Colombians draw first blood in opener

Colombians 3, Beavers 2

INVESTEC COLOMBIANS drew first blood over Beavers on the opening day of the Investec Men's Division One. Saturday's match at Foote's Lane between the league's big boys was always going to be an interesting litmus test for the rest of the season and it did not disappoint when Beavers took an early lead.

But Colombians rallied back to show why they have won the title for the last four years.

'Very pleased,' said Colombians captain and keeper Kees Jager afterwards.

'I don't think we played our best. We came through on effort and persistence in the end.

'That was the difference between the two sides. We worked a bit harder. That's not to say they didn't but we were a little bit more pumped up and we were making 20 or 30 yard runs to chase balls down, whereas they didn't.'

Beavers took the lead in the first 10 minutes through Jonathan Wilkes-Green. The tricky little striker danced his way past a number of yellow shirts before slotting the ball past Jager - a great individual effort.

He was a thorn in Colombians' side all day and, with Hywel Robinson and Daniel Wray, he is part of a young contingent who have established themselves in the Beavers ranks.

They certainly impressed Jager.

'Beavers have improved from last year,' he said.

'Full credit to them, they gave us a good game.'

Colombians should have equalised and possibly taken the lead shortly after going one down, but forward Chris Gill was guilty of missing two absolute sitters. He would not have been pleased with his woeful efforts.

The champions got their deserved equaliser five minutes before half-time through Rupert Iles with a first time shot from winger Tim Creasey's cross.

The game entered into the doldrums for the majority of the second half with neither team really threatening their opponent's goal.

The stalemate was broken 10 minutes from time when Tristan Cairns reverse stick slap squeezed under Beavers keeper Jason Robillard's dive. They were some issues as to whether he was infringed by TJ Ozanne but the goal stood after the ball had trickled over the line.

A minute later there were no questions when Ozanne turned and smashed home Matt de la Mare's pass into the D.

A top quality goal from the island forward Andy Whalley got a late consolation goal for Beavers with a short corner strike.

Beavers' star man had had a relatively quiet game by his standards up to that point.

'Really disappointed,' said Beavers captain Mark Babbe.

'I thought when we were 1-0 up we had a real opportunity to go on and win. It was probably a game where both teams had opportunities that should have been goals.

'I think we were missing a couple of useful midfielders, which would have made a big difference.

'In the end it was probably a fair result. We didn't take our chances.'

Earlier in the day, a hat trick from attacker Phil Ogier helped Coreix Unwantables go to the top of the table after they took care of Mosgroves Yobbos 5-2.