Somerville ship seven as Oriel sail to victory
College Football
Oriel 7 - 5 Somerville
WONDERFUL hat-tricks from Oriel forwards Steve West and Dan Freyhan proved crucial as Somerville succumbed in a topsy-turvy 12-goal thriller. The home side started brighter, with captain Andrew Geake controlling the middle of the park. But Oriel's failure to carve out gilt-edged opportunities worked in Somerville's favour. The away side struck twice on the counter-attack to go 2-0 up after 20 minutes.
Ben Harris opened the scoring following a mazy run through the hosts' defence, slotting the ball past Oriel keeper Pete Campbell. Somerville captain Nicky Tamlyn added a second just minutes later, with a stunning shot into the left corner of the goal that left the home side's defence dumbstruck. Oriel's coach urged his side to refocus in the face of the visitors' buoyancy. In hindsight his worries were misplaced, as his side went into the break with a 3-2 lead.
Patient build-up play from Mark Jenkins and Freyhan allowed Oriel to exploit gaps in a disjointed Somerville defence, and gradually work themselves back into the game. With the home side ascendancy, the scoring free-forall could well have continued before the break. It was only blunted by a stalwart rearguard led by the skilful Mike Dyer in the heart of the visitors' defence.
A weaker team could easily have wilted under this Oriel onslaught, but a combination of Dyer's grit, Tamlyn's aggression and winger Ali Moir's pace enabled a determined Somerville to fight back and retake the lead on the hour, as Moir struck a superb goal. Cutting in from an attacking throw on the right, the winger shimmied past three defenders before unleashing an unstoppable 20-yard topcorner drive.
The visitors' resurgence rocked Oriel, and the away side duly took advantage with a cheeky fifth goal – Boyle securing his brace after finding an opening in the defence. After a sustained period of Oriel pressure that saw two goalmouth scrambles, a crucial 76th-minute corner was forced. West rose high to head home: 5-4. West's hattrick came just a minute later with a fierce 25-yard drive.
The tide of the game had changed once again – this time in Oriel's favour – and a pinpoint Halliwell cross found Freyhan unmarked; he made no mistake from close range. The frantic final ten minutes saw each side struggle in the difficult conditions, but it was Freyhan's precise finish that completed the scoring at 7-5, sending Oriel supporters into raptures of relief and delight as they realised that the match was finally theirs.
Tamlyn was understandably disappointed after the final whistle but paid credit to both teams' “fine football” in a “great encounter”.
24th Feb 2005