Division 1 College Football Round Up

Selwyn Undone By Late Jesus goals

Selwyn 1^st XI were unlucky to walk away with nothing after a hotly contested game with Jesus College on Sunday afternoon. Selwyn took the lead early in the second-half but Jack Anderson’s late hat-trick led to a 3-1 win for Jesus.

Both teams began brightly and it was obvious from the first few minutes that the game was going to be decided by the finest of margins. Jesus soon settled into their familiar style of total football but the Selwyn defence did well to limit them to a few speculative shots from distance. Selwyn then went close themselves with a forty yard attempt just being tipped onto the bar by Josh Gertner.  The first half was largely played in the middle of the park and it was unsurprising that the whistle blew for half time with the game still goalless.

The second half began much as the first had ended. Jesus had the majority of possession but just couldn’t find a way to break down the Selwyn defence. However, Selwyn had raised their game after the break and they were soon ahead.  An audacious shot from the edge of the area took a large deflection from John Crawford and wrong-footed the Jesus keeper. Gertner did well to keep the initial shot out, but could do nothing about Lewis Ball’s smart follow-up which handed Selwyn the lead.

Jesus knew they had to raise their game and a more attacking formation started to wear down the Selwyn defence. A confrontation between Connor Emerton and Selwyn’s Matthew Sullivan, for which the Selwyn midfielder was lucky not to be sent off, further angered the Jesus players and they soon were handed a way back into the game.

With ten minutes left on the clock, Kwesi Peterson’s impressive run from left-back was ended with a late tackle in the penalty box and the referee had no choice but to point to the spot. Jack Anderson sent the keeper the wrong way for his first goal. Jesus won the ball back from the kick-off and Ritchie Ashmeed delivered a low cross into the box that Anderson met from four yards out to put Jesus ahead. Selwyn pressed on for an equaliser, but Jesus broke again and Anderson finished his hat-trick with a smart finish into the bottom corner. Jesus were unfortunate to go behind but came back strongly to win their third game of the season.

Hat-trick hero Jack Anderson

Downing Renew Title Challenge With Impressive Win At Fitz (by Louis Ross)

Two goals from captain Clark Glasgow and a third from Ben Guest were enough to overturn Fitz’s 1-0 lead in a closely fought game in North Cambridge.

Fitzwilliam started the game strongly, keeping the ball well and applying early pressure on an unfamiliar Downing back line. The home side’s dominance paid off in the first 15 minutes, when a ball over the top caught out Luke Thompson, allowing Donald Fogle to expertly loop his header over the despairing keeper.

An early goal proved to be the push Downing needed, as a Max Burley corner was swung in at the second attempt for Ben Guest to nod home from 2 yards.

The visitors continued to press hard and were rewarded when a Burley free kick was met by Guest again, only for it to crash against the crossbar leaving Glasgow with a simple headed tap-in.

The first half proved to be a fiery contest, with Bogle entering the book for a strong tackle on Glasgow, and Tom Coombes shown yellow for dissent in an otherwise sportsmanlike match.

The teams came out after half-time fighting, with Downing allowing Fitz more time on the ball as they pushed for an equaliser. Pierre-Yves Colin and Patrick Tice looked dangerous going forward, but couldn’t find a way past Downing’s towering centre-back Joe Moorcroft-Moran.

With Fitz attacking high up the pitch, Downing looked to counter-attack, and despite a half of sustained Fitz pressure, it was Downing who sealed the result after releasing Glasgow down the wing. Picking the ball up on the half way line, Clark glided past a tired George Pilakoutas before curling an unstoppable shot over the keeper.

With only minutes to go, Downing saw out the win, much to the delight of the travelling support. Final score, 1-3.

Other Results

Tit Hall beat Catz 3-1 with goals from Gus Lewis (x2) and Nick Hands who was also man of the match. This maintains what has been a very impressive and somewhat unexpected start to the season as they currently top the table.

Caius beat Christs 3-2 to keep up the pressure on Tit Hall. Goals from Nikos Yerolemou (x2) andJeremy Warner.

The table as it stands nearly half way through the season: