Marjon Men’s football B’s continued their impressive start to the season on Wednesday with a resounding 4-2 victory against Plymouth Dukes A’s in the preliminary round of the George Lang cup.
With heavy rain and wind featuring throughout the game – the teams had the elements to battle, as well as each other, in what was a high intensity affair from the first whistle.
The game started off quite cagey, both teams tried to maintain their shape and not give too much away.
Marjon right-back, Jake Good, was withdrawn after ten minutes with an ankle injury, meaning the hosts had to change their shape but it didn’t affect them.
Plymouth Dukes looked to get the ball down and play early on in the game, but it was Marjon who were creating the more threatening chances. It wasn’t long before the home team went ahead.
Ollie Gourd was picked out with a perfectly timed ball down the right wing, with his cross finding Connor Mckechnie at the far post – and the substitute made no mistake with his deflected shot finding the bottom right corner of the net.
Marjon continued to pile on the pressure, with a goalmouth scramble resulting in a near miss for Gould, but it wasn’t long before the host’s made it two.
Connor Marshall played a hopeful ball down the right hand side for Blaine Sperring to run onto, and the striker controlled the ball well before being clattered into by the goalkeeper in the penalty area.
Sperring got himself back to his feet and calmly tucked the resulting penalty away for his sixth goal of the season.
Plymouth Dukes A’s, who sit third-bottom in the division above Marjon B’s, were in danger of being left behind by their opponents and they had one chance of note in the first half.
Dukes’s 25-yard free-kick looked to be heading for the left had side of the goal, but often eccentric goalkeeper Scott Staddon got across his goal superbly to turn the ball behind for a corner.
A rampant Marjon managed to add a third before the break.
Mckechnie’s effort from the top of the box was spilled by the Dukes keeper, allowing Gourd to follow up and score his first goal since the opening game of the season.
Marjon B’s have been known for their slow starts in recent weeks, so captain Shane Vince would’ve been delighted to see his team put in such a dominant performance and be leading 3-0 at the break.
Duke’s would have wanted to come out fighting in the second-half but Marjon added a fourth goal in the 60thminute.
Sperring won the ball in the middle of the park and fed the ball wide to Gourd, with his cutback finding midfielder Chris Crawford – whose low shot went past the keeper for 4-0.
At 4-0, Marjon sat back and didn’t create too many chances in the last half an hour.
The score-line allowed Marjon to make a couple of changes and give players extra minutes but they suffered a scare late on with Dukes scoring two goals in 5 minutes, including an improvised back heal finish with around 10 minutes to go.
Despite the scare, Marjon B’s hung on for their fifth win of the season and they will take on the City Police in the first-round round of the George Lang cup after Christmas.
Marjon Captain Shane Vince said “Both teams struggled to cope with the weather but eventually we got used to it and started controlling the game.
“Our passing, moving and communication were top quality and that’s what allowed us to dictate the tempo of the game and why we managed to get the win.”
Josh Yeomans was named man of the match after a fantastic display on his debut.
The fixtures come thick and fast now for Marjon B’s, and they will take on Commando’s next week in the first-round Jack Finch cup.
In other football news –
Marjon 1’s defeated Bristol 2’s team 5-1 to maintain their 100% record and Marjon A’s won 6-0 against HMS Raleigh to go into the second round of the George Lang cup.
