Man Met 1st team earn bragging rights with 4-0 drubbing of University of Manchester

Man Met came out on top on derby day when they smashed four goals past the University of Manchester.

Despite the one-sided scoreline, it was actually ‘Uni of’ who had the first clear cut chance of the game in the very early stages. MMU had their keeper and captain Marcus Burgess to thank for not being 1-0 down with less than five minutes on the clock as he made a great reaction save from close range.

Following this early scare, MMU grew into the game and they dominated until half-time.

It became apparent from the early stages that both sides wanted to get the ball on the deck and play with it. This suited the MMU boys who are capable of passing the ball around nicely given the chance.

Winger Jermaine Ramsden was a major threat to the Uni of defenders all game as he tirelessly tore up and down the right-hand side. It came as no surprise that he was involved in the first main chance of the match for Man Met as the 20-minute mark approached.

Ramsden slid a perfectly-weighted ball in behind to Rens Brouwer who gave the ball back to Ramsden on the edge of the six-yard box, but unfortunately the tricky winger fizzed a shot narrowly wide of the post.

Like Ramsden, number 11 Josh Pickering was also looking busy in attack over on the other side of the pitch. The home side’s next clear-cut chance fell the way of Pickering as he was played in behind down the middle, but his effort looped agonisingly over the bar.

With half-an-hour on the clock MMU were well on top in the game but despite the sustained pressure couldn’t quite find a way to break the deadlock. Step up Alex Wilson.

Out of nowhere Wilson appeared in behind the UoM defence and as their keeper came rushing out Wilson poked the ball under him and finished calmly into the empty net.

This breakthrough from the hosts caused the floodgates to open and two more goals followed in quick succession.

Shortly after the opener it was 2-0 as Ramsden once again burst down the wing and got the better of his man before dinking a perfect cross to Rens Brouwer who clinically volleyed home past the helpless goalkeeper.

And like the proverbial London buses, this was closesly followed by a third and final goal of the first-half.

This time it was once again Alex Wilson who got his name on the scoresheet for the second time in the game. After a cross was fired across the box a deflected shot rebounded back off the post and it was Wilson who was quickest to react and tap in from only yards out.

The energetic MMU attack almost managed a fourth before the half-time whistle but the UoM keeper saved well one-on-one with Josh Pickering and the score stayed at 3-0 to Man Met as the first 45 minutes came to an end.

The second-half was a much tighter affair as the away side came back out and offered some resistance but in attack struggled to find a clear-cut chance which could possibly get them back into the game. With Man Met having no real need to push for a fourth goal and UoM struggling going forward the game inevitably became a slightly cagey affair.

Apart from a deflected half volley narrowly going over the MMU crossbar the game fizzled out slightly in the early stages of the second period. This was until a lively cameo from substitute Amir Marcos once again brought MMU’s attacking cavalry to life.

Marcos’ first contribution to the game came on around 65 minutes as he cut inside and fired a shot from distance. The UoM keeper almost made a horrible mess between the sticks but managed to turn the ball around the posts well in the end as MMU pushed and made themselves look like the side in need of a goal, despite already being three to the good.

The visitors managed to bite back as their number seven went one-on-one with Marcus Burgess. It was Burgess who came out on top however. He saved well as he refused to give up his valuable clean sheet and UoM still just couldn’t find the goal which might’ve given them a modicum of hope going into the final stages.

Meanwhile down the other end of the pitch, Amir Marcos looked determined to cap off his bright cameo performance with a goal but as the game approached 80 minutes another chance went begging. A blistering burst of pace and some tricky footwork saw Marcos break beyond the UoM barricades and fire low from a tight angle, but the goalkeeper was equal to it.

A blazed volley, which was only a danger to the cars in the car park behind the MMU goal, was the only other chance the visiting side could really muster up as the game ticked into it’s final minutes. After this, with just five minutes left to play, Marcos finally got his goal to give MMU their fourth.

His fresh legs ultimately proved to be too much for the UoM defence and despite some desperate shouts for offside he went one-on-one with the keeper again and this time made no mistake to cap off an accomplished performance from the Platt Lane side.

By this point in the game frustration was understandably setting in across the pitch for the away side and their number four was sent off in the game’s late stages after being given a second yellow card for a reckless lunge on Man Met’s Daniel Wiwoloku.

The sending off proved to be the game’s final piece of action as just a couple of minutes later the referee blew his whistle for full-time, giving Man Met both the victory and the bragging rights between the two universities.

MMU proved to be simply too much for UoM to handle on the day and will be hoping to make it three wins on the bounce next week when they welcome York St John in the cup. Elsewhere, UoM travel to West Yorkshire to face Uni of Leeds.