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Photos: Oliver Todd
Goodricke stunned James with a memorable second-half comeback on the second weekend of the college league. Whilst James had the best of the opening 50 minutes, Goodricke clawed back a point with 3 goals in the last 40 minutes to add to the 3 points they claimed against Langwith this time last week.
Despite being played on poor and boggy surface, there was plenty of action at both ends before James opened the scoring half an hour in. Both Goodricke captain Matt Thomas and midfielder Sam Lewis hit the woodwork with strong strikes from range, whilst James stalwart Nick St George had an effort cleared off the line from a Ben Cooke corner.
The two sides were evenly matched until James took the lead. A cross from the right-wing floated over a crowded penalty area where 3 Goodricke defenders fought with Josh Brownlow in the air, only for the ball to drop for the unmarked and superb Cooke, who finished low from a tight angle with the ‘keeper floored.
It was a goal that shocked Goodricke, their passing in the final third became progressively more erratic and lone striker Jon Sharpe often found himself isolated. Their only real remaining opportunity of the half saw a sliding Sharpe only find ‘keeper Rylan Gooch’s midriff with his shot.
James, meanwhile, set about gaining a strangehold upon the game, with excellent defensive work from the centre-back pairing of St George and Oscar Lynch, before they doubled their lead with virtually the last kick of the first-half. Cooke again was involved, his corner finding the rising head of Nick St George to power home past Ed Foster in the Goodricke goal.
After the break, Goodricke were again rueing their luck as they somehow failed to find the net in a goalmouth scramble that saw St George and Gooch make clearances off the line twice each before the ball was eventually cleared, and their profligacy in front of goal was punished a matter of minutes later. Good work down the left wing from Sam Mellor found Brownlow on the edge of the six-yard box who fired home first time off the crossbar to make the scoreline 3-0.
James must have thought they were home and dry when Sam Lewis scored like what looked like just a consolation with a fine right-footed half-volley from the edge of the area, and the black and whites continued to threaten, with St George winning everything in the air at the back. That all changed though when his partner Oscar Lynch saw the ball strike his arm in the area, and the second referee of the afternoon pointed to the spot for a penalty. After much heated debate between the James players and referee, James Gutteridge expertly dispatches the spot-kick to the right of ‘keeper Gooch.
Goodricke were regalvanised and went looking for an equaliser which they found with 5 minutes remaining. Gutteridge again was the hero, getting his boot to the end of a cross from the right, which went through Gooch’s arms, leaving Gutteridge to poke the ball into an empty net to wild celebrations.
James captain Richard Baxter almost seemed lost for words at the final whistle at the way that his side had fallen apart in the second-half, although he admitted to being “very disappointed,” and rued a “loss of concentration that let them [Goodricke] back in.” A jubilant Goodricke captain Matt Thomas told Vision, “I was delighted, it was a brilliant result and I thought we dragged it back very well. We could have even pushed on to win it!”
Vision MOTM: James Gutteridge. Always looked a threat down the right-hand side and came to the fore when needed to rescue a point for his side.