Widely thought to be against a good side, and held the afternoon after a bar extension, this looked set to be a tough game. In fact the opening period was scrappy, with few chances at either end and neither midfield really linking any passes together. Neither keeper was worked, the few chances being closed out or scuffed wide, and the half time whistle brought a merciful end to a 0-0 bore-fest.
The half-time changes saw Barney drafted in from the first team's bench, adding some authority to the defense, and the perennially excellent Tom out to the right side (with Richard G switching to left). Within two minutes of the restart Emma had taken the lead, Ian putting away a neat finish from a tight angle, and almost instantly relaxed, playing more composed football in the middle of the park.
An Emmanuel corner mid-way through the half saw first Barney shin the ball sideways off an attempted shot, and then Kavin take a beautiful touch to leave himself in space on the 6 yard line. 2-0 ... or so we thought, the ball flying over the Churchill goal. Every Emmanuel player was hands on head in disbelief.
The game began to revert to its previous scrappy self, but the second goal was a moment of inspiration, Gus bending it into the top right corner from 25 yards, and with 10 minutes to go the result was secured without needing to resort to the panic stations, as against Jesus. Churchill had hardly had a chance all match, thanks to our sturdy defending – no “leaping salmon” required this week, the one shot on target was an easy collect. Emma had hardly had a chance, either, but good finishing won the three points.
Team: Hans Sutton
Richard Smith, Adam Stevens, ? (Barney Gough, h-t), Gaz Sumner
Geoff ? (Tom Richardson, h-t), Kavin Wadhar, Ian Saunders, Richard Gould (Max ?, 60)
Gus O'Brien, Rob ?
Goals: Saunders 47, O'Brien 80
League table:
Team |
PL |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
PTS |
APU II |
5 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
21 |
7 |
14 |
13 |
Emmanuel II |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
2 |
7 |
9 |
Corpus |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
18 |
10 |
8 |
6 |
Long Road III |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
3 |
5 |
6 |
Jesus II |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
9 |
8 |
1 |
4 |
Caius II |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
Churchill II |
4 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
9 |
17 |
-8 |
3 |
St. Catz II |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
-5 |
0 |
Trinity II |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
-9 |
0 |
Queens II |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
16 |
-14 |
0 |