Lonsdale (Lancaster) 6 – Derwent (York) 1
After a great performance in the inter-College league, Lonsdale went into the Roses weekend looking to secure a historic double by claiming victory in the College A League Winners match. With a number of final year students in their ranks, Lonsdale were looking for a win in what could be one of the final matches that the team is together.
As the match drew closer, conditions were perfect both overhead and underfoot. Speaking as the players were warming up, Lonsdale manager Matthew Lavelle told SCAN that after a good week of training and practice matches, spirits were high. “The lads have been looking sharp” Lavelle continued, “and we’ll be looking to get into Derwent from the kick-off and try and spread the ball wide as much as possible”.
With a potential kit-clash averted by Derwent donning bibs for the match, the match began as many would have expected with tackles flying in from both sides. With Sam Browes and Kris Sanderson sitting in front of the Lonsdale defence, the Lancaster boys were set up well to deal with Derwent’s fairly pacey front line.
Immediately, Lavelle’s desire to push the ball wide at any opportunity was creating chances. Three corners came and went for Lonsdale; one in particular should have been turned in by Ben Gregory who had a free header at the back post. They were then almost made to pay with Derwent firing a free kick just over the bar with a rasping drive from thirty yards out.
Just as the game looked to be developing into a scrappy, end-to-end contest, Lonsdale’s front line clicked to absolute perfection. Following great work from Dec Cartwright, George Nicholson bundled home the cross to give Lancaster’s representatives a 1-0 lead. The game had barely restarted when Cartwright again bamboozled the Derwent defence before squaring to Matty Atkinson, who had a simple tap in to make it 2-0.
But Lonsdale weren’t finished there. Having received the ball with his back to goal, Jack Halliwell turned his defender and smashed home. The boys in blue were running riot, and at the half hour stage the game was effectively over.
Following a scrappy Derwent attack soon after kick-off, Louis Jones, in one of his final games for Lonsdale College, got his dream Roses goal. Sadly for him, it was at the wrong end of the field; in attempting to clear a dangerous cross, he succeeded only in bulleting a header into his own net.
This set-back was only temporary for Lancaster though. After a free-kick was won way out on the right-hand side, Halliwell stepped up. Whilst it didn’t look like a shot was on, he took it on anyway and the ball arched over the helpless Derwent keeper to take the score to 4-1 as the halftime whistle blew.
The second half was far quieter with both teams already fully aware that the game as a contest was over. Lavelle began to ring the changes, with Sanderson in particular getting a great ovation for an excellent day’s work in central midfield. There was still time for two more goals to be scored by Lonsdale before the final whistle blew on a dominant day for Lavelle and his team. The celebrations began straight away, with the manager appearing on the pitch with a bright blue flare before joining his players in celebration.
Following the game, Lavelle spoke to SCAN to indicate how pleased he was with the performance. “We just started so quickly that there was no way back for the York lads” he said. “We’ve turned up today, and even the own-goal to make it 3-1 didn’t cause any concerns, we just made sure we kept playing to the final whistle”.
A truly dominant performance from Lonsdale meant that they took the Roses point on offer. It really was quite a way for this year’s leavers to begin to sign-off from College duty.
Player ratings
Greg Rogers – A quiet day for the Lonsdale keeper. A few decent stops; could do nothing about the own-goal. 7/10
Joao Radeski – Supported the attacks well up the right-hand side and covered well when required. 7/10
Louis Jones – A very solid performance from Jones who anchored the defence and was spraying balls around the park all day. Shame about the own-goal. 6/10
Ryan Waterman – Good partnership with Jones in the centre of defence. Carried the ball well and looked composed. 7/10
Ben Gregory – Great performance down the left-hand side. Supported attacks well. 8/10
Kris Sanderson – Dominant performance in the centre of the park. Supported Browes well and kick-started a number of attacks. 8/10
Sam Browes – Got forward at every opportunity and linked up with the front men well. 7/10
George Nicholson – Opened the scoring and generally looked threatening coming in from the right. 7/10
Matty Atkinson – Linked up well with the other attackers and got the ball quickly to Halliwell when required. 7/10
Dec Cartwright – Did well to support Halliwell and looked dangerous coming in from the left. 7/10
Jack Hailliwell – A great performance from the centre forward with his goals and general work up front. 9/10
Matthew Lavelle (Manager) – Set up the team to absolute perfection and used his footballing philosophy of pushing the ball wide to ensure that Lonsdale took the points. 10/10
