1st class York steamroll into quarter-finals

York men’s 1sts stormed through to the BUSA Plate quarter-finals with a 4-0 win over a fired up Stirling 3rds side. Mark Gouland put the home side ahead early in the first half but it wasn’t until the second half that York killed off their Scottish opponents with goals from O’Shea, Oomen and yet another for the season’s top scorer; Gouland.

The York players awoke to fog and frost and there was real doubt over whether the fixture would go ahead. The groundsman feared for the green turf of 22 Acres and the safety of the players but when the referee conducted a pitch inspection at 12.30, with the players standing by, he deemed the pitch playable.

The Stirling players were even more relieved than the York team because the squad, with hooligan like fans in tow, had travelled down from Scotland the night before so didn’t want to have travelled so far for nothing.

Nonetheless the 5 hour return trip may have been made in better spirits had they not been humiliated by a better, faster, stronger York team, which with the return of ‘The Brummy Balboa’ Witherwick into midfield were also probably harder!

York lined up in their now familiar 3-5-2 formation with Murrills playing the right wing-back role in place of Smith who was missing with a calf injury. Witherwick played alongside Gardner in defensive midfield, in place of Oatridge who had filled in on Saturday, giving a licence to Wilson to push on and support O’Shea and Gouland.

A small crowd of fans lined the sidelines, whose cheers and chants intensified as the game wore on and more beer cans were consumed. Spurred on by the away supporters’ jibes York started well despite the slippy yet hard conditions under foot. Some players quickly realised they were wearing the wrong sort of stud and for a while at least were struggling to keep their footing like a baby buffalo on ice.

York adjusted quicker than Stirling and within 10 minutes good work down the right opened up an opportunity for Wilson to get a shot away from 10 yards. The in-form Wilson completely scuffed his shot however, but fortunately his miss-kick fooled the green-clad Stirling defender and Murrills seized on the loose ball and cut the ball back from the by-line for Gouland to slot home.

York led 1-0 and were good value for their lead but the still slightly frozen ground ensured it was hard for York to pick apart their opponents with their usual flowing passing moves. York utilised the wings as much as possible with Cooper and Murrills constant outlets on the wings, relieving the crowd from watching yet more midfield battling.

Set pieces caused havoc in Stirling’s box; one particular Gouland free-kick was driven in hard and low and the ‘keeper could only spoon the ball up into the air. The ensuing goalmouth scramble saw O’Shea, Gardner and Murrills all have shots blocked and somehow the green shirts of Stirling used their numbers to poke the ball away from danger, still with the single goal deficit intact.

The second half saw the game become increasingly feisty as the pitch softened up and players were less cautious about going to ground. Numerous rash challenges from the Scots wound up the home support and encouraged the travelling fans, who were by now fairly inebriated, to get even more raucous and vocal.

The players on the whole kept their cool, with the exception of the aggressive Andrew Emmerson doing his best Jens Lehmann impression by storming 30 yards out of his goal to remonstrate with a Stirling forward after he kicked out at Gardner.

This didn’t endear York’s ‘keeper to the Stirling fans and this was just the start of several exchanges that ended with Emmerson taunting the fans with the sarcastic, yet irrepressibly witty, line: ‘Enjoy your trip back to Stirling!’

Fortunately for the referee the game was over as a contest shortly after half-time. Several chances were wasted, most noticeably a Wilson free-kick which found the head of Gardner who should have at least worked the keeper but he powered his header wide from 10 yards. Finally the second goal came when persistent dribbling and battling from Witherwick took him round the full back and cut back for Gouland to do what he does best; score goals and chase greens.

As Stirling pushed forward gaps appeared in their defence and York broke on the counter on several occasions but only once did it result in a goal. Wilson burst free on the left flank and faced with a two on one advantage he stroked a perfect through ball to O’Shea who, with all the time in the world, sized up the keeper and coolly fired home into the right hand side of the net. Oomen replaced the prolific Gouland and carried on his impressive start to his first team career by volleying home a fourth, his third in only approximately 105 minutes on the pitch.

With the match firmly won the only challenge for the York players was seeing out the match without sustaining an injury from one of the many reckless challenges. The solid Andy Rixon was the victim of one such tackle that left him nursing a bruised knee but fortunately he was able to continue and help the defence in their quest for a clean sheet, which they suceeded in doing.

Having calmed down (marginally) after the match the hot-headed Emmerson told The Yorker: “I’m proud of the lads. Although we were obviously a class above Stirling 3rds, we gave a very professional performance and sent the 'jocks' packing! I thought Brummy Matt (Witherwick) and Rixon were epic and the experience of Gouland upfront always gives us an extra edge. As for my banter with Stirling fan's I think I heard one of our players put it nicely when he said 'I fucking hate Scots!’”

Although The Yorker is yet to find the source of the latter outlandish remark, and by no means agrees with it, this reporter can confirm that the behaviour of the Stirling fans was very inappropriate. On numerous occasions they interrupted the game by infringing on the field of play and left the normally tranquil green of 22 Acres a littered mess when they finally headed home. Midfielder Wilson, who increased his impressive tally of assists even further, couldn't add anything to Emmerson's comments other than "green, green, green!"

This latest pounding leaves the men’s 1sts in the quarter-finals of the BUSA Plate and they will travel to the winner of York St John 2nds vs University Central Lancashire 1sts. Regardless of who they play the team seem to have forgotten how to lose and will be confident of extending their 9 game winning streak.

Line-up (3-5-2): Emmerson, Evans, McWilliams, Rixon, Murrills (Edwards 68), Cooper, Gardner, Witherwick, Wilson, O’Shea, Gouland (Oomen 75).

Goals: Gouland(2), O’Shea, Oomen

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