Wentworth cruised to a 5-0 victory over a luckless Langwith side on 22 Acres to send out a clear message of intent to their rivals. Wentworth, often the whipping boys, have started the season in impressive fashion, and the emphatic victory follows a 2-2 draw with Vanbrugh, leaving them top of the table at these early stages. Dan Bowden’s crisp finish after half an hour gave the postgraduates the lead, before Lachlan Murray, Ben Weaver and a Dom Green double sealed an emphatic victory.
Too often, Langwith were architects of their own downfall with some horrendous defensive errors from the goalkeeper and centre-backs, they will be looking to recover in time for their match against Derwent next week. In fact, Langwith made the more confident start with Andy Hutt in midfield controlling possession. The Heslington East college fashioned a decent early opening when Matt Jones fluffed his lines after Macdonald’s shot rebounded off Cook.A corner swung in by Marcus Campell was then headed wide by an unmarked Andy Doyle as Langwith squandered another golden opportunity to take the lead. They were duly punished seconds later as Wentworth went straight up the other end with a neat passing move, as Weaver laying off Bowden, whose low finish beat the right hand of Chris Cheshire.
After the half time break, Langwith pushed for an equaliser as Macdonald tripped himself in the area after Starkey’s excellent pass, before Macdonald sliced an effort over the left upright from a tight angle.Wentworth were happy to soak up the pressure and hit their opponents on the counter-attack, and the second goal arrived on 56 minutes.After Weaver missed his kick from Dom Green’s initial cross, the ball ricocheted around the penalty area in pinball style before Murray’s shot deflected off the unfortunate Christian Sandmann. Langwith continued to press but failed to test Cook in any way, and problems at the back worsened their afternoon.
A long Wentworth ball was going to be dealt with by two Langwith defenders but ‘keeper Cheshire crazily came off his line, lost the ball and saw Green tap into an open goal. A fourth came soon after, when the ubiquitous Weaver crossed for Green to slot home his second after Sandmann misplaced a backpass. The fifth and final goal came with ten minutes to go as Murray raced straight through the Langwith defence, prodded an effort at goal which was blocked by Cheshire’s face, before Weaver had the presence of mind to deliver a delicious chip over the ‘keeper.
Afterwards, Wentworth captain Sutton said: “It is our biggest ever win in the autumn term. Langwith started better but we controlled the game, were solid defensively and great up front.”