Jesus bogged down by Worcester
Worcester continued an unbeaten start to the season with a mediocre performance in what captain Dave Gallagher described as bad conditions for football.
The pitch was in an appalling condition after a gruelling series of rugby and football fixtures. As a result Worcester found it difficult to make the most of the crisp high-quality passing they are clearly capable of.
Nevertheless they still started the stronger side, pegging Jesus back with inventive link-up play on the right wing. However, the away side's defence was up to the challenge of these early salvos. Jesus's Dave Knocker used his strength well to limit the chances created by a barrage of set-pieces whipped in by Worcester's Sam Rowlands.
At the other end Worcester were twice saved from undeserved embarrassment by the offside flag and once more by the commanding keeping of Dave Robinson.
With 26 minutes gone it looked as if Worcester had broken the deadlock when a corner was met by Dave Gallagher's head, only for the ball to crash back off the cross-bar. Mike Hobbiss subsequently came close to producing further chances with a series of surging runs down the right, and Jesus were palpably relieved at the sound of the half-time whistle.
In the second half the home side started well again. Will Maimarus, given space to occupy the left of midfield, forced Jesus keeper Joe Dicocco into a decent save.
With only 20 minutes still on the clock there appeared no reason to believe that either side would be able to secure a win until a brilliant ball sent through Jesus' Ryan West, who rounded the keeper only to hit the post with his shot.
While the sizeable crowd of away supporters still had their heads in their hands, a mess in the opposite goalmouth allowed an un-marked Maimarus to steer in the game's only goal.
Jesus tried their hardest to restore parity, but saw numerous opportunities cut off by the fierce tackling of Joe Huxley. In the last few minutes West did manage to burst through into the box with a promising run, but once again his poor finishing let him down.
Overall this was a long way from the heights of Worcester's victory over St Hugh's the week before. Both sides seemed to be looking for a mistake from their opponents rather than trying to force the game in their direction with aggressive play.
Although it was Jesus who eventually stumbled, Worcester would do well to bear in mind that it could as easily be their blunder that proves decisive next time.
Premier Division Wednesday 10th November
Magdalen 2 Keble 1
Queen's 7 Hertford 1
St Hugh's 2 Balliol 0
Friday 12th November
Balliol 4 Keble 2
Queen's 2 St Catherine's 1
Worcester 3 Magdalen 2
First Division Monday 8th November
Pembroke 3 Wadham 0
Somerville 4 Oriel 2
Trinity 2 St Edmund Hall 2
University 2 New 5
18th Nov 2004