Nick Wright previews this weekend's clash between York City Knights and Hull FC
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
Whilst Derwent and Langwith played out a drab 1-1 draw, and Halifax put out a weakened side to beat Wentworth 3-1, it was on the other two pitches that the big clashes occured.
Alcuin sat in third - one point behind Goodricke and James - at the start of the day, and knew that nothing less than a win against Vanbrugh would suffice. As Vanbrugh stalwart Mcwilliams had reminded Alcuin's skipper before the game, he had never been a part of a losing Vanbrugh side to Alcuin.
The game started at a high tempo, and almost immediately Vanbrugh's goalkeeper lost his head, rushing out to try and intercept the onrushing Dan Cox, only for the Alcuin striker to round him and slot it home.
Within another five minutes, Mcwilliams should have been sent off. Excellent work from Murrills saw Mcwilliams forced to bring him down from behind in the penalty box when he was last man, only for the referee to remind the players of the 'mixed signals' sent out by the AU concerning what cards should be given in what situation. Mcwilliams didn't even receive a booking, and Cox cooly slotted home for his second.
After half time, sloppy defending from Vanbrugh saw Alcuin rush into a 5-0 lead, with the excellent Ollie Webb capping off a fine display with a penalty, and Vanbrugh's misery was compounded with the forced substition of centre-back Chris Schultz with a broken nose.
However, Vanbrugh pulled one back, as the Alcuin midfield went missing for five minutes, before Alcuin upped the tempo again to get another goal, and complete a thumping 6-1 rout. The days of Vanbrugh football dominating the College League under no-nonsense Simon Rogers seem well and truly gone.
Elsewhere, Goodricke met James in a clash neither side could afford to lose. The standard was high, but neither side could find that cutting edge in the first half. James had most of the pressure, yet they failed to make the Goodricke 'keeper work. Whilst Goodricke themselves had shots on target, they never really threatened.
At half time Goodricke swapped Uni 1st players when Andy Ramsden came off for Eddie Silson. The loss of Ramsden in the midfield allowed James a little more time as they tried to assert themselves in the middle. The most incisive move they created was cut short by a brilliant last gasp tackle from Grafham, when the James' striker must have thought he was in for a clear run at goal.
However the referee saw it differently, and despite protests from both sides Grafham was astonishingly sent off. Luckily for Goodricke the 'offense' was outside of the area, and the resulting free kick was eventually wasted by Tam Sherif.
With the loss of their influential captain Goodricke were forced to again shuffle the midfield, opting to leave Silson as the lone man up front. Colin High responded with the game of his life, and he needed to as the Goodricke midfield was shattered without Ramsden and Grafham.
James had 20 minutes to make the extra man pay, and they smelt blood. The midfield began to move the ball about at will, but when it came to breaking down Goodricke's makeshift back four - they started the game with a back three - they failed. The constant pressure from James left space behind, something Silson and Coupland looked to exploit. They were handed plenty of opportunities to break, and their influence kept the game in the balance.
James thought they had snatched the winner in injury time as a corner was knocked down in the area, but the snap shot was cleared off the line by James Barrett. As such James were denied the win that would have been so hard for the Goodricke defence to take. Chris Grayland epitomised Goodricke's strong rearguard effort with sheer disregard for his own safety, including one crunching challenge to prevent Sherif any space in the box.
The goalless draw was a fair result in the end, as neither side deserved to lose. But James will be disappointed to have missed out on the opportunity gifted to them by the referee. Goodricke meet an in-form Alcuin next week in what could be a title-deciding clash. However, James and Halifax cannot be ruled out either, as Halifax sit two points behind Alcuin, and James one point behind. James, Goodricke, and Halifax all have to play each other in their remaining two games, as the title race continues to be wide-open.
The college 2nds league is led by Derwent at the moment, with Vanbrugh closely following them. The two top teams face off on Wednesday in a massive game.
You must log in to submit a comment.
