Fireworks from Centaurs as Leicester Dispatched
6th November 2008 16:16 | by David RobinsonLeicester University 1st 2-4 Centaurs
A stunning first 35 minutes saw the Centaurs tear apart Leicester's first team on the afternoon of bonfire night. After a nervy first 5 minutes in which Leicester showed their considerable ability on the ball Oxford opened the scoring on 7 minutes against the run of play as Ryan Taylor was allowed space to turn and play in strike partner Mayou whose shot cannoned back off the post. Dave Winterton was on hand to skillfully lift the rebound over the defender on the line and into the roof of the net from the edge of the area. The goal gave the Centaurs new-found belief and they began to cut through the Leicester back-line with regularity and it was no surprise that the second goal came on 12 minutes. Winterton was released down the right flank and unselfishly squared the ball across goal rather than shooting. The ball found its way to Zagajewski whose first-time finish nestled in the bottom corner.
On 25 minutes the game as a contest was effectively over. Tom Mayou again sprung the Leicester offside trap and rounded the goalkeeper before calmly slotting into the unguarded net from a narrow angle. Leicester were all over the place defensively, unable to cope with the Centaur's runners from midfield, and Oxford should have extended their lead even further with Mayou hitting a post when clean through and Quigley forcing a smart save from the Leicester keeper. The Centaurs did make it 4-0 however, just after the half-hour mark as Bruno Versailles' corner caused havoc and was bundled in on the far post by David Nzurubia.
Inevitably half-time altered things, with the Leicester players, no doubt, on the receiving end of a rocket from their coaches. The Centaurs also eased their foot off the gas and conceded when a free header from a corner was powered home on 55 minutes. The game petered out from that point on, with Leicester never really threatening the Oxford goal, and the Centaurs not having the cutting edge that was so evident in the first half. On 90 minutes Le Fanu was harshly judged to have handled after blocking a shot following another Leicester corner and the penalty was calmly dispatched to give the final scoreline a much closer look than might have been expected at half-time. The result moves the Centaurs off the bottom of the embryonic Midlands division 3B table, and they now sit just 2 points off the league leaders in what appears to be a very tight division.
