Farnborough

With England hosting Estonia at Wembley this afternoon City welcomed Farnborough to Court Place Farm for the first time in seven years at the early hour of one o’clock: a move that certainly boosted the sales of the famed bacon rolls to cater for all those missing their lunches!
There was a minute’s silence, impeccably observed by the good-sized crowd, before the start for a City stalwart of the ‘60s, Tony Bradbury; and the applause at its end marked the beginning of an eagerly awaited game between two of the division’s unbeaten teams.
The first five minutes saw good home pressure with three corners coming in quick succession; a free-kick from Jon Gardner that wasn’t far away from Andy Gunn’s head; and a good run into the box by Ikechi Anya that was only stopped by a perfectly-timed tackle from Luke Evans. Farnborough also showed early on why they are many people’s favourites for promotion. Ex-City enigma Ray Spence broke well and put in a centre from the City left, and Steve Smith, making his home debut, had to be quick off his line to save at the feet of high-scoring Neville Roach; and a long throw from Steve Dell gave Spence a chance on the edge of the area but he shot wide.
A flowing move from midfield involving Pond, Faulkner and Anya saw Gardner just fail to control a bouncing ball when in a good position, just before Anya drew a foul and Gardner delivered an accurate kick that Jermaine McSporran flicked home with the Farnborough defence watching Gunn and Cattell. Unfortunately the assistant referee’s flag was raised for an offside decision against (presumably) another player and the celebrations came to an abrupt halt.
At the clubhouse end Spence’s shot was saved by Smith, though a late flag would have ruled a goal out anyway, and then Spence became provider as his run and curling cross on the Farnborough right was neatly headed home by Roach at the near-post on 23 minutes.
Eight minutes later and the afternoon got worse for the City as Roach shot home from close in past Smith’s left hand from a position that everyone, except, unfortunately, the assistant referee, felt was a good yard offside!
Gardner came close to narrowing the gap with five minutes left when a dipping free-kick from the edge of the box was deflected just wide, but City seemed to have lost their shape a little and the visitors made a number of promising openings in the last ten minutes of the half, with Spence involved in much of the action. A succession of first-time passes saw him through the City defence, but just offside, and a teasing cross from him produced a diving header from Nic Ciardini that only just cleared the bar.

HALF-TIME: City 0-2 Farnborough

City started the second period strongly and almost immediately Gardner produced a great chance for himself when he robbed a dithering defender in the box, but shot well wide. And the same player produced two more good chances for the Blues in the next fifteen minutes. A corner only just failed to reach the lunging Stuart Cattell, and a couple of minutes later another well struck cross somehow evaded James Faulkner when a goal looked certain. With City pressing hard Spence and Roach had a little more room and with a quarter of an hour gone in the half only a terrific tackle from James Saulsbury stopped Spence as he bore down on Smith.
Just as it looked as though Farnborough had weathered the storm, a long ball out of defence on the City left was picked up by Faulkner and McSporran made up yards on the defenders to be first to the ball and finish neatly as Faulkner’s low cross was pushed out by Lyall Beazley in the visitor’s goal.
Both sides reacted positively to the goal as Gardner hit a shot that Beazley gathered at the second attempt; Ciardini dispossessed McSporran and shot wide; and Mark Gamble fired a shot/cross through a busy six-yard box with no-one able to get a meaningful touch.
With fifteen minutes left James Faulkner was again in a good position, on the City right this time, to chase down a pass over the top, and his cross along the goal-line was scrambled away by the defence. Darren Pond, just inside the Farnborough half, shaped to return the ball to the danger zone, but his pass cannoned off a defender and into the path of Ray Spence who, with Pond momentarily out of position, took the ball on and finished with a well-judged shot across Smith.
A double substitution for City followed and in the next attack McSporran went past Beazley and the keeper brought him down just inside the area. A yellow card for Beazley and, with almost his first touch of the ball since coming on, Alex Stewart hit the spot-kick hard and accurately into the bottom corner of the net.
Just under ten minutes left and the home side pushed hard for the equaliser against a defence reinforced by the arrival of Sean Thurgood at the expense of striker Neville Roach. And it looked as though City had grabbed a point from the match when a Jones free-kick was fumbled by Beazley straight to McSporran who rolled the ball home – but up went that flag again!!

FULL-TIME: Oxford City 2-3 Farnborough

City: Smith, Saulsbury, Weirich, Gunn, Pond (Williams 80), Cattell, Gardner (Jones 71), Redknap, Faulkner (Stewart 80), Anya, McSporran.
Farnborough: Beazley, Dell, Bailey, Woozley, Evans, Rumbold, Howes (Gamble 39), Ciardini, Roach (Thurgood 73), Harkness, Spence.

So Farnborough maintain their unbeaten record, and City lose theirs. But a good game, nonetheless, between two well-matched sides who, I would think, should both be in the upper reaches of the table in April. The only disappointment to me really was that so much hung on two different assistant referees’ varying interpretations of the off-side rule - or is that just sour grapes? The return match in February should be well-worth watching.

Bishops Cleeve

Fifty three weeks after the previous disappointing trek into the shadow of Cleeve Hill City were again drawn in a knockout competition at BGB Division One (Midland) side Bishops Cleeve. It was good to hear a vocal City following among the rather sparse crowd and, thankfully, the game was without any controversial undertones this time.

The home side started strongly and put the City defence under some pressure in the opening minutes, but without producing any clear-cut chances. Having weathered the initial rush City came back strongly with Ikechi Anya looking very sharp and showing his marker(s) a clean pair of heels on more than one occasion during the next 15 minutes.

James Saulsbury and Liam Malone were combining well on the City right and one interchange of passes produced a Saulsbury cross and flick-on by Alex Stewart that Jon Gardner almost reached at the far-post.

Cleeve’s best chance of the half fell to Kevin Slack on twenty minutes when a run from half-way took him into City’s penalty area but his shot was wide of the target; and a well-flighted cross from Lee Davis a few minutes later was dealt with tidily by debutant keeper Steve Smith, signed during the week from Hemel Hempstead. Generally, though, it was the visitors who were having the better of the half.

Stewart put a header wide from an Andy Gunn free-kick; a Jon Gardner shot from all of thirty yards faded past the post; and another attacking run from Anya eventually produced a shot that ex-City keeper Paul Tassell held comfortably.

Ikechi Anya was involved in the two most promising moves in the final ten minutes. Ed Ward was booked for pulling back Jermaine McSporran around half-way and while the other defenders were discussing the accuracy of the decision with the referee the quickly-taken free-kick released Anya into space but his shot was scrambled away. And just as the first period was drawing to a close he again outpaced his marker but, faced with an ever-narrowing angle, shot into the side-netting when, perhaps, a pass to the unmarked McSporran might have been the better option.

HALF-TIME: BISHOPS CLEEVE 0-0 OXFORD CITY

City gained just the start they needed two minutes after the break when a good piece of running by McSporran led to a corner. Peter Weirich swung the ball in and Andy Gunn headed beyond Tassell’s right hand and into the net. Almost immediately yet another jinking run from Anya took him into the area and his cross was almost bundled home by Alex Stewart. But Stewart made no mistake on 57 minutes when he controlled a deep cross from James Saulsbury, turned well and finished accurately into the bottom corner.

City were dominating proceedings and restricting the home side to occasional forays into dangerous territory. Around the mid-point of the half Kevin Slack had a couple of bustling runs at the City defence. The first was halted abruptly by a belated off-side flag and the second by an over-vigorous tackle from Andy Gunn: the subsequent free-kick being fired wide by substitute Johnny Meadows.

A Luke Corbett cross was grasped by Smith in a crowded area and play switched quickly to the other end where James Faulkner, on for Stewart, made room for himself with the ball and hit a fierce shot that Tassell did well to stop but could only parry it into the path of McSporran who accepted the chance to put City three goals ahead after 78 minutes.

No defending deep today and City continued to take the game to their opponents. As the clock ticked down City players ran the ball into the corners in time-honoured fashion and Jon Gardner drew a foul at one of these moves and then promptly delivered a perfect cross to the far post for Stuart Cattell to head the fourth with two minutes left. And almost with the last move of the match George Redknap fed Weirich wide on the left and the defender’s powerful strike just cleared the bar.

FULL-TIME: BISHOPS CLEEVE 0-4 OXFORD CITY

Bishops Cleeve: Tassell, Avery, Collins, Ward, Rhodes, Axton, Bayliffe, Rutter (Meadows 60), Slack, Corbett, Davis (Tustain 66).
City: Smith, Saulsbury, Weirich, Gunn, Cattell, Malone (Pond 81), Gardner, Redknap, Stewart (Faulkner 73), Anya (Jones 73), McSporran.

This was a match that City controlled almost from start to finish, and it was fitting revenge for last season’s FA Cup defeat. Windsor & Eton at home in the next round in two week's time.

Thatcham Town

Thatcham were one of the few sides to do the double over City last season and the two clubs were separated by goal-difference only in the league before the match: which all might suggest a close contest. So, would the City players be on a high after the excitement of Saturday’s cup encounter, or would the mid-week league encounter on a damp October evening be something of an anticlimax?

Ikechi Anya, after a fine performance on Saturday, was in the starting line-up and it was he who caused the visitors all sorts of problems in the first ten minutes with jinking runs that took him to the goal-line three or four times, although the final pass eluded a finishing touch on each occasion.

The home side’s best early chance fell after a direct run by George Redknap produced a cross that Jon Gardner just failed to reach at the far post; while Redknap himself had a shot not too far adrift after a headed pass from Alex Stewart.

The visitors had few opportunities in the first half-hour beyond some deep crosses from John Gray and ex-City player Ryan Williams which Stuart Cattell and Andy Gunn dealt with comfortably. Their first good chance came on 25 minutes when Lennon was fouled on the edge of the area, but failed to trouble the wall or the keeper with the subsequent free-kick. This sparked the best passage of play for Thatcham in the first half with Gray and Lennon much in evidence. Jamie Leacock’s run took him to the edge of the box, but his shot, though well-hit, was always curling just wide; and Tom Melledew went similarly close when a mis-hit clearance fell to him a good twenty yards out.

City were still creating chances at the other end. Another Anya run lead to a free-kick that Stewart hit cleanly over the wall, but just over the bar as well; Redknap threaded a pass through for Anya, but an offside flag halted his run on goal; and the half ended in a move involving at least a dozen passes that gave James Saulsbury a chance for a shot that was cleanly held by Paul Strudley.

HALF-TIME City 0-0 Thatcham

The second half continued in much the same vein as the first with City making most of the running but being thwarted by well-drilled defending and decisive tackling. Thatcham were prepared to wait for opportunities to hit City on the break, but the home side’s back-four were giving little away.

City’s early chances were from a Gunn header and a Redknap shot but both were wide of the mark. A Gardner free-kick, after he had been upended by Leacock, was inches away from Cattell’s lunge at the far post; and then Leacock’s interception of a wayward pass and a run on the City left drew a late tackle from Pete Weirich, earning the City defender a yellow card, and a free-kick from Gray that rattled around the City box for what seemed an age before finally being cleared.

Jermaine McSporran’s cross found Gardner, whose shot was blocked; Andy Gunn headed just high from a corner; and appeals for a penalty, after what looked suspiciously like a two-footed tackle on Redknap, were waved away.

Time for substitutions. James Faulkner replaced Stewart and immediately played a ball into Gardner’s path that Leacock did extremely well to clear for a corner – and then Mark Jones replaced McSporran on 80 minutes and inside two minutes the deadlock was broken. Jones held the ball up well and his lay-off allowed James Saulsbury to produce a telling cross that a diving header could clear only as far as Liam Malone. His instant return was met by Ikechi Anya near the penalty spot and a delicate header took the ball over the defenders and keeper and into the far corner of the net.

Pressing for an equaliser left the visitors more exposed at the back and a well-timed pass from Jones found Faulkner running on to beat a defence vainly appealing for offside against Anya and delivering a cross that Steve Davis almost converted. And five minutes later the same combination made even better use of the extra space when a good pass picked out Davis in the area and his right-footed shot (a collector’s item??) was neatly placed beyond Strudley’s right hand.

Minimal added time gave Thatcham no chance to recover from this strike and the final whistle saw City keep their unbeaten record and, importantly, convert what looked like being another single point for much of the game into a welcome three.

FULL-TIME: Oxford City 2-0 Thatcham Town

CITY: Tucker, Saulsbury, Weirich, Gunn, Malone, Cattell, Gardner (Davis 82), Redknap, Stewart (Faulkner 73), Anya, McSporran (Jones 80).
THATCHAM: Strudley, Leacock, Taplin, Melledew, Allaway, Thomas, Suarez, Oatley, Williams, Lennon (Moore 72), Gray.

A more than competent performance with City eventually able to unlock a stubborn defence which, before tonight, had only conceded six goals in seven games: and the three substitutes all playing a vital part in the two goals.
Bishops Cleeve in the FA Trophy on Saturday then, and a chance to put last year’s disappointment behind us.

Weston Super Mare

A good crowd including a very healthy number of visitors from the Somerset coast was at Court Place Farm this afternoon to see City’s biggest game for several years. Plenty of blue and white scarves in evidence pitchside and the cup-fever had even stretched to the players with Jon Gardner sporting an eye-catching blue ‘Mohican’.

The visitors set off at a high pace with Ashan Holgate and Dean Grubb showing early signs of intelligent running and deft passing and it wasn’t long before front man Gareth Hopkins was testing the defence and bringing a timely tackle from Stuart Cattell.

Weston went close when Hopkins headed wide after a dangerous cross from Grubb who had been picked out, not for the first time, with a great cross-field pass from Taylor.

City’s first chance on target came after 12 minutes when James Faulkner got in a header but Ryan Northmore gathered it cleanly, but two minutes later City went oh-so-close to taking the lead. Jon Gardner’s run took him into the heart of the Weston defence and, just when it looked that the ball would run behind, he played it back to Mark Jones at the far who took a moment to control the ball before seeing his shot take the merest of touches from the diving Northmore and cannon off the post.

Weston were stirred by the near miss and the next ten minutes saw more good work from Holgate; two free-kicks from dangerous positions by Ryan Harley – both dealt with well by the City defence; and a good run and shot – just wide – from Hopkins when put in by a long throw from Wilson.
Back came City. A Faulkner cross was just cut out by Northmore; a Gardner free-kick, after McSporran had been hauled down, was marginally high; and then a neat pass from McSporran got Gardner in behind the defence but his low shot from an angle hit the side netting.

Almost immediately play switched to the other end and Hopkins played in Holgate whose shot beat Gareth Tucker low down by his left-hand post to give the Seagulls the lead on 30 minutes.
Almost from the restart Weston won the ball in midfield and, faced with a retreating defence, William Clark struck a powerful shot past Tucker’s dive to double the lead.

Far from knocking the stuffing out of the hosts, the second goal had City digging deeper and they showed considerable enterprise in the last part of the half. James Faulkner, in particular, was proving a thorn in the Blue Square team’s side and worked good positions for himself to get three shots on target in the final ten minutes: but Northmore was equal to them all.

HALF-TIME: City 0-2 W-s-M

An early goal would have been just what was needed to put the Blues back in the game, and it seemed as though that was what they might have, when what looked like a hand-of-God moment from the central defender took a Jones cross away from McSporran’s head, but Mr Forrester saw nothing to concern him, and the danger was cleared. And as the home players and supporters were bemoaning the lost ‘chance’ Weston broke quickly on the City left through McConnell, and his cross beyond the far post was neatly lifted over Tucker and into the net by Clark for their third on 49 minutes. Game over?

Grubb and Harley both had on-target shots stopped by Tucker, and Holgate turned and fired fractionally wide before the City management gambled on a triple-substitution with 35 minutes remaining.

Five minutes later and Ikechi Anya showed why he is such an exciting player when he turned two defenders inside-out in working his way along the goal-line before laying off an inch-perfect pass to George Redknap who finished calmly, low and hard, to Northmore’s right. Ah well, a consolation goal at least?

Weston again caused trouble through the Grubb-Holgate combination with the latter’s shot pushed behind for a corner; and then Tucker had to be quick off his line to smother at the feet of Holgate.
Back to the other end – City players seemed to have got their second wind now – and a flick through by Alex Stewart fell between two defenders who hesitated just long enough for Anya to lift the bouncing ball over the head of Northmore and beneath the bar. Only one goal in it now and players and spectators suddenly alive to the possibility of more to come from a resurgent City.

Two minutes later and that man Holgate was again at the heart of a dangerous attack as he set up Harley close in who saw his firmly struck effort well parried by Tucker. The defence cleared high and long and Alex Stewart rose above the defence to flick the ball on for Redknap to hit a stinging shot that Northmore could only knock down to the unmarked Andy Gunn by the penalty spot but his first-time drive cleared the bar with 72 minutes gone. It only took another three minutes, though, for him to make amends for the miss. Taylor was, again, pulled up for a foul on Stewart, and Steve Davis swung a great left-footed free-kick into the area from wide on the City right, and Gunn rose above a crowd of players to head a remarkable equaliser for the City. City fans elated now and, for the first time, a hush descended on the Somerset contingent behind Tucker’s goal: a shock on the cards?

But this vintage cup-tie still had more to offer and the long-held idea that a team is at its most vulnerable just after it has scored was driven home to the City and Weston fans alike just a minute later as Grubb took on the City defence and fired a clean shot beyond the diving Tucker and into the far corner of the net.

After such end-to-end fare legs were tiring and neither side could fashion any more really clear-cut chances, although a flicked header from Redknap from anther Davis free-kick was not far from producing a trip down the motorway on Monday, and after five added minutes the visitors’ supporters breathed a sigh of relief and the home fans were left to wonder about the penalty incident and another couple of great opportunities.
But then cup matches are always full of ‘what-ifs?’, aren't they?

FULL-TIME: Oxford City 3-4 Weston-super-Mare

City: Tucker, Saulsbury, Davis, Gunn, Pond (Malone 55), Cattell, Gardner, Redknap, McSporran (Anya 55), Faulkner (Stewart 55), Jones.
W-s-M: Northmore, Willshire, McConnell, Clark, Wilson, Robertson, Harley (McGregor 74), Taylor (Rand 78), Hopkins, Holgate, Grubb.

Most City supporters would agree this was one of the most exciting games at CPF for quite some time. It showed in all its twists and turns just why the FA Cup is such a tremendous competition, and the City players can all be justifiably pleased with the parts they played in the spectacle.
I hope they’ve got some energy left for the more down-to-earth, but just as important, fare next Tuesday night: a league visit from Thatcham Town. And perhaps some of the not-so-regulars who enjoyed this game will have enjoyed what they saw enough to pay a visit again soon.
Best wishes to Weston in the next round ... they played an equal part in a great afternoon’s football.

Fleet Town

City and Fleet met in a competitive match for only the second time ever on a rather damp autumnal evening with both clubs fielding sides that varied considerably from the printed programme - which came as no surprise to the disappointingly sparse crowd given the FA Cup challenges that both will face on Saturday.

The visitors started very strongly with James Field putting in two testing crosses and two well-flighted corner kicks within the first five minutes, but it was City who had the first good chance when Alex Stewart headed down a Pete Weirich free-kick for Ikechi Anya to see his delicate lob beat Paul Smith in the Fleet goal only to land on the top of the net.

This chance triggered twenty minutes of play in which City pressed forward in numbers and had the league’s meanest defence looking very uncertain. Anya had a great run to and along the goal-line and his pass gave Mark Jones a chance for a shot which was scrambled clear, but in the next attack the home side opened their account. Stewart saw his powerfully driven free-kick rebound off the base of the post to Anya whose pass found Weirich who rolled the ball in for Mark Bell to make no mistake with his shot from just inside the area. A minute later a good run and cross by Bell saw Mark Jones’ cushioned header plucked off Stewart’s foot by Smith. Amid this City pressure Eddie Smith extracted a good save from Lee Farrow at the other end.

City doubled their lead on nineteen minutes when an alert Mark Jones dispossessed a hesitant Fleet defender and promptly put Stewart in with plenty of time to hit a firm shot beyond Smith’s right hand.

Five minutes later and the visitors conceded another after a Jones shot had been scrambled behind for a corner. An outswinging Bell corner was headed goalward by Mark Avery and, though saved initially, bounced back to the horizontal Avery who was still able to hook home City’s third.

Fleet pulled themselves together now and, after a couple of attacks had been repulsed, clawed a goal back when Stewart lost the ball in midfield and Michael Douglas outpaced Avery and rounded Farrow to shoot into an empty net on the half-hour.
Anya and Bell both went close again for City after penetrating runs and, right on the whistle, Martin Girling shot high over the bar for Fleet.

HALF-TIME: City 3-1 Fleet Town

The visitors had the better of the early exchanges in the second period and Matty Lewis should have done better when in space and with time. At the clubhouse end City had two free-kicks from useful positions but neither produced anything positive.

Fleet pulled themselves right back into the game after 54 minutes. Eddie Smith scooped the ball over from close range after a run on City’s right from ex-City player Jason Miletti had produced a good chance. However, the resulting goal-kick was mis-hit straight to a lurking forward and he made no mistake with a clean shot high to Farrow’s right.

Fleet now had the bit between their teeth and pushed men forward looking for the equaliser, and City were finding it harder and harder to keep the ball for any length of time. A mixture of hefty clearances, timely tackling and some slightly wayward shooting allowed City to hold their slim advantage until the 81st minute when a quick break and neat pass from Anya put in Stewart again to score his second of the night with a shot under Smith and allow management, players and supporters to breathe rather more easily.

The visitors still came forward and Farrow did well to smother one chance at the feet of several waiting Fleet players, but he could only watch as Field’s cross-shot flew back into play off the far post with just three minutes left.

Mr Shilston managed to find six minutes of injury time from somewhere but City held on to book a place in the Second Round.

FULL-TIME: Oxford City 4-2 Fleet Town

City: Farrow, Janes, Weirich, Avery, Cattell, Merritt (Redknap 66), Jones, Williams (Malone 75), Stewart, Anya, Bell (Davis 79).

With both sides fielding markedly changed teams it’s hard to know how much to read into the result, but, nonetheless, it was City who maintained their unbeaten record at the end of the evening. What several termed the ‘Itchy and Stretchy Show’ (!) at the front caused more than a few problems for the Fleet defence, and it was good to see just how much strength in depth there is at the club at the moment: depth that will undoubtedly be needed as the months go by.