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Photos: Adam Green
Vanbrugh 1sts secured qualification to the Quarter-Finals with a comfortable 5-0 victory over Alcuin 2nds.
Vanbrugh never looked troubled, cruising to victory in soggy conditions and getting five different names on the score sheet in the process, with Elliot Ross, John Sanderson, Kieran O’Dwyer, Phil Taylor and Tom Parish all finding the back of the net.
The game started amidst a torrential downpour, but Vanbrugh did not slip up as they came out of the blocks quickly and created a chance within the first minute.
Elliot Ross broke down the left-hand side and surged into the area only to have his shot saved at the near post by Bugeja.
Vanbrugh did take the lead shortly after however, and it was Ross who applied the finishing touch. Ben Stanier ran into space down the right and whipped in a pin-point cross, which the Vanbrugh forward headed back across goal and in to make it 1-0.
Alcuin’s first strike of the game took a while to come, and when it did it did not have Vanbrugh ‘keeper James Wilson worried, as Chris Houlgate fired his long range effort well over the bar.
They came slightly closer through Tom Hargreaves who forced a decent stop out of Wilson, but it was still Vanbrugh who were creating the vast majority of chances. Stanier hooked a shot over following a corner and O’Dwyer had a strong effort pushed round the post by Bugeja before Sanderson made it 2-0 before half-time.
Ross headed the ball down and Sanderson collected and curled a delightful side-footed half-volley over the Alcuin ‘keeper and into the back of the net.
With the game in their control and the result looking safe, Vanbrugh eased their way through the second half. They continued to create chances however, and were clinical with the majority.
Ziggy Heath should have done better when he headed over under no pressure from a Stanier corner before O’Dwyer made it 3-0.
Elliot Ross made a testing run through the centre and squeezed a ball in behind the Alcuin defence and through to O’Dwyer. The midfielder made no mistake with his finish, poking into the bottom corner.
The fourth came from the penalty spot. Alcuin’s Lev Harris pulled down substitute Tom Parish just inside the area and the referee did not delay in pointing to the sport. Phil Taylor stepped up and stroked his penalty into the bottom left to make it 4-0.
Vanbrugh capped off their confident display with a well-crafted team goal late on. Ben Stanier played a ball to O’Dwyer and the midfielder took it down before backheeling it into the path of Tom Parish on the left, who advanced and slotted home coolly to finish the game at 5-0.
“Alcuin made it hard for us in the first half” said Vanbrugh captain James Wilson. “We came into it in the second half, we controlled the game and kept a clean sheet. We’re happy to go through.”