Vanbrugh 2nds win football college league

• Vanbrugh 2nds 2
• Derwent 2nds 1

Vanbrugh 2nds battled to league victory in an absorbing affair on the 22 acres last Wednesday.

Having been rearranged following a postponement due to rain, this fixture saw the top two, Vanbrugh and Derwent, face each other in a match that would decide the winners of the College 2nds League.

Derwent started the stronger of the two teams, with the extra man in midfield, as a result of their 4-5-1 line-up, paying dividends. Barker, Green and Dimond played the ball around the park with ease as Vanbrugh were slow to adjust to the tactical discrepancies.

However, Derwent failed to break through a Vanbrugh defence that has been solid all term, thanks in no small part to the emergence of Dan Hewitt at right-back and the renaissance of Ben Ridgeway on the left.

It wasn’t until mid-way through the first half when the first real chance came. A looping ball was misjudged by Whittaker, but Barnett’s heavy touch allowed for a great recovery by Radford, and with the danger passing, Vanbrugh were able to reorganise themselves.

Vanbrugh were offering little in terms of attack as a result of Derwent’s dominance in midfield, leading to striker John Lewis dropping ever deeper in order to cover the extra-man. However, the Derwent pressure played into the hands of Vanbrugh, who were looking to exploit the pace of leading goal-scorer Oliver Regan up front.

Vanbrugh indeed turned defence into attack as Radford laid the ball back to fellow fresher Paul Taylor in goals, whose long clearance eluded the Derwent centre-backs and Regan raced in to score.

Coming against the run of play, it knocked the wind out of the Derwent sails and allowed the Vanbrugh midfield to reassert itself.

With the Vanbrugh centre-midfield pairing of Matt Oliver and Oli Corstjens now able to take hold of the game and start playing the ball around, the team grew in confidence, and Derwent were forced on to the back foot as Richards pushed on and toyed with the left-back Griffin before putting in a useful cross that Regan couldn’t connect with.

Playing down the slope, with the sun in their eyes, the Derwent centre-backs Clark and Waller were clearly struggling with any high balls, and on a number of occasions they missed easy headers, but the Vanbrugh attack failed to capitalise.

One last push before half-time saw Derwent take advantage of their 4-5-1 system again, as Barker found space outside the box to loft a ball into the area. As Whittaker stooped to head the chest-height ball, Tyler jumped to volley, which resulted in an unfortunate collision, and Taylor came to collect the ball as the danger passed.

At the start of the second half Vanbrugh, needing only a draw to win the League, were slow out of the blocks and Derwent applied much pressure. But resolute defence and hard-work in midfield by Matt Oliver saw Derwent constantly thwarted, despite being seemingly relentless in their efforts.

Not for the first time in the game - let alone the season - Vanbrugh used the pace of their captain, Oliver Regan, to good effect. Racing onto a through-ball, Regan out-sprinted the Derwent defence and slotted the ball past the Derwent goalkeeper at the near post.

Up until now the game had been played in reasonably good spirits, with referee Myles Preston having little to do. However, vociferous claims by the Derwent players, led by captain Green, that Regan had in fact missed, held the game up for a number of minutes.

This emboldened both sets of players: Derwent felt they were the victim of a refereeing mistake and Vanbrugh were angered by the constant moaning of the Derwent players. This was brought to a head when their substitutes were told to “grow a pair” after they unleashed a barrage of ‘cheat’ accusations.

With both teams now appreciating that it was more than the league at stake, the game became more of a battle and epitomised the scrappy, fractious nature of College football, resulting in referee Preston having to step in a number of times to calm things down.

Derwent applied immediate pressure from the kick-off, and after a cheap free-kick was given away inside the Vanbrugh half, Derwent equalised. The ball in bypassed the defence and was headed goalwards, but although the goalkeeper kept it out, the parry was turned in by Dimond.

With the game at 2-1 and with only 15 minutes left, Derwent were pushing for the two goals needed in order to clinch the title. Despite the pressure, Vanbrugh stayed strong, and the determined efforts of Radford - revelling in his new centre-back role - and Whittaker saw the Derwent attack constantly stifled.

With five minutes to go, it was in fact Vanbrugh who looked the most likely to score. With Derwent pushing forward, Corstjens found acres of space in the midfield to play the ball to the wide positions for Matt Richards and James Carr to expose the gaps in the Derwent defence.

Finally the game drew to a close, with Vanbrugh having a succession of corners and Derwent visably losing hope. Upon hearing the final whistle, the joy of winning the league was clear to see on the faces of the Vanbrugh players. Both teams were quick to congratulate each other after the final whistle, which was a fitting end to an absorbing match and an entertaining season.

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The Yorker caught up with both captains, who gave their thoughts on the game and the season as a whole:

Jack Green, Derwent 2nds Captain:

“It was a good game, played in good spirit. We played the better football for the most part but were held back by solid defending and the fact the ball just didn’t sit for us.

In the end they took their chances better than we did. Regan’s goal was pretty good. Unfortunately for us a few injuries hindered our attempted comeback and some tactical changes led to a consolation goal but that's all it was.

We've had a really good season, despite losing a lot of players last year and having the classic British problem of no strikers, but a few good freshers and some new faces that aren't freshers have stepped up to play an important part in the team. People like myself, Waller and Barker who are in our last year are looking to go out on a high next term and we're very optimistic about our chances.”

Oliver Regan, Vanbrugh 2s Captain:

“It was the tough game we expected. Derwent had to win and so we knew that they would be very attack-minded. Paul Taylor in goal and the defence have been exceptional all term, and so I was still very confident that we would be as rock solid at the back as we had been all term.

With our speed on the break it was always likely we would grab a goal and that’s exactly what we did. I knew that after going ahead Derwent would pile on the pressure leaving gaps in their defence and a second goal was probable.

Overall we didn't play our best football, perhaps we were a little nervous being top of the league.

This term has been fantastic for Vanbrugh 2nds. The freshers have added a lot to the team and big performances from some of the more experienced members have contributed to an unbeaten term.”

Vanbrugh XI (4-4-2): Paul Taylor, Dan Hewitt, Sam Whittaker, Dan Radford, Ben Ridgeway (James Carr, 70), Matt Richards, Matt Oliver, Oli Corstjens, Liam Regan, John Lewis (Alex Skelton, 70), Oliver Regan.

Derwent XI (4-5-1): Ed Amoroso, Jamie Tyler ( Moe Hashim 60), Matt Waller (Henry Clark, 70), Adam Clark, Liam Griffin (Tommy Whitehouse, 65), Ben Smith, Nick Dimond, Ian Barker (Dom Henney, 65), Jack Green (C), Nick Barnett, Ed Lacaille.

Man of the Match: Matt Oliver

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