Thursday, February 07, 2008

Gosport

Posted by Padz on January 5, 2008, 8:12 pm

Gosport 0
CITY 1 (O.G)

Steve Smith M.O.M, outstanding saves (how did he save that one with his leg!) that kept us in front

Smith, Saulsbury(c), Avery, Gunn, Davis, Bell, Pond, Malone, Jones, Redknap, Stewart

not used: Meade, Roper, G.Williams, Anya

posted by Julian at Thursday, February 07, 2008 0 comments

Abingdon Utd

City 3-1 Abingdon United: A View From The Terraces

Posted by ChrisB on January 1, 2008, 10:00 pm

A good-sized derby crowd shook off hangovers and other seasonal excesses to witness an interesting and competitive match at Court Place Farm this afternoon.
City, without both McSporran and Anya, started brightly, though it was the visitors who won the first corner leading to Josias Carbon putting a shot just wide of Steve Smith’s right-hand post.
Almost immediately a good interchange between George Redknap and Leon Woodruffe on the City left allowed the latter to get behind the United defence and produce a cross-cum-shot that Simon Tricker needed to palm over, and, on seven minutes it got even better for City when Redknap and Gardner combined neatly to put Darren Pond in on goal to finish convincingly beyond Tricker’s dive.
The home side lost midfield possession rather too easily a couple of times and Mark Avery had to be at his best to deal with Beechers and Odihambo.
Jon Gardner was finding it hard to avoid the attentions of the United back-line snapping at his heels and, on 14 minutes Mr Field saw fit to give City a free-kick close to the angle of the box. After a brief pause while he dealt with the criticisms of his decisions from Michael Alexis, and moved the wall back something nearer to 10 yards, Alex Stewart lined up his shot and bent it round the wall and just inside the near post with Tricker unsighted and seemingly expecting the shot to his left.
United responded well to this blow and eight minutes later after several attacks had been repulsed a long cross into the box from Ryan Brooks found an unmarked Micheas Herbert in a good position near the six-yard box and he comfortably lifted the ball over Steve Smith to reduce the lead. Lifted by the goal Abingdon pushed the City defence deeper. Beechers produced a mazy run that took him to the goal-line but his cross was scrambled away by the defence; Ryan Curtin collected a misdirected clearance but shot rather hastily off-target; and Brooks finished off a long sprint with a deep cross that was only marginally too high for Josias Carbon’s leap at the far post.
As the visitors committed more to attack City broke effectively from defence to good effect around the half-hour mark. A long pass from James Saulsbury found Gardner and he produced a blistering shot from wide on the edge of the area only to see it crash back into play off the far post with Tricker rooted to the spot, and a minute later Mark Bell’s accurate pass gave Gardner another sight of goal and Tricker did well to push the dipping shot behind for a corner.
With five minutes of the half remaining, and Leon Woodruffe receiving treatment for what looked like a muscle problem, George Redknap had to produce a great tackle to halt Beecher’s run after he had been picked out with a good pass by Carbon.
Steve Davis replaced the injured Woodruffe and, as the defence found its shape again, United twice went close in the closing minutes. Momentary uncertainty between Smith and his defenders gave Anaclet Odihambo an opportunity, but he hesitated and the defence recovered sufficiently to stifle the chance. The same player had an even better chance a minute later when Beechers found him with a telling pass, but his shot was too near the reliable Smith who held it cleanly.

HALF-TIME: Oxford City 2-1 Abingdon United

A cross from Saulsbury caused the visitors a few anxious moments early in the second half, but for the next ten minutes or so they looked the more likely to score the next goal. Curtin tested Smith with a free-kick from 25 yards which was only half cleared as far as Organ who fired well-wide of the target. Another free-kick from Curtin reached the far-post where it was headed back across the goal to Odihambo who put his header just past the post.
Curtin drew a yellow card from Mr Field for a reckless tackle on Gardner and Andy Gunn headed only just wide from the resultant free-kick. A battered Gardner withdrew at this point to be replaced by Mark Jones whose first involvement saw him produce a great pass to Redknap whose shot was just beaten away by the defence.
At the other end Odihambo was again causing problems, firstly with a low drive across the face of the goal that evaded a forest of players, and then with a powerful shot on the run that brought a fine save from Smith.
With twenty minutes remaining City restored the two-goal cushion. A long pass to the left from Jones found Steve Davis making good ground down the flank and his precise cross into the danger area in front of Tricker was met with a firm header from Redknap that gave the keeper no chance.
It looked as though the home side might add to their advantage as a number of high-quality passing movements brought increasing pressure on the United defence. A terrific 35 yard pass from Alex Stewart gave Mark Bell the chance to produce an incisive run and cross that was only inches away from Mark Jones; a series of first-time passes involving Jones, Redknap and Pond led to a Bell shot that was bundled clear; and some fine footwork from Jones gave Redknap a chance for a shot that Tricker did very well indeed to block.
Alexis delivered a cross behind the City defence but no red shirts were close enough to take advantage, and Brooks sliced a shot wide from distance. But the best chance of a second goal for United came in the last minute as Alexis won a corner on the City left and Herbert stole in at the far post but headed wide.

FINAL-SCORE: Oxford City 3-1 Abingdon United

Oxford City: Smith, Saulsbury, Woodruffe (Davis 40), Gunn, Pond, Avery, Gardner (Jones 62), Malone, Stewart (Williams 78), Redknap, Bell,

Abingdon United: Tricker, Moss, Organ, Alexis, Franklin, Carbon (Holden 57), Brooks, Herbert, Odihambo, Beechers (Hemmings 78), Curtin.

posted by Julian at Thursday, February 07, 2008 0 comments

Newport Isle of Wight

Posted by Padz on December 29, 2007, 7:32 pm


Newport Isle of Wight 1-1 Oxford City

A windswept afternoon on the Isle of Wight saw City visit rock bottom Newport, a side who had yet to secure a single point on their home ground, the travelling supporters arrived at the ground having found their various ways accross the water from the mainland, most of us talking about how many goals we would manage, as it turned out, just the one.

City started brightly and began applying pressure, with absentees Gardner & Gunn (unavailable) and Anya (Injury) City gave a debut to young Nomads centre half Joel Meade, Mark Jones made a start as George Redknap partnered Jermaine Mcsporran.

Mcsporran and Bell caused the Newport defence problems with their pace and triggered 60 shouts of offside from the oppositions number 5, Newport had a fair share of attacking movements but the closest they came in the first half was just beyond the post.

City then took the lead from the penalty spot after the Newport defender handled inside the area, captain James Saulsbury made no mistake

As the whistle sounded for half time the fans made their way into the clubhouse perhaps thinking that another 3 points may be going City's way.

In the second half City failed to keep the ball for any length of time with each move breaking down and Newport gradually getting closer to City's goal, so close in fact that they scored sending the home fans into a frenzy that could only be matched by their side winning the Fa Cup

Newport again went close with the ball clipping the foot of the post, city tried in vain to apply more pressure, the arrivals of Alex Stewart and Stevie Davis doing little to impact the game, then a ball into the box was knocked on for Jermaine Mcsporran to rifle his shot into the roof of the net for a goal....... or so we thought, the lineman ruled the effort out for offside much to the frustration of the travveling support, Leon Woodruffe found the foot of the post from a very tight angle but City just were not good enough on the day as Newport secured their first point and in doing so denied City the chance to go top of the table.

Smith, Saulsbury(c), Meade, Avery, Woodruffe, Jones(Davis), Pond, Malone, Bell, Redknap(Stewart), Mcsporran

not used: G.Williams



From an outsiders view there was little to choose between the sides as City looked poor throughout and against a more confident side would have lost, We are still lacking an out and out striker and the appearances so far from Woodruffe have left us as supporters wondering what was wrong with the players still with the club who have played at left back previously (davis,rendell)

Improvement definatly needed against Abingdon on New Year's day.

posted by Julian at Thursday, February 07, 2008 0 comments

Taunton

City 2-0 Taunton Town: A View From The Terraces

Posted by ChrisB on December 22, 2007, 8:17 pm


For their first home match for five weeks City took on Taunton Town who on the only two previous occasions that they had visited Court Place Farm had taken all the points back to Somerset with them.
Putting the mid-week loss to fellow contenders Fleet behind them the home side got off to a good start and Ikechi Anya produced a couple of lively runs on the right wing that took him to the goal-line within the first two minutes, though his crosses caused no major difficulties to the Taunton defence.
The visitors seemed keen to test Steve Smith’s reflexes and three times in the first ten minutes long-range shots were attempted, by Stone, Faux and Fisher, but all sailed harmlessly wide.
Jon Gardner, cutting in from the left, had a clear sight of goal and got away a fair shot, but Nathan Whatley, making his debut in the Town goal, held it cleanly.
City were pressing hard now, attacking on both flanks, though Smith had to leave his line quickly to clear as Darren Stone latched on to a through ball.
James Saulsbury found Anya wide on the right and his excellent cross was bundled to safety by Nelson, and Anya caused problems again a minute later when his pace allowed him to get beyond Charlie Welch and deliver a cross just beyond the reach of Gardner.
City deservedly took the lead after 18 minutes when Gardner spotted a good run by Darren Pond and found him with a precise pass into the box and Pond finished well with his right foot from an angle that was not the easiest.
For the next 15 minutes or so City played some of their best, passing football. Anya put in an inch-perfect cross to Gardner, unmarked on the far side of the box, who, perhaps unaware of how much time and space he had, fired a first-time volley spectacularly high over the bar. Anya, again, picked out Liam Malone on the edge of the area and his shot drew a fine save, low and to his left, from Whatley. Gardner saw his free-kick shave the top of the Taunton bar; Jermaine McSporran cut in from the right and unleashed a powerful shot that Whatley could only parry, but unfortunately not to a blue shirt; and then Whatley, having a really excellent game, produced his best save of the afternoon as he clung on to a well-directed header from McSporran.
With ten minutes of the half remaining City should have stretched their lead as Steve Jones’ ill-timed challenge brought down Gardner as he raced into the box, but McSporran’s spot kick was rather too close to the in-form Whatley and the keeper pushed the ball to safety.
With a few minutes left to the break Taunton were awarded a free-kick close to the City box as the referee overruled an offside-flag from his assistant, and Smith had to stretch to palm Matt Beadle’s shot behind for a corner, and the City keeper showed good reactions to the subsequent corner as well when he caught cleanly among a forest of City and Taunton players.

HALF-TIME: Oxford City 1-0 Taunton Town

City restarted the quicker and an early corner taken by Jon Gardner came back to him from a clearing header, and his low shot was gathered well by Whatley. From his clearance a defender was dispossessed by McSporran whose curling shot from distance slid off the top of the bar with Whatley looking on confidently.
Taunton were now coming back into the game more, and the introduction of Shaun Anthony after ten minutes heralded a period of rather more concerted attacking. A pass from Alex Faux released Anthony to test Smith, but his shot was well caught; and Anthony spun well off his marker a little later but his shot was held cleanly by Smith moving to his left. Darren Stone twice drove hard, low balls across the face of the City goal, but each was knocked behind for a corner.
City withstood the pressure well and pulled themselves back into the game as twice in as many minutes McSporran’s runs didn’t draw an offside-flag. On the first occasion Whatley narrowed the angle well blocking with his knees, and then forcing the next shot into the side-netting.
Mark Jones, on for Anya, produced a terrific lofted ball to the far post where Jon Gardner’s goal-bound volley was blocked by a defender just before City increased their lead with eight minutes remaining. McSporran timed his run onto a defence-splitting pass to perfection and looked as though he would put in a shot, but elected instead to pass to Gardner who went down under a heavy tackle but not before he could feed Alex Stewart who, so reliable from such a position, made no mistake with a hard, low shot.
The visitors still had chances to narrow the gap as Kearley picked up a bouncing ball that had cleared Andy Gunn and shot past Smith’s right hand to hit the base of the post; and Welch’s well-directed cross just eluded the waiting attackers.
The game finished with City on attack as Mark Jones reached Alex Stewart with a long pass, but Whatley was equal to his shot; and Stewart hit a free-kick from twenty yards that cannoned off the defensive wall bringing a gasp from the defender and the final whistle from Mr Bird.

FULL-TIME: Oxford City 2-0 Taunton Town

Oxford City: Smith, Saulsbury, Woodruffe, Gunn, Pond, Avery, Gardner, Malone, McSporran, Redknap (Stewart 70), Anya (Jones 65).

posted by Julian at Thursday, February 07, 2008 0 comments

Paulton

Posted by Padz on December 4, 2007, 12:09 pm

Rovers slump to second home defeat.

Rovers crashed to a home defeat, their first since the opening day of the season, as once again they failed to convert any number of chances. The pace and guile of Chris Lane and Ricky Hulbert threatened to tear the visitors apart in the opening exchanges but the finishing touch failed to materialise.

It was 12 minutes before the first shot on target as Nick Hudson found Lee Bryant but Oxford keeper Steve Smith easily saved his effort. Bryant turned provider moments later but Hulbert’s effort cleared the bar. Hulbert then created shooting chances for first Ben Cleverley and then Lane but both failed to hit the target.

Ross Casey was inexplicable booked after 25 minutes for what looked like a fair challenge on Jon Gardner and 10 minutes later the referee, Mr Brown astonished everyone by only showing Oxford defender, Mark Avery, a yellow card after he impeded Hulbert’s run into the penalty area. As last man, clearly denying the Rover ‘s striker a goal scoring opportunity, a straight red looked inevitable. To add insult to injury Dan Cleverley’s well-struck penalty kick came back off the foot of Smith’s left hand post and rebounded to safety. Rovers continued to press but the first half ended goalless.

In the second half with the wind at their backs the visitors came more into the game and Gardner flashed a free kick narrowly wide just after the restart as Hudson was adjudged to have fouled the lively Jermaine McSporran. Ben Cleverley then cleared off the line following a corner from the right. Rovers should have taken the lead on 63 minutes with the best move of the game as Ross Casey and Dan Cleverley exchanged passes before releasing Lane down the left his whipped in cross found Rob Claridge at full stretch on the far post and the ball went agonisingly wide. Minutes later and Claridge was again denied by the onrushing Smith, the ball falling to Hulbert whose shot was blocked by a defender only as far as Ben Cleverley whose right foot shot was once again off target. Rovers were given a warning on 76 minutes as a slick Oxford move ended with a shot from substitute, Mark Jones being deflected onto a post by Rover’s covering defender, Lee Marshall. Casey almost scored with a dipping volley that just cleared the bar.

Oxford finally produced a breakthrough on 79 minutes as a move down the right saw the cross elude the Rover’s defence allowing Gardner to fire home from the edge of the area. Gardner could have had a second minutes later as he found himself in the clear as Rovers pressed for an equaliser, but his effort was brilliantly saved by keeper, Dave Dyson. Rovers were then awarded a free kick which Ben Cleverley put into the Oxford box but this was cleared and the visitors broke quickly as substitute Jkechi Anya set up Liam Malone whose shot deflected of a defender and into the net.

Rover’s substitute Pete Sheppard forced Smith into a save moments from the end but Rovers had clearly run out of time and will rue another failure to turn good football and possession into goals.

Team: Dyson, Bryant (Sheppard 71 mins), Marshall, Casey (Jeffries 84 mins), Hudson, Cousins, B Cleverley, Lane, Claridge (Allison 89 mins), D Cleverley (C), Hulbert.
Sub not used: Phillips

Referee: P Brown
Assts: S Higgins / A Nunn

Attendance: 179

Star Man: Jon Gardner (Oxford)

posted by Julian at Thursday, February 07, 2008 0 comments

Slough

City 5-0 Slough Town: A View From The Terraces

Posted by ChrisB on November 17, 2007, 8:15 pm

Slough Town visited Court Place Farm this afternoon having taken just three points out of the last eighteen, and City would have been hoping to continue in the manner that saw them dispose of Marlow in mid-week.
The casual observer, therefore, might have been forgiven for thinking that recent form was not a good guide as Slough came out of the blocks quickly and City looked the more sluggish of the two teams. In fact Abby Nsubuga came very close to putting the visitors ahead in the first minute when a flicked header put him in on goal, but his soft shot was comfortably dealt with by Steve Smith. Slough created a number of other chances in the opening ten minutes before City could settle to their game. Christian Metcalfe saw a volley charged down and the ball worked wide onto the Slough right where Dave Barratt thundered a tremendous cross-shot not too much beyond the far post. From the goal kick Lee Riddell set himself for a long-range lob but Smith was back in time to make a head-high catch. And with Slough still pressing Mark Avery had to be at his sharpest to take the ball from Erebendu as he raced into the area.
For City Darren Pond picked up a loose ball twenty yards out and fired a foot wide of Richard Barnard’s right-hand post just before play was held up for three or four minutes as Jermaine McSporran lay prone near the half-way line after challenging for a high ball.
City began to assert themselves more as the first quarter finished. Jon Gardner had a good run that it took two defenders to end, and McSporran shot just wide when Alex Stewart headed down. They edged in front on 22 minutes when Stewart hit a firm shot that spun off Daly to Mark Bell who cut inside from the City right and struck the ball hard and low beyond Barnard’s dive.
Slough came close to an equaliser almost immediately as the ball broke kindly for Michael Murphy but his shot faded wide of the post.
City’s longer-range passes were gaining in accuracy now: firstly Bell was put in for a strong run to the line to deliver a cross that was bundled behind for a corner; and then James Saulsbury and Bell combined well to release McSporran and his low cross-cum-shot was just missed by Stewart.
The lead was doubled on 32 minutes when a neat header by Stewart allowed Jermaine McSporran to beat the offside trap and he finished well with the outside of the right foot to place a neat flick over Barnard as he slid off his line.
City realistically made the game safe with a third first-half goal with five minutes remaining. A run by Gardner was stopped untidily by Robinson, gaining the Slough defender a yellow card, and Gardner’s free-kick was headed beyond Barnard at the far post by Alex Stewart.
With the clock running down towards half-time another blockbuster shot from Dave Barratt was smothered, possibly unwittingly, by Andy Gunn, and Metcalfe had another fair chance but shot wide of the target.

HALF-TIME: City 3-0 Slough

Slough began the second period as they did the first and quickly forced a corner that Daly headed just beyond the far post, and then were presented with a good chance five minutes in when Erebendu was fouled near the edge of the area, but Riddell’s free-kick, though powerfully struck, was straight at Smith who held it with ease.
Ikechi Anya replaced McSporran, who had not completely shaken off the effects of the first-half injury, and was immediately into the action with a run and pass that was cut out just short of a well-placed Stewart. On 55 minutes a great piece of football saw a slide-rule pass from Bell allow Pond to run on and cut the ball back to Stewart by the penalty spot, but his first-time shot was neatly held by Barnard. Another trademark Anya run two minutes later set up Stewart again, but his shot lacked power and Barnard, having a good afternoon, parried the ball to Anya who saw the subsequent ‘goal’ ruled out (correctly) for off-side.
Slough were still breaking quickly when the chance arose and Barratt might have done better with his header from a cross from the left.
Anya’s runs were causing Slough problems and usually drawing two defenders giving space elsewhere for City attackers, and as he latched on to a sharp ball over the top twenty minutes into the half the Slough cover did well to react quickly enough and clear the ball for a corner. Mark Bell flighted the ball to the far post and Andy Gunn, not for the first time this season, headed home to take his personal tally to six for the campaign.
With quarter of an hour left there were a few sighs of relief in the City camp as only a yellow card was brandished as Steve Smith stumbled out of his area with the ball firmly in his grasp when under no particular pressure.
The Blues were working the ball around well: Anya shot wide on a couple of occasions after eluding his marker(s), and Barnard saved well (again) from Darren Pond after a good interchange of passes with Gardner had put him in the clear.
Jon Gardner wrapped up the scoring for the afternoon with eight minutes remaining when he picked up a loose ball twenty five yards out and curled a terrific shot beyond a surprised Barnard’s dive.
Slough looked likely to gain a consolation when a long cross caught the City defence wrong-footed for once and reached substitute Landy Sakala, but Smith reacted well, pulled off a point-blank save and saw the rebound fired over the bar.
The last chance of the match fell to the irrepressible Anya who again raced into the Slough box and saw his shot deflected through the keeper’s legs, but, with the pace taken off the ball, Barnard had time to retrieve the situation.

FULL-TIME Oxford City 5-0 Slough Town

Oxford City: Smith, Saulsbury (Janes 67), Cattell, Gunn, Pond, Avery, Gardner, Malone, McSporran (Anya 53), Stewart (Redknap 72), Bell.
Slough Town: Barnard, Robinson, Woodruffe (Attrell 72), Daly, Harper, Barratt (Browne 90), Metcalfe, Murphy, Erebendu, Nsubuga (Sakala 62), Riddell.

P.S. My thanks to the fantastic minute-by-minute highlights (how do you do that!!?) on the Slough website for identifying some Slough players that I couldn't see.

posted by Julian at Thursday, February 07, 2008 0 comments

Marlow

City 4-0 Marlow: A View From The Terraces

Winchester

Oxford City 4-0 Winchester City: A View From The Terraces

Posted by ChrisB on November 3, 2007, 9:05 pm

City started with both George Redknap and Stuart Cattell on the bench, but with Jermaine McSporran in the line-up, despite some pre-match uncertainty about his fitness, and it was he who set the tone for much of what was to follow in the very first minute when he was picked out by Mark Jones only to see his shot blocked by Clint Davies in the Winchester goal.
City were being allowed considerable space in dangerous positions by the visitors’ defence, with both Jon Gardner and Darren Pond testing the keeper early on, and he also had to be alert to deal successfully with four corners conceded by jittery defenders. With all this pressure it came as no great surprise when City took the lead after 14 minutes as Gardner picked out Jones who in turn found Alex Stewart on the edge of the area, and his well-timed shot was accurately despatched into the bottom right-hand corner of the net. The lead was doubled two minutes later when the Jones-Stewart combination again produced a successful outcome with the ball ending up in almost exactly the same spot.
City were showing what a potent attacking force they can be when the players are at the top of their game. Gardner had a great run into the box only to see his shot just pushed behind by Davies, and Mark Avery powered a header just over the bar from Jones’ curling corner.
The tempo and pattern of the game were disrupted for a while after Mark Jones hobbled back to the bench on 25 minutes having pulled up in the middle of a cross-field run, and for a time the chances became sparser.
McSporran turned and fired in a long-distance shot that had Davies, a few yards off his line, watching nervously as the ball cleared him, but also passed just beyond the post; and in a rare foray upfield Winchester's Brett Williams outpaced his marker but had his on-target shot beaten away by Steve Smith.
The last five minutes of the half saw the home side producing good goal-scoring opportunities again. A long pass from Liam Malone gave Steve Davis time to put in a good cross from the left that Stewart headed just too high – with Jon Gardner coming in behind him suggesting that he had had the better chance – and, as the half-time whistle approached, Mark Bell, on for the injured Jones, dispossessed a defender and his inch-perfect pass gave Gardner a good sight of goal but his first-time shot cleared the bar.

HALF-TIME: OXFORD CITY 2-0 WINCHESTER CITY

The visitors’ half-time talk appeared to have had an effect after the turn-round as Winchester won two quick corners, but play soon switched to the clubhouse end as a flowing move involving Malone, Davis and Bell released Pond to beat the offside trap but his final pass back across the goal was intercepted by Wilson just before McSporran could strike. A surging run by Mark Bell set up Davis to put another deep cross into the box, but Stewart had to contend with two defenders and put his header behind, and, almost immediately, yet another run from Bell was ended at the expense of a corner by Bowler, and Gunn flashed his header from the corner-kick just too high.
As in the first half it seemed that the steadily increasing pressure had to be productive sooner or later, and after 56 minutes sustained goalmouth action brought number three. Bell reached McSporran with a sharp pass and he held the ball up well at the angle of the penalty box before finding Saulsbury on the flank whose first time cross was headed against the bar by Stewart. Gardner’s shot from the rebound was blocked but Bell made no mistake from ten yards as the ball landed at his feet.
Four minutes later and the lead could have been stretched further as Andy Gunn hit the angle of bar and post with a header from a Davis free-kick after Stewart had been upended.
Though Sam Lockyer broke through on the Oxford right for Winchester and brought a save from Smith with a low shot even a triple substitution for the Reds couldn’t affect the pattern of the match and the Blues were soon beating a path towards the visitors’ goal again. McSporran raced to the by-line and set up Pond whose rising shot was just pushed up and onto the top of the bar by Davies, and then Bell burst through and hit a pile-driver of a shot that Davies could only punch up and away via the bar.
Half-chances came and went for the home side until, with seven minutes left on the clock, McSporran cut in from the left and, as sensible running by Davis took defenders elsewhere, he turned infield again and curled a terrific shot beyond Davies’ left hand and just inside the post.
A swerving left-footed free-kick from Davis almost caught the keeper out by has near post as he readied himself for a deep cross, and almost the last action of the match saw McSporran’s pass pick Darren Pond out perfectly on the far side of the penalty area, but his full-blooded volley was marginally too high. Another goal would have brought a fitting end to a match that had seen City produce a terrific number of chances and keep their opponents on the back-foot for so much of the match that Smith was a spectator for long passages of the game.

FULL TIME: OXFORD CITY 4-0 WINCHESTER CITY

Oxford City: Smith, Saulsbury, Davis, Gunn, Pond, Avery, Gardner (Weirich 81), Malone, McSporran, Stewart (Redknap 75), Jones (Bell 24).
Winchester City: Davies, Wilson, Davis (Gilbert 66), George (Draper 66), Bowler, Llewellyn, Czastka (Riddell 66), Allen, Williams, Lilley, Lockyer.

City, playing some cultured, flowing football, were on top for the majority of the game, and it would not be unreasonable to say that another three or four goals would not have flattered them. The visitors were never allowed to settle on the ball or produce more than two or three chances of their own throughout the whole ninety minutes. And the defence kept a clean sheet: another plus.

posted by Julian at Thursday, February 07, 2008 0 comments

Didcot

City 3-4 Didcot Town: A View From The Terraces

Monday, February 04, 2008

Didcot

Posted by ChrisB on October 27, 2007, 7:12 pm

With ten minutes left Didcot’s manager, Stuart Peace, might have thought that he had finally broken the derby hoodoo that has seen his team unable to beat local rivals City and Abingdon United since their arrival in the Southern League – but it was not to be.
In front of a good-sized crowd Didcot started strongly making good use of their tall front-men, and Michael Bartley in particular, and as early as the fourth minute were claiming a score after a goalmouth melee saw the City defence somehow manage to clear the ball from under the bar.
Jermaine McSporran was giving his marker a difficult time and was pulled down on the edge of the area after six minutes giving Jon Gardner a chance to curl in a testing free-kick which was just too high for Andy Gunn at the far post. Four minutes later and McSporran outpaced his marker on the Didcot right and chased down a long pass from Steve Davis and played the ball back neatly for Davis to deliver a great left-footed cross that Mark Jones, under pressure from Bicknell, headed beyond Michael Watkins to give City the lead.
Didcot continued to press with both Bicknell and Mulvany swinging several crosses into the City area from Didcot’s left flank, but Gunn and Cattell generally dealt with matters comfortably.
Mr Bird’s overfondness for the whistle was producing a rather stop-start affair and yellow cards blossomed around the end of the first quarter.
On the half-hour Jon Gardner picked out Darren Pond in space in the Didcot area and a goal-bound strike cannoned off Bicknell’s arm - very half-hearted penalty appeals only! - for a corner and as the cross was scrambled away Gardner returned the ball for McSporran to flick a header across Watkins and into the net.
Didcot almost pulled one back with their next attack when Bartley narrowly failed to get a toe onto an accurately threaded pass by Jack King, and a few minutes later an accurate dead-ball kick from Bicknell was headed past the upright by Witt.
City finished the half on the attack with two corners won in quick succession, and from the second Pond at the far post headed Davis’ cross into the side-netting.

HALF-TIME Didcot 0-2 City

Didcot attacked from the whistle and almost immediately Bartley made room for himself on the edge of the box and produced a strong shot that Smith held well, and then with just three minutes of the half gone the home side got the all-important third goal. Bicknell was again the provider and his deep cross was headed firmly home by Matty Jack. City were finding it hard to build attacks as the home side continued to press. Another Bicknell cross headed just wide; Mulvany found the side-netting with a low drive and Witt brought a save from Smith with a header. A Steve Davis pass did release Mark Jones on the City left but Stuart Cattell’s shot from the final cross was held by Watkins.
Didcot’s aerial bombardment paid off after 68 minutes when another high ball gave Ashley Vine an opportunity for a looping header that went in off the far post to level the scores. And with a quarter of an hour left Didcot got their noses in front for the first time when (yet) another accurate centre from Bicknell was put behind for a corner, and the resultant kick was cleared only as far as Jack King just outside the area who hit a cracking shot beyond an unsighted Smith and into the top corner.
City replied with a double substitution bringing Faulkner and Stewart on at the front, but the equaliser came from mid-field with ten minutes left when George Redknap picked up a misplaced clearance just inside the Didcot half and accelerated into the box. His shot was probably covered by Watkins but was pushed past the keeper by Richard Peirson for an own-goal as he raced back to cover.
As both sides looked for a late winner Smith pushed Witt’s powerful shot just over the bar; a Faulkner cross was fractionally too high for Stewart; and, with almost the last kick of the match, Vine struck a low shot that just beat both Smith and the far post.

FULL-TIME Didcot Town 3-3 Oxford City

City: Smith, Saulsbury, Davis, Gunn, Pond (Faulkner 76), Cattell, Gardner (Bell 86), Redknap, McSporran, Jones (Stewart 76), Malone.

So, another draw between these two sides, though the stalemate will finally have to be broken, one way or another, on Tuesday night when they meet in the errea Cup at Court Place Farm.

posted by Julian at Monday, February 04, 2008 0 comments