With the worst of the weather behind us both Worthing College Academy Football teams were in action this week, with the 2nd XI taking on Chichester High in the Sussex League and the 1st XI contesting their most important game of the season in Gloucester against a strong looking Cirencester side for a place in the last 8 of the English Colleges National Cup.
The 1st XI set off early to ensure a safe and relaxed journey west and all players were in buoyant mood after their Friday exploits against a physical Ravenswood team. The only change from that starting line up was Andy Heward returning in the heart of the defence to partner Jack Boxall with Nick Colwell being the unfortunate one to miss out due to suspension. Matty Rance returned to the bench to potentially secure his third cap for the Academy along with Chris Churchill and Phil Charman.
The main ethos from the team was to have “no regrets” and “not to miss out on this opportunity”. After speaking to the opposition manager coach Dave Hall alluded to the Worthing team that the Cirencester centre half had just been picked for England, so the boys knew the magnitude of the task ahead. The cup tie was played on a flat, yet bobbly surface with a strong wind blowing from left to right. Captain Luke Jearum appeared to lose the toss and this meant that Worthing were kicking with the wind at their backs, but the sun in their eyes. The boys could not have asked for a better start and were ahead inside 30 seconds (surely the fastest goal in Worthing Colleges’ Academy history!). Tomas Nemeth, who has impressed whenever he has played for the first team won the ball in the opposition third, played a one two with Alex Staines and played in left striker Sam Mannings to fire through the legs of the home goalkeeper. 1-0.
What a start!! However this got even better inside 3 minutes, Nemeth again was the provider putting in Mannings again to fire the ball into the top corner from 12 yards out. 2-0. Worthing needed to now concentrate because all too often teams who score too early often become unstuck, so discipline was the name of the game surely? The conditions were not too conducive for free flowing football and both sides struggled to string a number of passes together. The home side responded to the early set back relatively well and began to fly into the tackle, which was well dealt with by the referee. Worthing seemed to cope well with this response, with Andy Heward, Jack Boxall, Ali Giammattei and George Dowell standing firm as Worthing’s back line, but when Cirencester did attempt to break their duck goalkeeper James Fernandes was in inspired form.
As the half went on Worthing knew that a 2 goal lead was potentially not enough to secure this tie, so their attacking style was required to gain a third and it almost came from a Nemeth corner, which was swung in at pace and Jordan Clark rose highest only for the ball to be kicked off the line! That was a near miss, but Worthing were to add to their tally minutes later and it was Mannings again to complete his hat trick, this time straight from a corner, which beat the Cirencester goalkeeper all ends up. 3-0.
With not long to go now in the half Worthing just needed to keep their sheet clean to ensure the match was theirs, however this was not to be with the Cirencester number 10 getting in between Boxall and Heward to loop the ball over Fernandes with his head. 3-1. If you thought this was bad the worst was yet to come. Jordan Clark tangled with the “England player”, which resulted in the home player stamping on Clark (video evidence of this). Alex Staines looked to diffuse the situation, but this culminated into “hand bags” with the ball up and away in Worthing’s half. The referee was obviously watching the ball and left it to the Cirencester substitute, who was running the line to accuse Staines of an intentional headbutt. The referee then showed Staines a straight red card and left the England centre half walking away from the incident. Worthing needed to now keep their heads and get through the last 50 minutes or so with 10 men. Coach Dave Hall made the tactical switch of reverting to a 4-4-1 formation with Nemeth moving into the lone striker role. Luckily for Worthing their opponents failed to trouble Fernandes before the half time whistle.
The word at half time was to keep possession, be brave and have no regrets. With the wind at their back Cirencester were confident of taking the tie to at least extra time and started strongly by pushing players forward at will. Fernandes was called into action a few times in the opening exchanges of the half, but his handing was exceptional. With this pressure Worthing soaked it up with great maturity and commitment and were beginning to catch Cirencester on the break, Nemeth played in Mannings only for him to shoot wide. Back came the home side with a number of corners and throw ins, which seemed to come one after the other. Fernandes was brave with his punching as was Clark, Luke Jearum, Boxall and Mannings with their heading and clearing. By soaking up this pressure Worthing were rewarded mid way through the second half. Jordan Clark played in a Beckham style free kick by using the wind as his friend, which found Andy Heward, who had made an exceptional late run and he volleyed the ball past the despairing Cirencester goalkeeper, which led to wild celebrations and even coach Dave Hall “got emotional”. 4-1.
Worthing were again confident and changes were made to replace tired legs. Chris Churchill came on for Nemeth and almost straight away made an impact, but just failed to get his shot off after beating his man in the area. Cirencester were becoming increasingly frustrated and this began to show in their play and their whole approach to the game. The moaning began, as did the kicking. Ben Standing, who had been excellent throughout almost had his head taken off from a flailing boot, which led to heated exchanges between the sets of players. This led to Standing being replaced by Phil Charman and Andy Heward was replaced by Matty Rance for his third cap. This meant Jordan Clark moving back to centre half with Rance taking his place in midfield.
For the last 10 minutes Cirencester tried to give it all they have to get back into the game and they did finish the scoring with a long ball over the top, which beat the defence and the number 10 lobbed the ball over the advancing Fernandes. 4-2. There was still time for Worthing to have another chance to seal it. Mannings played the ball across to Churchill, who toed it through to Phil Charman who from a close angle found the goalkeepers chest rather than the goal.
As the final whistle went Worthing were respectful in victory and at the same time excited and pleased with their efforts. The lads performed admirably, even though it wasn’t the best they had played football wise it was a mature and professional team performance. All of the boys should be proud of their efforts and look forward to their potential opponents in the quarter finals.
Meanwhile the 2nd XI played against a better than expected Chichester High team, who ran out 4-3 winners in the Sussex League. Worthing raced into a 3-1 lead with Matt Dodd, Ezio D’Ercole and Zaki Rahman scoring for Worthing, however attitudes were poor and complacency set in, which resulted in this defeat. In reflection the lads are having a great season, but they must make sure that they continue to up their efforts to ensure that complacency does not rear its ugly head again.
Hope you all have a good half term and thanks again for all your efforts.
Onwards & Upwards!!
Hallsy
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