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Photos: Zoe Bennell
A frantic and congested opening gave way to the formality of a 5-0 James rout in extremely frosty conditions on 22 Acres. James showed excellent control of possession throughout, limiting Langwith to long balls and half chances in the ninety minutes. In the early exchanges, Langwith were resilient, but once James captain Ralph Gill broke the deadlock in the twenty-second minute, they never looked back. Matt Singleton would head in an easy second before the break, then in the second half Freddie Ferrao and Singleton compounded Langwith’s misery before James Briars rounded it off with a fifth.
Langwith came out with intent to battle. Louis Pegg was particularly tenacious in the first half, doggedly hunting down every James pass in the middle of the park. However, for all their hard work, they simply couldn’t get a foothold in the game, and it was James who dictated the tempo, with Freddie Ferrao creating space for Matt Singleton to fire well over the bar from just outside the area. If that was the warning shot, Langwith did not heed it, as moments later Ralph Gill escaped the attentions of his marker, swivelled in the area, dropped the shoulder and coolly side-footed beyond Kris Cheshire and into the corner of the net for 1-0. Gill was back in the thick of the action straight away following his goal, a cute one-two with Freddie Ferrao allowing the latter to drive in a cross which narrowly evaded the head of Matt Singleton. That man Singleton would smash against the bar from close range when it was easier to score following a great reaction save from Cheshire.
But he would not be denied for long, nodding a free header into the top right corner of the goal from a corner kick in the twenty-eighth minute to double James’ lead. Langwith were penned into their half for long periods by James’ intense possession game, but the last action of the half would see Andy Hutt race clean through on goal following a missed interception. But with James’ keeper Andy Balzan exposed and the goal at his mercy, the Langwith striker side-footed meekly wide with zero conviction. James’ lead remained intact. The second half continued in the same vein as the first, with James working hard to create chances and Langwith determined to keep them honest.
A moment of controversy arose in the fiftieth minute when James were awarded a penalty for a Langwith handball which was not massively appealed for, but was awarded by the referee. Ferrao was having a great morning out on the wing, and he needed no second invitation to contribute to the scoring, planting his penalty beyond the despairing dive of Cheshire. Though Andy Hutt was embroiled in a thankless task ploughing a lone furrow up front, he was able to demonstrate some great guile in providing Tom Benney with an opportunity to volley at goal. The chance was awkward though, and by taking too long to shape his body, Benney gave Callum Elliott time to come across and block his effort.
That was the last piece of goalmouth action Langwith would see. Matt Singleton would grab his second, and James’ fourth, of the game with a wonderful finish from the edge of the area, before Callum Elliott lofted a great pass in the direction of James Briars, who confidently dispatched the final fifth goal beyond Kris Cheshire.
James would threaten to turn proceedings into a cricket score, first through an improvised half-volley from hat-trick seeking Matt Singleton, and secondly when James Briars jinked into the box and looked for all the world like he would side-foot a telling sixth across Cheshire and into the net. However the Langwith keeper showed great reach to claw away his goalbound effort.
After the game, a delighted James Captain Ralph Gill said: “That was a great way to start the New Year. It was a convincing victory, we thwarted Langwith’s attacks and made the most from our innumerable chances.”
In contrast his opposite number, Marcus Campbell, was disappointed with his side’s performance, and told Vision: “We were missing key players today, but that’s no excuse for our poor performance and poor fitness.
“We had chances, but we failed to convert them, and we’ll have to come out better next week.”
JAMES (4-4-1-1): Balzan, Sangha, Elliott, Axwood, Alhassan, Jopson (Briars), Gill, Spurling, Haresnape, Ferrao, Singleton
LANGWITH (4-2-3-1): Cheshire, Rogers, Starling, Pickersgill, Benney, Pegg, Hudson, Campbell, Hazell, Gates, Hutt