By William Cooper
In a largely scrappy tie, Derwent were able to conjure enough moments of quality to overcome a Vanbrugh side that toiled, but rarely looked like scoring. The Derwent midfield paring of James Matthews and Ben Creswell was too much for the side in blue and red, as their creativity carved holes in the Vanbrugh defence, with striker Jon Garness the grateful recipient of their play, as he completed his brace.
In truth, the game started scrappily, with much of the play focused in a congested midfield. A free kick in a decent position came and went for Derwent, and it took a goal to give us the first meaningful action of the match. Derwent striker Jim Norton was able to thread a threatening ball through the Vanbrugh backline and with goalkeeper Tom Williams failing to deal with it, Norton’s partner in crime up front, Jon Garness, applied a simple finish to get his team the first of the game.
Despite the goal, the play continued to be cagey, and a reckless, but not malicious, high tackle from Vanbrugh defender Seb Knight ended Norton’s game, as he was forced off with a bloody face. It was an unfortunate end for him and his team as he had looked dangerous in the opening stages. The injury did nothing to stem Derwent’s dominance, and Vanbrugh looked extremely light up front, with a goal looking improbable. Their best chance to score was from an Alex Willings free kick, which only just curled past the top right of the Derwent goal. Regardless, Derwent remained strong and Garness supplied the inevitable as he met a James Matthews pull back, initially to be denied by a good Tom Williams save, but ultimately tapping in for his second.
The story was the same after half time, with Vanbrugh continuing to toil and work but with no meaningful result. A Max Walter cross offered some hope, but keeper Krishna Yellappa prevented Sam Taylor from reducing the deficit. These two continued to probe and another Walter run gave Tom Parish a chance, but he narrowly spurned a cross-cum-shot. Derwent midfielder Ben Creswell showed moments of real class, as he and Matthews began to dominate the midfield with some tight passing. Derwent’s defence looked equally tight, winning everything in the air and dealing uncompromisingly with anything along the floor. Taylor did, however, manage to get onto another cross, this time from Arne Bartelsman, but was unable to convert it, as the ball sailed over the bar.
There was always the feeling, though, that Derwent had the guile and poise up front that Vanbrugh were lacking and with more than a sniff of offside, Matthews put the game to bed, as he was superbly sent through by Ben Creswell, to calmly slide the ball home to make it 3-0 to the men in blue and black. From then on in it looked as though a Derwent fourth was more likely than a Vanbrugh consolation as winger Will De Silva curled an impressive shot just past Tom Williams’ right hand post. Both teams had final chances, with Bartelsman just skewing a shot wide for Vanbrugh, and Garness nearly completing his hat-trick, but for keeper Williams’ smart save. Overall, a 3-0 scoreline was probably a little unjust on a tireless, but this time, fruitless Vanbrugh side, but Derwent did display moments of real quality, and looked for the most part extremely comfortable, and will be a real force to be reckoned with in this tournament.
Man of the Match: James Matthews