Match Report: Cambridge
University v Arthurian League Representative Team - Tuesday 13th Jan
2004
After two postponements and much frustration, the Arthurian League
Representative XI took to the field for the first time in the 2003/4 season
with traditionally their hardest fixture: the away trip to
Given the lack of pre-match preparation and the fact that the team had
never played together, the Arthurian League made an excellent start to the
game. Quentin Baker and Andy Brandon had control of the midfield, Ben Evans was
a strong presence down the left wing and the two forwards, Matt O`Brien and
Several chances were spurned in this opening period of domination:
Hoffen went close when his darting run to the near post ended in a first-time
shot going just wide, O`Brien fired over after
beating two men in the inside right channel and Tom James was unlucky not to
score his first rep team goal when the Cambridge `keeper dived at his feet to
save well.
However, as so often happens in football, if you do not take your
chances when you are on top, you tend to pay for it later. Having failed to
launch any attack of note, Cambridge opened the scoring after 20 minutes with a
goal straight from Danny Baker`s `Own Goals and Gaffs`
video: a long ball over the top caused hesitation from the Arthurian defence
and the Cambridge forward, who looked their best player on the night, nipped in
and chipped the ball over the diving Kershen. It appeared as though help was at
hand however, as both centre-backs, Gordon Baker and
The goal gave fresh hope to the students and they had the better of
things in the next 15 minutes, using their pace up front to good effect and
forcing a number of corners. The League side struggled to maintain the quality of
possession they had enjoyed in the opening period and this forced the two
strikers to come deeper, in turn allowing the
Then a couple of injuries forced a re-shuffle in the Arthurian side: an
unintentional elbow in Lederman`s face saw him
retreat with a bloody nose, Warner coming on as his
replacement; more seriously,
The last ten minutes of the half saw the Rep side once more in the
ascendancy. Although the team regained their composure and began playing some
good football again, the equaliser ten minutes before the break was pure route
one: Kershen took a quick long goal-kick which was missed by both the
For the last ten minutes of the half, it was one-way traffic. Lederman
collected a clearance on the edge of the box and having controlled it on his thigh, saw his volley crash against the
The 1-1 half-time scoreline was harsh on the Rep side which had not really
looked like conceding a goal but for the unfortunate misunderstanding between
the two centre-halves.
The second half was almost a parallel of the first: for the opening 15
minutes, the League side once again found themselves encamped in the Cambridge
half and created a number of chances: O`Brien fired
over with a left-footer, Lederman dithered on the edge of the box when a shot
would have been better and a number of crosses rained in on the Cambridge `keeper.
But for the second time in the match, the failure to score cost the Arthurian
League side dearly: a dubious free-kick was awarded on the edge of the penalty
area and slack marking allowed a
The remainder of the half turned into a scrappy affair. The Rep side
undoubtedly suffered when Matt O`Brien had to go off
with a back injury, allowing Piers Bourke a run on the left, Tom James
switching up front meaning the side was now playing with two wingers as
centre-forwards. The referee also didn`t
help proceedings, constantly interrupting the game to award some innocuous
fouls against the visitors which only raised frustration levels.
But in truth, the side only picked up the pace in the last few minutes:
several neat exchanges between Warner and
The final whistle signalled a 2-1 defeat which, it was generally agreed,
was extremely harsh on the visitors. The Cambridge team were a shadow of the
side that we faced last year and were lucky to come away with a win in which
they were dominated for a good 40 minutes and had little to offer of note
throughout the game.
For the Arthurian League, the three debutants all performed well, Matt O`Brien possibly the pick of them. There were also
excellent performances from the two central midfielders Andy Brandon and
Quentin Baker, and Ben Evans had an outstanding game at left-back.
A disappointing result, but an encouraging performance
for the first game of the season.
Arthurian League XI (
Subs: