2s v Worcester College Old Boys

After a delayed start to the season, the 2s were ready for their first game of the season, against Senior Division 2 South newbees Worcester College Old Boys. However, the majority of their regular squad might not have been.

A selection crisis, which saw their captain and tactitan Roscini needed by the first team, coupled with an exodus of regular squad players who have returned to university or north of the border, meant the newly appointed 2s management team had a job on their hands to pull together a side for this weekend. Fortunately the 2s were aided by some old faces who had a week off from the Vets and returned to pull on the Boro 2s jersey once again. Stone, Nicholas, McNally, and Power all put themselves forward to roll back the years and help the 2s in their quest to get the new season off to a flyer.

Alongside the returning faces from the Vets, the 2s welcomed a string of new faces including Darling, MacCool, Da Souza, Bourchier, Ward and Wasey who were all making their Boro 2s debuts, meaning Belger, Youngman, Cozens Smith, and Faure were the only regulars in this week's squad from last season's great escape.

With co-captain Jefferson, taking on the Sean Dyche managerial role after his head injury last week and Roscini's carefully made plans being circulated in the run up to the game, a pre-match Take Me Out style introductions session meant the side at least knew each other's names, positions, and marital status. It was therefore unsurprising that given the freshness of the new side, the 2s were a little slow to settle into the game. Worcester College had been in action against Pauline last week, and they were looking to get off to a good start which meant they came flying out of the blocks, and created a few chances which whistled past Belger's posts on a couple of occasions.

However, just before the first water break the game began to shift. A long ball from Youngman found the reliable head of McNally, who managed to put Cozens-Smith clean through on goal. Alas, strong pressure from the Worcester goalkeeper meant Cozens-Smith's effort ended up hitting the post and going out of play. However, this gave the 2s encouragement.

Following the introduction of club legend Power after the water break, the 2s had doubled their target men upfront. This helped give McNally space, and a Beckham-esq cross field ball found the feet of Cozens-Smith, who this time made no mistake and rifled his effort into the bottom left corner. 1-0 Boro!

As we approached the end of the first half, the Boro faced an onslaught of Worcester attacks, but the 2s defence remained defiant, with Stone, Youngman, and Nicholas making last ditch challenges, and new boy Darling bringing a calm presence to the back line. This allowed the 2s to reach the half 1-0 up, with plenty of work still needed in the second half.

Following the break Worcester continued to press forward, but weren't able to find a way past the solid Boro defence. However, a long ball over the top caught out the back line and Stone collided with Worcester's onrushing striker which resulted in the ref pointing to the penalty spot. Belger wearing the captain's armband for the first time starred down the nervy Worcester penalty taker, but in theory he was hoping for a miracle. Thankfully the football gods answered his prayers and the Worcester penalty taker blazed his spot kick wide of Belger's right hand post, meaning the Boro survived once again.

This miss hit Worcester, and Boro went in search of an allusive second goal. Close efforts from corners, and long range strikes weren't enough to double Boro's lead meaning the 2s faced a nervy last 20 minutes following the final water break.

Worcester went for the jugular but the 2s defence cleared every opportunity. However, in stoppage time a corner flew into the box and was cleared off the line first by Da Souza, and then even more impressively by Stone on the left hand post. The Boro thought time was up, but the referee, inspired by the new Premier League stoppage time rules, added a further 8 minutes onto the game.

With Jefferson pacing the sideline, whilst on babysitting duty for Faure, those 8 minutes felt like an eternity. But Boro's defensive resolve never gave up, and soon the blessed relief of the ref's whistle ended the game, and gave the 2s an opening day win.

A hugely impressive performance, and the 2s will be indebted to the Vets who helped guide an inexperienced side to a vital win. The only downside was Roscini's injury during the 1s game, but our Italian mastermind will likely have a great impact from the sidelines over the next few weeks.

UTB