North blast title-race wide open with impressive ease

Sylvans 1, Northerners 5

TALK of another Priaulx League title out west looked a little premature this weekend. Sylvans' apparently unstoppable march to a record-breaking 10th successive championship was halted by their closest challengers on Saturday.

Goals from Jon Veron (2), Stuart Polson, Tom Duff and Matt Le Cras gave Northerners a memorable away victory and the chocolate-and-blues now have the upper hand in this unpredictable and exciting title race.

Sylvans assistant coach Dave Brehaut, standing in for the holidaying Richard Packman, said that his team 'totally deserved' to lose by four goals.

'We were very poor and there wasn't much effort there from our lads. We had players missing like Ian Potter, Adie Exall, Tony Vance and John Nobes, but that's no excuse for today.'

But Brehaut remained defiant and promised that Sylvans would 'bounce back' and would 'still win the league'.

North boss Geoff Tardif, whose gamble to play young guns Veron and Dave Rihoy up front paid off spectacularly, said that this win was one of the sweetest and most satisfying of his senior coaching career.

'I do honestly think that we deserved to win 5-1 and we could've actually scored more,' said Tardif.

'Matt Le Cras definitely had his best game for me and I thought that Gavin Le Page was excellent on a heavy pitch like that. The two boys up front were really sharp and Stuart Polson, after being out with injury for a long time, was superb at the back.

'But I really don't want to single out individuals too much because all of the lads were excellent.

'I mean, take Tom Duff, I'd like to have seen a pedometer reading on him today because his effort was tremendous. To have a lad with that sort of work-rate is such an asset for a coach.'

Despite the euphoria of such a comprehensive and significant victory, Tardif refused to talk up his side's title chances and said that Wednesday night's league derby at Vale Rec. was now the only thing on his mind.

Should North come out of the traps as quickly and as effectively on Wednesday as they did at St Peter's, Vale will have trouble living with them.

The 1992 champions really were ruthless as they inflicted on Sylvans the heaviest league defeat that most of their players could recall.

The visitors took the lead in the sixth minute.

Veron's pace opened up Sylvans' unusually sluggish back four, which was a portent of the drama to unfold, and the young striker finished off a long, angled ball with aplomb.

Rihoy and Le Cras came mighty close to extending North's lead before skipper Polson, who made an unexpected return after a three- month lay off, headed in a Veron cross.

Sylvans were made to look like a group of disorganised schoolboys as North continued to run riot and Rihoy's dipping, swerving shot from 25 yards hit the post after beating Ian Drillot in the 20th minute.

The westerners' one decent attack of the game ended in their only goal - Ryan Tippett stuck away a very good penalty after being pulled down by North goalkeeper Paul de Garis, a former Sylvan for whom this win must have been especially sweet.

Veron and Ross Cameron then saw efforts come back off the bar late in the first half.

Those of us foolhardy enough to brave the atrocious weather conditions speculated at half-time about whether a one-goal lead would be sufficient for North. We expected a Sylvans onslaught in the second period. Fat chance of that, though.

Tardif's side looked even more comfortable in the second half and were well worth three more goals.

Tom Duff poked home from close range after Drillot allowed a ball into the box to slip through his hands five minutes after the restart and Sylvans just rolled over and died.

North could and perhaps should have opened up a three-goal lead on several occasions soon after Duff's strike, but they had to wait another 25 minutes to turn a big scoreline into an embarrassing one for Sylvans.

Le Cras, another ex-Sylvan, was jubilant after heading in a fourth in the 72nd minute and Veron converted a penalty in the 80th minute.

Substitute Mark Ogier came close to adding to Sylvans' misery four minutes from time and that wouldn't have flattered North. Indeed, a six or seven-goal margin of victory wouldn't have been unjust.

*On a good day for North their Railway League side crushed St Martin's 6-2 with two goals from Dudley Boscher.