merited 1-0 lead.
Goodricke to their credit did not let their heads drop, but lacked the cutting edge to make their neat build up play pay dividends, though Matt Sutherland was again unlucky to see an effort cannon off the bar. The game as a contest was finished moments later and it was no surprise who got the goal, with Johnson finding the bottom left hand corner from some distance. The James midfield maestro was unlucky not to complete his hat trick when he chipped over in the dying minutes.
At the end, James were happy enough to have seen off one of their sternest opponents in group D, but both sides will still be quietly confident of progressing to the next round, and on this evidence both look good bets to do so.
Langwith 1sts 3 Derwent 3rds 1
Langwith and Derwent served up a cracker of a contest on a sun drenched astroturf, but unfortunately the plucky 3rds team could not pull off a result despite a tremendously spirited performance.
The frantic end to the match was a welcomed contrast to an edgy first half of football. Langwith were clearly struggling to find their groove and were somewhat surprised at Derwent serving up a brand of football which did not belong to a 3rds team. Freddy Harris and Matt Jenkins in particular were linking up well on the right hand side, whilst Jim Norton was unlucky to see an effort deflected wide of the post.
So it was rather against the run of play when Langwith took the lead. Defender Luke Gardener ventured forward past the half way line before unleashing a speculative effort from miles out which somehow sneaked below the bar.
The goal gave Langwith the confidence to control the second half more, though Derwent still found themselves presented with chances. Matt Jenkins, doing his best impression of Rory Delap, managed to catapult a long throw into the box, creating all sorts of confusion before being turned onto the post and Freddy Harris continued the post’s punishment with a glancing header off a James Beggs’ free kick.
Langwith then looked to have sealed it with a quick break resulting in a Patrick Sloane goal but Michael Regan’s back post tap in gave Derwent hope at 2-1 and sent the noise level from both sets of supporters through the roof. The 3rds’ hopes were cruelly dashed immediately from kick off however, as substitute Sam Rooney was played through to coolly slot home and give his side the 3-1 win.