Start ‘em Sit ‘em
Vanbrugh tanked, Hallam banks
By all accounts, Tank “absolutely bossed” last year’s University Firsts captain Matt Witherwick on Monday. Goodricke Seconds produced the biggest upset of the group stages, outplaying Vanbrugh Firsts in a 3-2 victory, and the stocky centre-mid seemed to defy the bodily laws of football – he really doesn’t look like he’s going to put you on your arse…but then he does. This was bound to happen at some stage: highly vaunted university players underestimate plucky college second-teamers (see my previous post), miss chances, sporadically nap at the back, suffer humiliating defeat.
But the ramifications will worry any V-Bar stalwarts out there: Vanbrugh might now have to beat Derwent Firsts to qualify for the quarter finals. That’s the Derwent team yet to concede a goal – having notched 8 in two games – with a central core that includes Greg Gardner, Chris Barnett and, of course, the capricious Dreamz Murphy. I know where my money would be.
Vanbrugh’s struggles have had a big fantasy impact, too, with only a couple players breaking the 7 Fantasy Points barrier after two games – and one of those is the off-colour Mark Gouland. If Vanbrugh fail to do the business on Tuesday Week 7, Gouland’s £8.1m price tag might come in handy for those window shoppers looking for a boost going into the quarter finals. Trading him out and bringing in a Dom Green (£4.6m, 13 Fantasy Points) or Chris Barnett (£6.3m, 15 Fantasy Points) doesn’t just provide the chance of better scoring, but frees up some cash to improve your squad as a whole.
In the latest Team of the Week – revealed every Saturday on the Fantasy “Home” page – Shaun Evans continues to defy the odds, having popped up for a midweek penalty and clean sheet, whilst Goodricke Seconds’ hero Andy Myhill leads the line after bagging two against Vanbrugh.
Start ‘em: Matt Hallam has been one of the players of the tournament so far for Derwent Firsts, despite only amounting 8 Fantasy Points. While his long-range belter in Matchweek 2 represented a rare score-sheet appearance, his dominant performances at the centre of a promising Derwent team make him a good bet to pick up steady points as the tournament progresses.
Sit ‘em: This week Vanbrugh’s first-teamers deserve a category of their own (“Drop ‘em”?), but they’ve taken enough stick. More pressing is the revelation that Joe Cooper (£5.2m) has been edged out of Alcuin Firsts’ starting line-up after Parris Williams’ (£4.1m) two excellent displays alongside Dan Cox. Cooper is a confidence man and, after a decent regular season, a poor cup final performance for the University Seconds two weeks ago saw the belief drip-drop-drain away.
Second team units are good picks
Firstly…Goodricke Seconds beat last season’s LEAGUE CHAMPIONS Vanbrugh Firsts today. Yep, you read that right – it was 3-2. Now that’s what I call cup magic.
OK, so week two didn’t feature any of those thrived-upon upsets we crave, but what it did do was show that you don’t have to be Dom O’Shea or Jake Delaney to make a mark on the Fantasy scene.
If you check out the leading players thus far in the College Cup, leaping off the page are the three second teamers mingling with the big-shots in the top seven. Craig Macklin (£3.4m) bagged two last week against Halifax thirds and subsequently picked up the Man of the Match award. That’s 2 points for appearance, 10 for the goals, 3 for the MotM, and another 2 for a clean sheet to give him 17 for the day.
Additionally John Carrol (£3m) has been banging them in for James Seconds and has 14 Fantasy Points to go along with consequitive Team of the Week appearances in defense; and Matt Scaysbrook’s (£3m) stunning free kick against Alcuin today has him in third place overall with 17 after a goal-scoring MotM performance last week.
It’s in those areas that this competition will be won. Selecting several £7m or £8m players forces you into picks from the lesser teams, and finding value there is absolutely key. Players like Dave Coulson (£1.9m) may be cheap but carefully scouting out underrated second and third teamers could earn you those few extra points that make all the difference come the end of June.
Start ‘em: Miles McDermott – who scored and picked up Man of the Match against Vanbrugh Seconds today – is cracking value at £3.9m having gone from twelth man to regular starter for Alcuin Firsts since the beginning of term. One for the window.
Sit ‘em: Ed Lacaille is in a poor run of form for Derwent Firsts and a terrible miss last Thursday makes his £4.8m price-tage look rather ridiculous. Elsewhere, Ali Prince deserves a starting chance after a goalscoring performance off the bench today, but with Vanbrugh in danger of an early exit and Prince currently playing second fiddle to Tristan Buckley and Mark Gouland, he looks overvalued at £5.2m.
Welcome to Start ‘em Sit ‘em
Shaun Evans. Those two words embody everything wonderful about the first week of the College Cup. A hat-trick, a clean sheet (he’s registered as a defender) and the Man of the Match award went the ex-University Football Club President’s way after Halifax Firsts demolished Vanbrugh Thirds 9-0, giving him what may turn out to be an insurmountable individual match total of 22 Fantasy Points. And somebody told me Vanbrugh had one of the better third teams, too…
Welcome to Start ‘em Sit ‘em. Every week I’ll be reflecting on the best – and worst – College Cup performers, taking a closer look at those bargain basement buys in the Fantasy market. Don’t forget there’s a Transfer Window coming up where you’ll be able to make four crucial changes to your team – and I’m sure everyone’s as desperate as I am to see Adlou dislodged from his lofty comfort zone atop of the FF table. I’ll be previewing that in more detail as it draws ever closer in week 7.
If you head over to the Fantasy Football home page there’s also a Team of the Week on display: this is simply the best 4-4-2 team of players according to points over the last game week and is a tip-top indication of players currently “on toast” (credit: Alan Hansen).
Shaun Evans is this week’s Player of the Week and a nailed-on starter in Team of the Week, but don’t necessarily expect to see him there in the future. He told me he was “just as surprised as you are” by his stunning hat-trick showing and, boy, wasn’t it a surprise? He’ll be a good buy over the course, especially with the start he’s made, but expect Halifax to begin conceding when they’re pitted against the tougher teams and, unfortunately, the goals to dry up for Shaun.
Standouts from week one include John Carrol (£3m, 7 points) for James Seconds – a decent outfit, despite clean sheets not being their forte – and Nav Jakarkhyl (£4m, 10 points) who had an absolute stormer for current Cup favourites Derwent Firsts, notching 2 goals in their 5-0 win.
Ardent fans of Tom Wilson (£7.8m), Joe Brennan (£6.2m) and University Second Team captain Alex Richards (£5.9m) will be bitterly disappointed after they failed to show for their respective colleges in the week of the Eurovision song contest: they all languish on nil points.
I’ll be here at regularly sporadic intervals over the weeks with the best titbits from the College Cup and all your best buys to boot.