Somerville set the early pace
IN THE COLLEGE football Premier Division, Worcester's disastrous start to the season continued, when they were humiliated 8-1 at home to Teddy Hall, writes Rob Devey.
Hall continued their dynamic start with a 6-1 away win at Merton/Mansfield to leave captain David Williams a happy man: "We played some of the best football I've seen here in the second-half, and our pre-season fitness sessions have clearly paid off," he said.
Somerville, conquerors of Worcester in first week, maintained their 100 percent start to the season with a hard-earned 1-0 victory at Wadham. Rob Siddel gave Mark Richards' men an early lead, blasting home after the Wadham defence failed to clear a corner. The hosts abandoned their wing-back system at half-time in favour of a 4-4-2 formation, but were unable to find an equaliser, despite enjoying more of the possession and hitting the bar. "The performance was as good as the win," crooned a delighted Richards, although Wadham supremo Laurence Clarke seemed less certain: "All credit to Somerville, they harried us non-stop," he said.
"But we played well after half-time, had a good case for a penalty, and probably deserved a draw."
Magdalen started in style with an impressive 7-1 win at Balliol, whose captain Pete Muprhy blamed the loss of key defenders for the set-back.
Exeter, looking to bounce back to the top division at the first attempt, started their Division One campaign with a 4-3 home win over Brasenose.
A brace from Freddie Gjertsen, and goals from Tom Barkworth and captain Darren Pettifer secured the victory, with Dave Matheson, Carl Hope and Justin Watts replying for the visitors.
Brasenose got their first points on the board on Monday, thanks to a 3-2 home success against Hertford. David Webster's side were boosted by the return of Blues stiker Thierry Richards, who grabbed two of the goals, Ritchie Latham getting the other. Captain Tim Randman and Ferhad Mekic were on the mark for Hertford, who had made a solid start to their season the previous Wednesday, beating Queen's 3-0, Alex Robinson, Ricky Tite and Matt D'Aubyn the scorers.
But it was St.Anne's who turned in the division's performance of the week, demolishing woeful Wolfson 12-0 at Woodstock Road. Skipper Mark Siddall helped himself to four goals, Richard Murray hit a hat-trick, and Richard Murphy claimed a brace. There were also goals for Joe Nicholson, Paul Irving and KJ Kim.
Down in Division Two, Christ Chuch signalled their intent with a 5-0 win at Corpus Linacre, and Pembroke also began with an away victory, running out 3-1 winners at Trinity. An Andy Crank double and a strike by Robin Hough secured the points.
Univ survived a spirited second-half fight-back by Oriel to triumph 3-2 in their opener. Despite trailing 3-0 at half-time, the visitors came out with all guns blazing in the second-half, and pulled goals back through George Spalton and John Schmit.
FORTHCOMING ATTRACTIONS
Friday 20 October (ko 2.15pm)
Premier League: Balliol v Worcester, Magdalen v Somerville
Division One: Jesus v Wolfson, St.Anne's v St.Hugh's
Division Two: Christ Church v Regent's Pk, Corpus Linacre v Pembroke, LMH v Univ
Cuppers Football - 1st Round Draw
Monday 23 October
Christ Church v Corpus Linacre, Exeter v Queen's, Hertford v Magdalen, New v SHE, Oriel v Jesus
Wednesday 25 October
Balliol v Keble, Regent's Pk v LMH, St.Hugh's v Univ
Friday 27 October
Brasenose v Pembroke, Lincoln v Worcester, Merton v Trinity, St.Anne's v Wolfson, St.Peter's v St.John's
Wadham, Somerville and St.Catz all received byes through to the second round, after respectively finishing last season as double winners, league runners-up and cup runners-up. The stand-out tie is the all-Premier league clash between New and Teddy Hall, but the games between Balliol and Keble, Brasenose and Pembroke, and Lincoln and Worcester all look set to be exciting encounters. St.Anne's will be rubbing their hands with glee after drawing Wolfson, whom they thrashed 12-0 last week.
19th Oct 2000