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Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
An hour of football couldn’t separate Alcuin and Derwent first teams this morning in a nervy encounter that looked like it would go to penalties well before the final whistle. Ultimately it was Derwent defender Matt Waller’s penalty miss that crushed the dreams of the Derwent players and supporters alike. The goalless draw was not an unfair reflection of the game but Derwent will feel hard done by to lose and even Alcuin’s stand-in captain Tom Stratton admitted that his team were lucky to win.
The first half was dominated by Derwent and the best chances fell to unpredictable striker Murphy who hit one volley just over the bar but forced Alcuin goalkeeper Wynd into a good save with another volley. Alcuin moved the ball well but couldn’t open up a resilient Derwent defence and were forced to hit shots from outside the area. Several were well hit but Derwent goalkeeper Amoroso was equal to the challenge.
It was a tale of two defences and despite fatigue setting in late on both backlines held firm. Alcuin centre-backs Delaney and Swan attacked aerial balls pinged in from Derwent midfielders Cooper and Barnett among others, whilst Jack Crane calmly swept up the pieces behind Delaney and Swan.
Derwent also employed three at the back; Waller played through the pain barrier to command aerially whilst Henney and Slater battled either side of the veteran on his ill-fated day. The sole lapse in concentration gave Alcuin their best chance as a quickly taken throw led to Dan Cox being left unmarked 12 yards out but the bouncing ball allowed time for a defender to put him off his strike which went narrowly over.
As the game moved into the later stages Derwent looked increasingly likely to get a goal but despite captain Barnett pulling the strings and playing intricate passing football around the Alcuin midfield there were no clear cut chances. The best fell to defender Henney after a corner. The ball dropped to him 8 yards out but he snatched at his shot and it trickled wide.
It went to penalties and the nerves that had disappeared after the first few minutes suddenly returned. They were certainly present in Ed Murrills’ first penalty which was well saved by Amoroso. Wynd was helpless against Alex Cooper’s well struck penalty. The usually reliable Laurie Swan hit a tame penalty that was saved and Barnett’s successful strike left Derwent 2 – 0 up. Crane and Hyde gave Alcuin hope and two saved penalties from Derwent’s Slater and Murphy levelled things up at 2 – 2. Stratton and Delaney held their nerve for Alcuin, as did Lavender and Lacaille for Derwent as the penalties moved into sudden-death.
Late substitute Joe Cooper hit Alcuin’s 7th penalty low and into the corner leaving Waller with a pressure kick. The defender’s penalty would turn out to be his last ever kick for Derwent 1sts as it was hit only a few yards to the goalkeeper’s left and at a comfortable height, leaving Wynd to be duly bundled on by his Alcuin teammates in celebration.
Derwent players unanimously feel they deserved to win and their captain was understandably upset: “I’m gutted. We edged it but I guess it would have gone to penalties even if there was extra-time. Once it goes to a penalty shoot-out it’s a lottery. At 2 – 0 I thought we had it in the bag...” With a few minutes to reflect he then added, with an interesting choice of words: “It’s the most painful way to lose. I’m completely bummed out!”
Stratton was slightly more tactful and diplomatically told the Yorker that it was “a tight game that was closely fought” and pointed out that they showed the signs of a great team: “We were missing players, we played badly but we still won”. He acknowledged a great display from Derwent's 11 players but already has his mind on the semis claiming the Alcuin team are in “high spirits”.
Line-ups:
Amoroso; Henney, Slater, Waller; Ward-Jones, A.Cooper, Hallam, Lavender, Barnett (c); Lacaille, Murphy
Wynd; Swan, Delaney, Crane; McDermott, Hyde, Wakeford, Murrills, Stratton (c); Williams, Cox (J.Cooper)
Penalties:
The Yorker's Man of the Match: Chris Barnett (Derwent)
Will Preston get back in the team? It's difficult to see where he'd slot in after an impressive performance from the back three of Delaney (even if he is a bit of an oaf! 
), Swan and Crane. Maybe the proverbial "move upstairs" would be better suited for the veteran...
Alcuin scrape through like usual...just like they scrape the league every term, it wouldn't surprise me if they scraped through to the final too!
No mention of today's other fixture in the Plate? Wentworth 1sts 1 - 0 Langwith 2nds. Langwith- be ashamed!
I guess you could say that United "scraped" the league and title this year too. Cream rises to the top mate, live with it.
You had less support than Gretna on a rainy day, Alcuin.
Where was Gardner?
As usual no mention of Roo Wakeford's astonishing performance on the wing, the fact that Alcuin's player of the year gets no mention from Yorker journalists is a sad indictment of your football knowledge.
Roo did you write that?!
Roo would never have written something like that!
Especially as he played in the centre in this game from what I have heard.
Can we have an entire article on Roo Wakeford, there would be plenty of people waiting to write it...
All yours Henry!
And yes, Roo played in the middle. Great player sure but entirely nullfied by the Derwent midfield in my opinion.
I must say, if someone is going to devote an entire article to Roo, then they must note his superb brolly holding skills as exhibited today. Magnificent work Roopert.
No one deserves more recognition than Roo Wakeford. Last year's captain's player of the year, and last term's captain's player of the term, Wakeford has been an Alcuin and futsal stalwart for three years. He may have been snuffed out by the derwent midfield on monday, but he still deserves credit if that's true - he is a wingback by trade after all.
I was on the phone to Udy Onwudike when swanny missed the second pen, and Udy said he would call me back when he was done. I was a little worried (!), but never doubted that the lads would get the job done from the spot.
However, there's no time for celebrating - it's gonna be an extremely tough game against an excellent Halifax side.
Bad luck to the Derwent lads though - it's a shame that we had to play them so early on in the tourny. Penalties are a lottery, and it's tough on Matt Waller who has been Derwent through and through for the last three years.
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