College Football Round Up – Week 2

Homerton 0 – Jesus 0

This was not one for the football purists.  As the clouds descended upon the Jesus College pitch, more Barnet than Barcelona, from the off, the hosts were a physical force to be reckoned with.

Though at times Homerton looked to play grounded, passing football from the back, Jesus were impressively robust and sufficiently quick in their pressing game to disrupt the majority of the moves.

This is not to say Jesus weren’t  effective going forward. They had considerable presence from the set pieces in particular, the majority of the first half saw them knocking on the door and getting close to the opener on numerous occasions. Without the superb defensive duo of Miles Walker and fresher Sammy Skipper, the Homerton wall would surely have been breached.

The longer the game went on, the more it looked a goalless draw. Though ‘Amadeus’ Andreas of the hosts threatened from a corner and there was the odd breakaway on the counter, the heroic Skipper, a young Terry Butcher, was not going to be beaten on the day.

Fitz on the attack

Fitz 2 – Kings 1

After an unfortunate incident reduced Kings to 10 men, this was always going to be a game of attrition, but a determined King’s side did well to hold off a strong Fitz side as long as they did.

Fitz captain and two-goal hero, Donald Bogle: “We controlled the game once Kings were reduced to ten men, but didn’t kill it off. We need to be more ruthless in front of goal if we want to challenge for the league.”

Kings captain, Ben McNally: “I can’t fault our players. The game became infinitely more difficult when we were reduced to 10, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. The players’ attitude and spirit were faultless, and, despite the loss, there were a lot of reasons to be optimistic.”

Read our full report here.

Downing 3 – Queens’ 0

Downing continued their strong start with a 3-0 victory over Queens’. An excellent header from Ben Guest delivered the final blow in the dying minutes, despite Queens’ equipping themselves well in what was always going to be a tough match.

Max Burley put Downing ahead from the penalty spot after a tense start in which neither side was able to dominate. The Queens’ keeper Ben Chalmers was in imperious form to nullify some threatening Downing through balls, keeping his side hot on the heels of the visitors.

A Downing corner got them the breakthrough late in the first half though. Max Burley reacted quickest to a loose ball in the box to double the lead and his own tally.

Queens’ came racing out in the second half and managed to test the opposing keeper with high balls and dangerous crosses from the right. He was equal to the challenge though and the men in green found few opportunities to shoot from inside the box.

The tireless work of their front men was a feature of the second half, and though it caused some defensive errors, the Downing back 4 proved again why they were one of the most effective units last season.

A corner to the back post was met impressively by Ben Guest, and finally established an unassailable lead for the league one champions.

Selwyn 1 – Caius 0

Rallying from their defeat last week, Selwyn put in an impressive performance to keep Caius at bay, frustrating the home side with some ‘Delap-esque’ skills. Read our full report here.