E Cambridge Cup 2nd Round

DC steamed into the next round of the league cup with a fantastic win against previously unbeaten Fox & Hounds.

DC were missing some important players but did have player/manager Richard Scaldwell back in the starting line-up after returning from injury.

DC started brightly putting together some nice passing moves and could have scored on a couple of occasions only for the defence to make last gasp challenges. The best chance fell to Chris Taylor who dived to meet a cross from the right hand side only to see the ball go wide of the post. As is the norm in recent matches DC were behind at half time when a corner was only cleared to the striker on the edge of the box who dispatched a shot into the top right hand corner leaving Rory no chance in goal.

DC carried their good work in the first half through to the second and found some joy with Simon Langthorne racing clear of the defence on a number of occasions. Simons running paid off when he raced on to a through ball from DC veteran Kev Pitkin. With the goalkeeper coming out Simon squared the ball for Chris Taylor to smash the ball home from close range. 1-1.

The goal seemed to give DC even more confidence and the Fox & Hounds defence were unable to cope with the running of Simon & Chris up front. The second goal came when Chris raced clear of the defence only to be scythed down on the edge of the box, left back Andy Fookes, hunting for the man of the match award, stepped up and slotted the ball home off the post to put DC 2-1 ahead.

Fox & Hounds put the pressure on the DC defence for the last 20 minutes allowed the strikers more space but DC failed to increase the margin. With time running out Fox & Hounds looked like they could get an equaliser but were denied on a couple of occasions by Rory in the DC goal, the pick of which was a tip over the bar in the last couple of minutes that any keeper would have been proud of.

A fantastic team performance sees DC through to the next round of the league cup. Man of the match for this one was Andy Fookes.

League

DC got the second win in a week with a 3-0 victory over Loxwood Park Rangers on Thursday.

DC started well against a good Loxwood team and took the lead in the first half after Jenson Langford rose at the far post to head home Fooksey’s corner. It became 2-0 shortly after when Owen capitalised on a loose ball in the area and bundled it home from just a couple of yards out. Jenson scored again in the first half to make it 3-0 with a right footed shot that curled into the far corner.

Loxwood came at DC for the second half but the defence stood firm.

Man of the match for a superb display in the middle of the park was Richard Scaldwell.

E Cambridge Cup Q/F

DCS crashed out of the cup with a 5-2 defeat to FC Ole.

DC took the lead in the first half when the Ole keeper dropped a long freekick from Matt Bovey into his own net. DC frustrated Ole for the rest of the half and went into the half time break with the lead intact.

DC started the second half slow and conceded 3 goals early in the second half to find themselves 3-1 back. It got worse for DC later in the half with another 2 goals conceded made the score 5-1.

There was a consolation goal for DC as Chris Campbell netted his first for the season but the eventual winner was never in doubt.

Man of the match this time out was Carl Littlechild who put in a great performance covering at left back.

O'Neill; James Knight, Sprackling, Littlechild; Bovey; Barker, Pitkin, Bell, Taylor; Entract, Langford
Campbell
Ian Taylor (80/100)

League

DC produced a fantastic comeback and took all three points against the league leaders this morning. Matt opened the scoring, his first for the club with a glancing header from Fooksies free kick early on in the first half. That lead was wiped out within 10 minutes and DC soon found themselves staring at a 1-3 scoreline with still 15 mins of the first half remaining. Simon was then put through and his pace was enough to help his get past the final defender and squeeze the ball past the on rushing keeper. Simon popped up again 3 minutes before time to level the scoreline with a brave effort. A big punt upfield was chased down by Simon, an Earley defender and the Earley goalkeeper. The ball bounced, the three off them clattered into each other although Simon managed to get his head to the ball and head the ball into the empty net from 18 yards. The wind was in DC's sails and they took this into the second half. Earley continued to look dangerous although DC contained them and created chances themselves. The Steamers then took the lead when Scaldie turned and shot from the edge of the box. Owen then sealed the win with a well taken solo effort and ensure DC walked away with the 3 points

O'Neill; James Knight, Bovey, Sprackling, Fookes; Barker, Scaldwell, Bell, Temple, Langthorne, Langford

Tim Milgate (80/100)

League

DC kicked off their series of evening fixtures with a home win against fellow strugglers Meadow Rangers. This win took DC off the foot of the table and relegated their opposition.

DC started the game well and created good chances and eventually took the lead when an Andy Fookes free kick from the right hand side of the area was headed in at the back post by Richard Scaldwell. DC held the 1-0 lead to the half time break.

After a quick turnaround Meadow Rangers came at DC at the start of the second half although an error by their keeper allowed Simon Langthorne to make the score 2-0. An Andy Fookes corner looked to be gathered comfortably by the keeper until he dropped the ball and allowing Simon to score.

DC had a Matt Bovey goal disallowed before some nice play between Owen Temple and Simon allowed Owen to make it 3-0.

Meadow grabbed a consolation goal after a mix up between goal keeper and defence but never looked like getting anything from the game with DC taking the 3 points to move off the bottom of the table.

Man of the match for this one was Richard Scaldwell for a dominant performance in the middle of the park.

O'Neill; James Knight, Bovey, Sprackling, Fookes; Barker, Scaldwell, Bell, Temple, Langthorne, Langford
Campbell
Peter Hitt (90/100)