College cup is underway

College football is back! Only without the mud...

The groups are as follows:

Group 1: Alcuin 1sts, Langwith 2nds, James 2nds, Halifax 1sts

Group 2: Halifax 2nds, Goodricke 1sts, Vanbrugh 1sts, Derwent 2nds

Group 3: Alcuin 2nds, Derwent 1sts, Vanbrugh 2nds, Wentworth 1sts

Group 4: James 1sts, Derwent 3rds, Langwith 1sts, Goodricke 2nds

The first game, on Monday of this week, saw two sides with strength in depth, Alcuin 1sts and Halifax 1sts, meet in a game that many thought would decide who went through as group winners. Alcuin finished 3-1 winners thanks to a Mark McKay brace and a Henry Smith penalty but Alcuin captain Myles Preston admitted the game “was a lot closer than 3-0” and praised his defence for staying “solid at the back”.

In Monday’s 12pm kick-off Langwith 2nds beat James 2nds 2-1 meaning Halifax 1sts are left propping up the group 1 table after the first round of matches, whilst Langwith 2nds are 2nd on goal difference behind Alcuin 1sts. Langwith 1sts on the other hand have had a torrid start to the tournament by doing the unthinkable and losing to the least favoured team in the tournament, at least according to George ‘McCririck’ Taylor who gave qualifiers Derwent 3rds odds of 50-1

Derwent 3rds' 2-1 defeat over Langwith 1sts was a massive shock but not to captain and goalscorer Henry Clark who said “I think we played so well simply because we were so confident. We had sailed through the qualifying tournament and didn't feel like huge underdogs going into the match. I don't think Langwith took us seriously either, I think they were assuming that the fixture was a formality, that 3rds football is a joke, and that we weren't going to be able to play to anywhere near their standard. I guess they won’t make that mistake again, because we were the better team on the day.”

The upset was the biggest of the tournament so far and shows why the college cup is so widely talked about, not only on campus but across Fulford, Tang Hall and Badger Hill. College 3rd team footballers from far and wide, who have spent the last two terms playing friendlies on the cow patch behind the sports centre, dream of their 3rd team qualifying for the tournament and getting the chance to pit their footballing skills against those of the university teams. Today a dozen proud Derwenters not only took to the pitch alongside college 1st teamers, they beat them.

I don't think Langwith took us seriously... They won't make that mistake again!
Henry Clark, Derwent 3rds captain

The Yorker met up with Derwent 3rd team right-back Nick Harris after the match. “We won! We scored two awful goals but we won! We beat Langwith 1sts! Langwith are shit!” After calming down a little he elaborated more but was still jubilant and in a prophesising mood: “We’ve had a good tournament now no matter what happens. But if we get a draw against Goodricke 2nds we’ll probably qualify as runners-up meaning we’ll likely face Goodricke 1sts; the best team in it!”

Derwent 3rds dream of facing the likes of university 1st team captain Dom O’Shea et al is plausible, but with Goodricke 1sts drawn in group 2, the ‘group of death’, it won’t be an easy passage into the knockout stages for the big hitters who’s numerous university 1st and 2nd team players have already been widely talked about. The group also consists of Vanbrugh 1sts and two strong 2nd teams, Derwent and Halifax, so the ‘group of death’ tag is likely to be associated more with the tough competition as opposed to being on the end of a Matt Witherwick tackle. Vanbrugh were unlucky not to have been seeded (the four seeds were those teams with most points accumulated over the last two terms in the league) and have paid the price with a tough draw but nonetheless they will be confident, and rightly so, of reaching the latter stages of the tournament.

In the week’s other matches Halifax 2nds beat rivals Derwent 2nds 2-1, Alcuin 2nds shot to the top of group 3 with a 7-1 hammering of Wentworth 1sts and James 1sts confidently beat Goodricke 2nds 2-0 thanks to goals from Johnson and Holdsworth. Last year’s self-proclaimed college cup top scorer (this is yet to be verified), Tam Sherif, didn’t have such a good start to the tournament, missing a penalty.

Next week's fixtures sees Derwent 1sts commence their defence of the cup against Alcuin 2nds and will be confident of a trouble free passage into the knockout stages even without one of their university 1st team players, Gardner, who is ruling himself out with injury. The fixtures for week 4 are as follows:

Monday: Alcuin 1sts vs James 2nds, Derwent 2nds vs Vanbrugh 1sts

Tuesday: Halifax 2nds vs Goodricke 1sts, Vanbrugh 2nds vs Wentworth 1sts

Thursday: Derwent 1sts vs Alcuin 2nds, Langwith 1sts vs James 1sts

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