Football 1sts cruelly lose in extra-time to ruin treble chances

York men’s football 1st team travelled to Preston on Wednesday to face University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) 1sts in one of UYAFC’s biggest matches in recent history. The cup-tie was a double header; firstly it was a NUL Cup match, but more importantly it was the BUSA Plate quarter-final. The 2-1 loss, with the winner coming late in extra-time, sees York out of all cup competitions.

Preparations for Wednesday’s game were near perfect; the team arrived early and had time to chill out in the changing room whilst listening to some music (with no Al Green or Green Day on hand, they hoped for some Brazilian inspiration in the form of CSS) and getting their heads on the game.

The squad were all fit with the exception of Shaun Evans who was obviously unwell and declared himself unfit to play after struggling in the warm-up. Evans’ reputation as the club’s booze hound and general party animal meant some suspected him of over-indulging in a few ladies of the night and more than his fair share of mini-Moets at Toffs the night before. However, these reports appear to be entirely unfounded and he was simply the victim of a 24 hour illness, harshly displacing him from a team he’s done so much for already this season.

Evans’ absence meant Murrills played up-front, O’Shea switched to midfield, and Gardner dropped from midfield to centre-back. Fortunately the squad’s strength in depth meant no one was overly concerned by the re-jig.

UCLAN started the stronger, buoyed on by considerable support from the sidelines. The first 10 minutes saw a scrappy game with both teams struggling to play anything more than percentage-football. York soon saw that this tactic, though not pretty and foreign to a side who’s success has been built on passing moves down the wings, may pay-off as the UCLAN ‘keeper flapped at a few early crosses. The York goalkeeper, the much maligned Emmerson, had no such problems with a very confident display that was a world away from the last time the two teams met (where Emmerson’s errors gifted UCLAN the win). His stand-out save in the first half was when he stretched all of his petite 5’9” frame to tip a left footed drive from outside the area around his right post. Otherwise he dealt comfortably with a header from 8 yards, and a volley at his near post – both sailing into his mid-rift thanks to great positioning.

At the other end York looked dangerous from set-pieces as Gouland and Wilson both whipped vicious balls into the box, testing the fragile ‘keeper. One such corner from Wilson was met at the back-post by Gouland who’s header back across goal clearly hit the arm of a UCLAN defender. The referee, however, chose to avoid the real decision at hand – penalty or not – by awarding a goal kick, claiming the corner had gone out of play before coming back in. Despite the pressure, there were no real clear cut chances at either end in the first half, making it goalless at half-time.

O’Shea rallied his troops and drilled into them the importance of set-pieces on a pitch that didn’t induce passing football. Sure enough, 20 minutes into the second half saw York take the lead with a set-piece against the run of play. UCLAN had been drilling shots in from everywhere, using the wind which was now acting in their favour, but they were unable to beat York’s defensive unit of Rixon, Gardner and McWilliams. Rixon won countless headers against his striker, Gardner gave little time to the other forward and McWilliams’ knack for being in the right place at the right time saw him sweep up efficiently. Despite this, they carved out chances but were unable to beat the impressive Emmerson. Indeed it looked like the stark difference in quality of goalkeeping may be the difference between the two teams when a Gouland free-kick, won by a Smith forage down the right wing, was met by O’Shea who’s header bounced into the centre of the goal, with the UCLAN ‘keeper left stranded after coming out but failing to catch or punch the cross.

The whole team celebrated around O’Shea, and with the 2nd and 3rd team now watching from the side of the pitch it took a lot of self-restraint from the likes of the reckless ruffian Richard Remington and wildly brutish Will Broadhurst not to storm the pitch in jubilation. The team, however, had to stay focused on the task at hand; hold out for 25 minutes against a very strong side who had been on top for the majority of the half.

UCLAN had a coach on the sideline and this professional touch may have made the difference. Whilst York’s one sub (Oomen) was busy running the line and thus, restricted in his ability to analyse the tactical workings of York’s opponents, the UCLAN coach had time to suss out how best to penetrate York’s backline. With the York’s central midfield trio tiring, particularly the warrior Witherwick, UCLAN brought on an extra midfielder to play in the hole behind the strikers. The impact was instant as York’s defence were frequently facing unmarked midfield runners. Numerous chances came and went, and mainly thanks to heroic goalkeeping, York’s lead was still intact.

On 75 minutes a York counter-attack led to Gouland’s forward pass putting Henry Smith through for a one-on-one. UCLAN’s keeper rashly rushed out of goal and Smith rounded him but in doing so lost his momentum and allowed defenders back to put him off his shot at the open goal. Seconds later York were pegged back once again and with midfielders out of position York were outnumbered. A precision through ball over the head of McWilliams put the aforementioned UCLAN substitute in on goal and he calmly controlled the pass and slotted past the onrushing Emmerson. 1-1 with just under 15 minutes of normal time to go.

Having put so much in York were crushed by this equalising goal and were lucky to hold out until full-time. York had used their one sub, Oomen replacing Witherwick in midfield, whereas UCLAN had the luxury of numerous subs so they had considerably fresher legs for the 30 minutes extra-time.

Several players were suffering from cramp and York struggled to create any real opportunities during the extra-time period. Emmerson excelled himself with some crucial catches and punches from crosses. He even had the home crowd gasping in amazement with some acrobatic saves, the best of which was when a Gardner clearance deflected off a striker and looked to be looping in, only for Emmerson to rapidly back pedal and tip the ball, which was coming right out of the sun, over the bar, much to Gardner’s and the whole team’s relief!

An already aggressive game was turning even feistier with weary legs from both sides putting in some late and reckless challenges. The antagonising Alex Cooper drew in several of these tackles before dishing out his fair share, satisfyingly close to the UCLAN supporters on the left-wing. The response from the crowd meant Cooper probably doesn’t regret the resultant yellow card.

Further shots crashed against York’s crossbar and post and it appeared their luck may hold out, until with only 5 minutes left before penalties the killer blow was dealt. A UCLAN corner caused havoc in a previously well organised York penalty-area. Failure to win the first header led to the ball dropping in the six-yard box where a UCLAN striker banged the ball home on the half-volley. The ensuing celebrations and pitch invasion by the central Lancastrians delayed the restart for a few minutes and York, although crushed, valiantly battled on in search of an equaliser. Alas, it was in vain as the referee soon blew for full-time. Although no one emulated Samuel Kuffour’s ground punching, the team were obviously hurting as they trudged off the pitch and all sat in quiet reflection, with the whoops and cheers of the home side and supporters cruelly ringing in their ears.

The curtain appeared to have been drawn on three illustrious BUSA careers: Andrew Rixon, Henry Smith and Andy Ramsden (who actually carried on his personal quest for ‘greens’ by helping the 2nds win on penalties). Everyone was heartbroken and gutted not to continue their cup run, in either the BUSA Plate or NUL Cup, but also for the three 3rd years.

It was a callous way to be knocked-out but the team gave it everything and after an epic 9 game winning run, against noteworthy opposition, it was probably time for the opponent to get the taste, and rub, of the green. The team faced with a long journey home, and the prospect of a Wednesday night not spent celebrating in Ziggy’s, were practically inconsolable. Even the discovery of Emmerson’s schoolgirl like, irrational fear of spiders, or a stop at Burger King couldn’t lift the teams spirits.

Unfortunately things were only going to get worse for the team when they woke up, bizarrely hangover free, on Thursday morning. Find out why here on the Yorker.

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

Goal: O’Shea (65)

Man of the match: Emmerson

Add Comment

You must log in to submit a comment.