Derby Men’s 5th XI 3-3 Oxford Brookes Men’s 3rd XI: Home side left disappointed after squandering two-goal lead
Words by Ed HS.
Oxford Brookes Men’s 3rd XI came back from two goals down to draw 3-3 against Derby Men’s 5th XI in an enthralling contest.
The game started quickly as both sides looked to grab it by the scruff of the neck and tried to impose themselves onto the opposition. The hosts started the better side as they attacked the visiting defence down the wings.
Within the first two minutes of the game, Oxford Brookes conceded an indirect free-kick inside their own penalty area. From the set-piece, Mitch Tompkins laid off Conor Humphries who smashed it into the back of the net leaving the keeper with no chance.
Derby continued their ruthlessness and doubled their lead soon after. A pinpoint pass from Josh Woolley put Cal Kirk one-on-one and he made no mistake, calmly finishing past the opposition goalkeeper.
The home side started to rest on their lead and sat deep but they were made to pay as a brilliant effort made it 2-1 to bring Oxford Brookes back into the game.
The visitors began to dominate, however conceded against the run of play with their goalkeeper fumbling a free-kick directly into the path of Tompkins who netted Derby’s third.
Oxford Brookes raced out of the blocks after the restart and pinned the hosts in their own half. The hosts did well to hold on against the endless resistance and it took a wonderful free-kick to spur a comeback.
With the lead cut to just one goal, a defensive mix up for Derby allowed one of the visiting attackers to latch onto a long ball and pull his side level.
In the end, it was two points dropped for the hosts who would undoubtedly feel disappointed by the result.
