By Stephen Holcroft
Jon Sharpe delivered a sublime individual performance, notching up a five goal haul in a 5-0 demolition of Alcuin by Goodricke on Sunday afternoon.
The striker was a menace throughout the 90 minutes for Alcuin centre-backs Sam Reiss and Bradley Wood; his touches resembled gold or aptly goals as Goodricke ran their opponents riot. Indeed it was Sharpe who captured the College football headlines as he netted two first half goals, before firing in a second half hat-trick much to Alcuin’s shock. A side who have become more familiar in past years handing out these demolitions, Alcuin suffered reverse fortunes as questions begin to be raised about their seeming inability to cope without departed college personnel.
A scrappy affair characterised the early stages of the match, as both sides struggled to assert their ascendancy. Sam Reiss had the only notable opportunity from an inviting Will Taylor corner, but headed wide away from goal. Neill Walsh then attempted to deliver an inviting Goodricke cross, but the ball sailed wide over the bar. A bore draw seemed to be enveloping.
However, footballing class and the game for the matter soon shone through, and when Alex Cooper cheekily lobbed Goodricke goalkeeper Ed Foster on 25 minutes, Alcuin thought they’d took the lead. Unfortunately for the Reds, the ball rebounded off the post and Alcuin were denied.
If a wake-up call was pertinent, Goodricke certainly heard as they immediately punished Alcuin with the sucker punch. A mix-up between Ambrozejczyk and Bradley Wood fed Ben Smith in, who saw his shot blocked, only to find Sharpe to place low for the opener. The second quickly followed, as Sharpe clinically finished a telling midfield through ball.
If Alcuin captain Phil Bowers thought his side had ended the first half lightly, he was sadly mistaken. Again the attacking combination of Smith and Sharpe left Alcuin dazed, only for the latter to be fouled in the box. He calmly dispatched into the corner beyond Ambrozejczyk. Sharpe then proved to be more than a hat-trick hero as he stretched from a low corner to grab his fourth.
Alcuin’s defence was in meltdown, and Ambrozejczyk who had an afternoon short-lived in the memory, uncharacteristically failed to collect a cross field ball. As he stumbled, Sharpe ruthlessly pounced and the first five-star individual performance of the day was complete.
