Cambridge Falcons 2

Oxford Centaurs 0

BUCS Midlands 4th Division

Goals in either half from Ollie Lerway and Henry Alexander lifted the Cambridge Falcons to a 2–0 home victory against Varsity rivals Oxford Centaurs. 

Oxford, who’ve been having something of an indifferent season in the Midlands 4D division, weren’t totally outclassed. In fact, theirs was the first opening of the afternoon, with the busy Miles Partridge, Oxford’s centre forward, side-footing wide to the right of John Harrison’s goal within just minutes of the first whistle.  But chances for the away side were relatively few and far between.

In honesty, this one was never going to end up on a highlight reel. Both teams tended to favour the longer pass out of defence - a valid tactic, of course - but it had the effect of a jittery afternoon, brimming with grit but little guile. Cambridge’s pressing game showcased their athleticism, but their shape, with two attacking midfielders spending most of their time behind centre forward Henry Alexander, had the ball swamped in midfield for much of the early stages.

With Oxford seemingly favouring a three-man defence, some natural width wouldn’t have gone amiss. But early on, most of Cambridge’s wing play was provided by Alexander, always happy to get chalk on the boots, and often disappointed to find no one waiting in the middle to connect with a cross.

It became obvious soon enough that Cambridge were at their most dangerous from set pieces.  A corner, won wide left by the tireless Alexander, might well have put Cambridge one to the good had midfielder Oscar Melbourne been able to keep his header down. 

Then a throw in - won by Alexander, again - and the breakthrough. The ball was flung into the 18 yard box for attacker Harry Hicks to chest down. A neat pirouette and pass later, and right back Ollie Lerway had the time to lace it into the bottom left corner. Oxford goalkeeper Sean Gleeson got a hand to it, but it was nowhere near convincing enough, and the ball squirmed unhurriedly into the back of the net. 

Lerway, speaking to Varsity after the match, said, “I saw the ball coming in and I just thought I’d hang around the edge just in case there was any knockdowns, just thought I’d try and put it in the corner.  The ’keeper probably should have saved it but I’m not complaining!”

Lerway, obviously bolstered by his goal, started leading the Cambridge charge forward against an Oxford backline that started to drop deeper and organise itself. His tête-à-tête with the lively Zachary Liew on the Oxford left wing provided one of the day’s most interesting battles. The Dark Blues’ wide man was a thorn in the side for the home team with his direct running and and close control. He was also at the heart of arguably Oxford’s clearest cut chance at Harrison’s goal, well through on goal from a through ball, but the Cambridge keeper was out quickly enough to collect with the minimum of fuss.

Oxford weren’t bad on the wide right either, with flanker Matthew Naylor drawing serious defensive work out of a consistently excellent Demos Christou, happy to break his lines and press when Oxford reached the final third. Though for all his fleet-of-foot, Naylor only really got the better of Cambridge on one occasion, embarking on a mazy run inside the full-back and crossing low to target man Miles Partridge. The Oxford man set himself and struck, only to be foiled by defender Omar Amjad who put in the best challenge of the afternoon to help the ball soar harmlessly over the bar.

Cambridge didn’t have it all their own way, however. Winning possession early in the second half, Hicks took the ball down beautifully from a lofted pass, weaved his way into the box and played in Lerway, denied a brace by a brave smother from Sean Gleeson.

If Gleeson had been unconvincing for Lerway’s goal, his efforts to keep the arrears at one were outstanding. Cambridge’s Joe Ellis, whose move closer to the attacking midfield position in the second half was giving his side more cohesion going forward, struck a peach of a shot from all of 25 yards. It looked all but destined for the top right, until Gleeson rose to divert it over with the faintest of fingertips. 

The chances kept coming. Substitute Emmanuel Farinre took over the number seven shirt for Cambridge, and his arrival midway through the second half invigorated the contest. His blistering pace took him past defender after defender, and it almost paid dividends for him when he stole the ball from a dawdling Oxford centre-back and dropped his shoulder to set himself clear on goal, but his left footed curler whistled agonisingly wide.

The longer the second goal took in coming, the more Oxford sensed something from the game. The Dark Blues threw numbers forward in search of an equaliser, with Cambridge tiring and resorting to putting the ball out of play to regroup in the face of mounting pressure. But barring a decent-ish half volley from Sam Morris, and a left footed free kick from Zachary Liew, the Cambridge goalkeeper had very few saves to make.

There was still time for a sucker punch. Two minutes left on the clock, and Oscar Melbourne headed down a long ball. It was duly received by Alexander, who killed off the game, faking his way past Sean Gleeson and rolling home for 2-0. 

Cambridge captain Jonny Crease was full of praise for his side’s ability to see it out. “I don’t think Oxford necessarily deserved that goal,” he said, “they had a lot of players up the pitch, but the way we took it, to maintain that intensity and press them that high up the pitch towards the end was fantastic, I think it was Oscar winning the header, when really he should be knackered, he shouldn’t be that high up, and it was a calm finish by Henry.”