Fleet
Fleet Town arrived this weekend for another of those six-pointers that seem to have become an almost weekly occurrence recently, and this second-place versus third-place confrontation was always likely to be particularly tense.
Unaccustomedly playing towards the Clubhouse in the first-half City were the first on the attack, though without testing Paul Smith in the visitors’ goal, but were hit by an early goal on four minutes as Fleet broke quickly from defence. Salmon fed Nathan Smart who made good ground before hitting a low drive that Steve Smith pushed away for a corner. The deep corner kick found Smart again just outside the area and this time his low shot came back off Smith’s right hand post and fell nicely for Ben Wright to fire home from close quarters.
City came back strongly and for the next twenty minutes were looking the more likely to score the next goal of the game. The strong running of several players, and Michael Lyon in particular, was posing the Fleet defence a few problems. Jon Gardner found himself with room to work on the left but his cross was too close to Smith; Lyon’s dash towards goal was stopped by Smith, and, as the ball span loose, George Redknap lifted the ball just wide of the far post from distance; good close control gave Mark Bell a chance in the area but his shot was smothered; and, with Smith off his line, Gardner’s long-range lob cleared the bar (but was neatly headed back by a spectator!).
Fleet always looked dangerous on the break and Smart produced another shot that had Steve Smith scrambling along his line as the ball just grazed his right-hand post; Simeon Howell created a good chance for himself but scuffed his shot; and Smart had acres of space in which to manoeuvre, as he was found with an accurate cross-field pass from Wright, and his cross into the box was met by an overhead kick from Steve Noakes that went very near to doubling the lead.
On 35 minutes City pulled themselves back into the game. A needless hand-ball by James Field on the edge of the Fleet box produced a free-kick for City that was nodded behind for a corner, and Steve Davis’ near-post corner-kick was hooked home just inside the post by Darren Pond through a crowd of players.
Almost immediately Michael Lyon’s pace and never-say-die attitude saw him reach a ball that the defenders were watching drift over the line for a goal-kick and his pass gave Bell a chance for a shot; and then Lyon almost produced a re-run of his goal against Uxbridge but the back-pedalling Smith just managed to hang on to the on-target shot from wide on the wing.
HALF-TIME: Oxford City 1-1 Fleet Town
The stiffening breeze (gale) was making judgement of high balls tricky and both keepers had to make some rapid readjustments on two or three occasions as the second period got underway.
Fleet were the first to threaten and the ball seemed to spend an eternity in the City box in the early minutes before Andy Gunn’s hefty clearance relieved the pressure. While at the other end Liam Malone, Mark Bell and George Redknap worked hard to create space but eventually lost out to superior defensive numbers.
Jack Smith and James Field were combining well on the Fleet left but the wind had the last word with several crosses. Mark Anderson brought a relatively routine save from Smith, before a low shot from a narrowing angle by Field took the merest of deflections before creeping past Smith’s far post for a corner.
Pressurised by the Fleet midfield City were finding it harder to create chances and the visitors were having the better of the possession around the end of the third quarter, and went within a whisker of regaining the lead on 70 minutes when the lively Field crashed a shot against the bar and in the ensuing scramble it was only a timely offside flag that allowed City to breathe again.
With their substitutes on City pressed forwards again, and twice within five minutes Leon Woodruffe made space for himself cutting in from the left, but seemed unnecessarily reluctant to attempt a shot as the target opened up in front of him. Steve Davis overlapped well but was just unable to pull the ball back far enough, and a deep, dipping cross from Lyon on the run was headed vertically by Jack Smith as he jumped with Alex Stewart but keeper Paul Smith was on hand to tidy up.
So into the last few minutes: the last Fleet substitute had just been thrown into the action and a draw was on the cards. A Red attack on the City left was repulsed, but the ball span clear to James Field some distance out and centrally placed, and his left-footed shot took a big deflection off James Saulsbury and past Smith’s despairing dive.
City threw everyone forward in the hope of a goal and Andy Gunn’s lob into the area was neatly flicked on by Errol Telemaque but Stewart just failed to bring the ball under control and the chance evaporated.
With most blue shirts elsewhere Field drew a good save from Smith, and in the dying seconds Mark Anderson really should have made it three from close range.
FULL-TIME: Oxford City 1-2 Fleet Town
City: Smith, Saulsbury, Davis, Gunn, Pond, Avery, Gardner (Woodruffe 65), Malone, Redknap (Telemaque 75), Lyons, Bell (Stewart 80).
Unaccustomedly playing towards the Clubhouse in the first-half City were the first on the attack, though without testing Paul Smith in the visitors’ goal, but were hit by an early goal on four minutes as Fleet broke quickly from defence. Salmon fed Nathan Smart who made good ground before hitting a low drive that Steve Smith pushed away for a corner. The deep corner kick found Smart again just outside the area and this time his low shot came back off Smith’s right hand post and fell nicely for Ben Wright to fire home from close quarters.
City came back strongly and for the next twenty minutes were looking the more likely to score the next goal of the game. The strong running of several players, and Michael Lyon in particular, was posing the Fleet defence a few problems. Jon Gardner found himself with room to work on the left but his cross was too close to Smith; Lyon’s dash towards goal was stopped by Smith, and, as the ball span loose, George Redknap lifted the ball just wide of the far post from distance; good close control gave Mark Bell a chance in the area but his shot was smothered; and, with Smith off his line, Gardner’s long-range lob cleared the bar (but was neatly headed back by a spectator!).
Fleet always looked dangerous on the break and Smart produced another shot that had Steve Smith scrambling along his line as the ball just grazed his right-hand post; Simeon Howell created a good chance for himself but scuffed his shot; and Smart had acres of space in which to manoeuvre, as he was found with an accurate cross-field pass from Wright, and his cross into the box was met by an overhead kick from Steve Noakes that went very near to doubling the lead.
On 35 minutes City pulled themselves back into the game. A needless hand-ball by James Field on the edge of the Fleet box produced a free-kick for City that was nodded behind for a corner, and Steve Davis’ near-post corner-kick was hooked home just inside the post by Darren Pond through a crowd of players.
Almost immediately Michael Lyon’s pace and never-say-die attitude saw him reach a ball that the defenders were watching drift over the line for a goal-kick and his pass gave Bell a chance for a shot; and then Lyon almost produced a re-run of his goal against Uxbridge but the back-pedalling Smith just managed to hang on to the on-target shot from wide on the wing.
HALF-TIME: Oxford City 1-1 Fleet Town
The stiffening breeze (gale) was making judgement of high balls tricky and both keepers had to make some rapid readjustments on two or three occasions as the second period got underway.
Fleet were the first to threaten and the ball seemed to spend an eternity in the City box in the early minutes before Andy Gunn’s hefty clearance relieved the pressure. While at the other end Liam Malone, Mark Bell and George Redknap worked hard to create space but eventually lost out to superior defensive numbers.
Jack Smith and James Field were combining well on the Fleet left but the wind had the last word with several crosses. Mark Anderson brought a relatively routine save from Smith, before a low shot from a narrowing angle by Field took the merest of deflections before creeping past Smith’s far post for a corner.
Pressurised by the Fleet midfield City were finding it harder to create chances and the visitors were having the better of the possession around the end of the third quarter, and went within a whisker of regaining the lead on 70 minutes when the lively Field crashed a shot against the bar and in the ensuing scramble it was only a timely offside flag that allowed City to breathe again.
With their substitutes on City pressed forwards again, and twice within five minutes Leon Woodruffe made space for himself cutting in from the left, but seemed unnecessarily reluctant to attempt a shot as the target opened up in front of him. Steve Davis overlapped well but was just unable to pull the ball back far enough, and a deep, dipping cross from Lyon on the run was headed vertically by Jack Smith as he jumped with Alex Stewart but keeper Paul Smith was on hand to tidy up.
So into the last few minutes: the last Fleet substitute had just been thrown into the action and a draw was on the cards. A Red attack on the City left was repulsed, but the ball span clear to James Field some distance out and centrally placed, and his left-footed shot took a big deflection off James Saulsbury and past Smith’s despairing dive.
City threw everyone forward in the hope of a goal and Andy Gunn’s lob into the area was neatly flicked on by Errol Telemaque but Stewart just failed to bring the ball under control and the chance evaporated.
With most blue shirts elsewhere Field drew a good save from Smith, and in the dying seconds Mark Anderson really should have made it three from close range.
FULL-TIME: Oxford City 1-2 Fleet Town
City: Smith, Saulsbury, Davis, Gunn, Pond, Avery, Gardner (Woodruffe 65), Malone, Redknap (Telemaque 75), Lyons, Bell (Stewart 80).
posted by Julian at Saturday, March 29, 2008
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