By Roger Baxter
It was almost one of those days when pedigree turned to mockery. In the event, Langwith’s first team managed to hold on and beat Vanbrugh’s third string, but the manner of their victory has to make one doubt whether they can posit a serious threat to any of the stronger sides in this year’s college cup. An early blitzkrieg left Langwith sitting pretty at 2-0, but as the game progressed their opponents managed to come into the game and produce what must be the best finale of the tournament so far.
It all began so well for the favourites. A foul in the box led to Langwith earning a penalty, which was converted with aplomb by Liam Condron. Vanbrugh’s Isaac Parkinson almost got one back straight from the kick-off after a speculative lob came down just the wrong side of the bar, but Langwith struck again immediately afterwards. They surged upfield, won a corner, and Lawrence Chetwynd was there to convert and double his team’s lead. For the rest of the half it appeared that a cricket score was on the cards, with wave after wave of attacks swarming around the Vanbrugh box, but Langwith were unable to find the goal that would most likely have put the result beyond any doubt. Vanbrugh’s only chance of the half came right at the very end of it, when a free-kick along the floor was turned just past the post by Sam Taylor.
They could hardly, however, be said to have deserved anything out of the first period. All this was to change after half-time, when the ball found its way to Parkinson after a prolonged bout of trench warfare in the middle of the pitch. He calmly slotted home to halve his side’s lead, and thus changed the game dynamic completely. The sizable crowd were, at this point in the afternoon, fairly boisterous and boozy, and the prospect of a Roy of the Rovers-style underdog story propelled them into rabid paroxysms of noise that rattled Langwith and allowed Vanbrugh to take the game by the scruff of the neck. It was now Langwith’s turn to have their box laid siege to, but the many attacking efforts and the roaring of the crowd proved ultimately in vain, as they held on to their slender 2-1 advantage until the final whistle. A great game, a great spectacle, a great result for Langwith, but their performance is one that has to be improved upon if they harbour ambitions of a tilt at the later stages of this year’s competition.