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Today was the first day of college football this academic year, as the autumn term league kicked off. Vanbrugh had the privilege of playing Wentworth on the brand new 3G pitch over on Heslington East, while everyone else had to make do on the less glamorous 22 Acres. The fall-out from last term’s Halifax World Tour social has implications on this term, however, as the college have opted not to play competitively in this term’s league. Instead, they will play a different college every week in a ‘friendly’.
Goodricke 2-1 Langwith
Two goals from Rob Young saw Goodricke claim all three points in an entertaining affair against Langwith.
The striker profited early on from an excellent cross from captain Joe Mann to power home a header beyond the reach of Kris Cheshire.
He then made no mistake shortly before half time when, running through on goal, he executed a delightful dinked finish over Cheshire.
But the outcome of the game was quickly thrown into doubt as Mark Sterling scored arguably the goal of the day.
Cutting in from the right, he smashed a left-footed drive straight past Noel Rodger into the bottom corner to give Langwith hope.
The comeback seemed inevtiable when Sam Woodall was felled in the area by a Goodricke defender and the referee instantly awarded a penalty. The Langwith crowd screamed for a red card which, puzzlingly, never came.
However, Andy Doyle squandered the opportunity as he hit the post, to the relief of the Goodricke players.
The men in green eventually survived the Langwith onslaught. Goodricke captain Mann commented afterwards:
“Fitness was an issue, but we played some really nice stuff. Langwith came back at us in the second half, but it was a show of character to get over the line.”
Derwent 2-0 Alcuin
Derwent secured a reassuring victory over Alcuin as new boy James Trant bagged both goals.
However, it could have been a very different story had Alcuin striker Daniel Matthews not horribly shanked his shot wide after going one-on-one with ‘keeper Ruari Franklin.
The rest of the first half was a fairly quiet affair with few other chances, as both teams struggled in the wet and misty conditions.
Derwent took the lead shortly after the restart when a neat passing move on the left resulted in captain David Kirk flicking the ball into the path of Trant, who slotted in at the near post.
Matthews missed another chance to score when his cross was sent straight to Franklin, but the best opportunity came via the penalty spot.
However, Greg Fearn did not strike his spot kick with any conviction and Franklin was able to save comfortably.
And Derwent made Alcuin pay moments later to seal victory as Trant went one-on-one around Dave Marshall to knock the ball in.
James 2-1 Halifax
James edged Halifax in the day’s only friendly fixture as James Davies and Connor Meckin got the goals.
The team in black started the better, with Freddie Ferrao and Davies linking up well, albeit not finding the final ball too often.
After 20 minutes, Jonny Sim did well to save James Briar’s header but he could do little about Davies’ finish 10 minutes later.
The star striker powered an effort into the bottom corner to send his side into the lead, but wasted another chance just after the restart when blazing over from six yards.
Halifax played much better in the second half with Dan Jones orchestrating the attacks and trying to lead his fresher-heavy side.
But their efforts were dented as Davies crossed for James Briars who finished neatly to give James a healthy 2-0 cushion.
Halifax scored a late consolation when the James left-back missed a cross and Conor Meckin slammed home, but James held on to secure the win.
Vanbrugh 2-2 Wentworth
Finally, over on the 3G pitch at Heslington East, it took a last-gasp Elliot Ross goal for Vanbrugh to deny Wentworth victory in a thoroughly entertaining match.
However, it was Vanbrugh who took an early lead when Chris Wignall powered home a header from John Gill’s delivery.
Wentworth responded swiftly through Weaver who was played in by the experienced Dom Green. The postgraduates then took a shock lead just before half time as Dan Bawdon slotted home.
Vanbrugh huffed and puffed throughout the second half, while Wentworth were unlucky not to score a third on the counterattack, and scoring an equaliser appeared to be an impossible task.
But Vanbrugh finally found the decisive breakthrough as Sharkey’s excellent pass to Ross was fired in by the striker as the points were shared.