College Cup: Tuesday Week 5

Halifax 2nds 2  – Derwent 3rds 0

The summer sunshine may have been lacking but Tuesday’s College Cup action was far from a winter of discontent for Halifax 2nds. A 2-0 win over a tricky Derwent 3rds outfit was hard going at times, and especially so for the referee, who had to oversee a physical battle between the two sides for midfield possession, and was the recipient of a barrage of appeals throughout the match as a result.

Derwent had shown previously against Langwith that they were not going to roll over for any team and they started brightly. Despite the best efforts of Ben Rea who constantly attempted to get the ball down and act as a playmaker for his side, Derwent pressured their opponents from the kick off. It was against the run of play then when Halifax took the lead. The ball came in from the right hand side, evaded Stuart Bruce in the Derwent goal, struck the left post, rolled across the line to strike the other post before finally being bundled home from close range by Sahil Shah.

Derwent took several minutes to regain their stride after the shock of falling behind and they could have been two behind had Joe Wood’s effort dipped under the bar. At the other end, Derwent’s lack of cutting edge was hampering them, with forward Sam Hodson showing increasing frustration as the Halifax defence mopped up any loose balls with confidence.

In the second half Halifax stamped their authority more firmly on the game. Eamonn Geoghegan was unlucky to find that his low cross into the danger area was not turned home, and there were loud shouts for a penalty, after a possible handball, which were waved away by the referee.

Whilst the score remained at 1-0 Derwent had a chance and it remained in the balance until ten minutes from time. Sahil Shah latched onto a long through ball and slotted coolly past Bruce to bag his second of the game and wrap up the points for ‘Fax.

Langwith 1sts 3 – Goodricke 2nds 1

For players the Astroturf must be nothing short of a nightmare. It’s an unforgiving surface which can rip knees to shreds with the slightest of contact. For spectators on the other hand the Astro is a God-send with the narrow confines of the pitch meaning defences have nowhere to hide. Add a strike partnership in blistering form, such as Langwith’s Paddy Sloane and Bruce Starkey, and you’ve got a real spectacle.

3-1 was not a result which reflected the balance of play in this match-up. Had Goodricke taken the lead early on, as they threatened to do, we may have seen a much different score-line. As it was, though Goodricke hit the bar from a thumping free kick courtesy of David Coupland, it was Langwith who drew first blood with Starkey finishing neatly after a good passing move.

It remained 1-0 at half time but how it did so is anybody’s guess. Nick Dheir saw his shot well held by Langwith keeper Tom Lambert and Lambert had to be alert again to foil Coupland in a one-on-one situation. The second half began in much the same vein with Matt Sutherland the latest player in a Goodricke shirt to see a chance well saved.

If Langwith were riding their luck at this point they were home and dry twenty minutes later after exploding into life. Firstly Paddy Sloane doubled their lead by smashing home a volley and the same player was on hand to double his personal tally minutes later. The forward latched on to a Starkey mishit and appeared to put the result beyond any real doubt. Unfortunately for Langwith the referee brought play back for offside.

There was still time for the third goal however. Sloane was again involved in the build up, teeing up his strike partner and Starkey made the finish look easy.  The only negative for their side came in the dying seconds when Dheir and Coupland linked up skilfully and the former chipped a lovely finish over the keeper to ruin Langwith’s hope of a clean sheet.

With a 3-1  final result Langwith will be happy that their cup campaign keeps rolling along without a hitch.