Winchester

Posted by ChrisB on March 1, 2008, 8:18 pm

Not having defeated Winchester at the Denplan Stadium previously, Oxford were looking for a change of fortune in this battle of the Cities this afternoon as they strived to continue in a winning vein.
A bright sun and a strong end-to-end wind made it hard to judge the ball in the air; and a rather irregular pitch made close-control on the ground difficult as well, and, perhaps because of these factors, the match seemed to be peppered with minor errors that constantly interrupted the flow of the game.
The visitors were the first to press and Yashwa Romeo and Errol Telemaque combined well to get Mark Bell behind the defence but the angle proved too narrow for him to convert the chance. Mike Lyon put Leon Woodruffe away on the left and he made large inroads into the Winchester half before brought up short by a foul: Telemaque’s free-kick caused momentary worries, but finally faded past the far post.
The Blues edged ahead after nine minutes as Bell raced on to a through-ball from Liam Malone and took the ball almost to the goal-line before squaring it to Yashwa Romeo. His right-foot flick seemed to catch keeper Clint Davies off balance and the ball rolled home to give the visitors the lead.
Winchester looked to get back on terms and a well-delivered free-kick from Adam Lang required a hasty clearance from Lyon as red shirts descended on the far post. A minute later an uncustomary slip by Mark Avery allowed Sam Lockyer to advance on goal and Woodruffe had to be inch-perfect to sweep the ball away as Lockyer lined up a shot. Stuart Hussey was the next to threaten as he worked himself into a shooting position, but Darren Pond reacted quickly and took the ball to safety.
Play swung to the other end in the last ten minutes of the session and several half-chances came Oxford’s way. Malone was fouled 25 yards out and Tellemaque’s accurate ball into the area was back-headed goalwards by Andy Gunn - but straight at Davies. A deep wind-assisted cross from Woodruffe had Davies back-pedalling nervously – but the ball landed on the roof of the net; and Pond set up Malone in a good position on the edge of the box – but the shot was just off-target.

HALF-TIME: Winchester City 0-1 Oxford City

A misjudgement by Gunn early in the second period allowed Adam Grey a clear sight of goal from a good position, but his hurried shot was wide. Lang then tested Steve Smith from distance, but the attempt was held cleanly and, in fact, a fine throw from Smith gave Woodruffe a clear run on the left flank, but support was just too late arriving when the cross was delivered.
A good ball into the box from Malone saw Romeo just unable to turn his marker; and Telemaque and Bowler incurred a lecture from Mr Robinson after a frank exchange of views between the players when the Oxford man felt he had been unfairly held off a ball that was rolling slowly behind for a goal-kick. (Why are defenders never pulled up for obstruction in those circumstances??)
Steve Davis, on as a substitute, immediately had two good runs on the left and produced crosses that were scrambled away by defenders, and Telemaque came a close second to Davies in a race for a ball over the back-four.
Winchester were putting more men forward as time slipped away and there were some nail-biting moments among the Oxford following as normally reliable defenders seemed to become very ragged for a few minutes. Dave Allen missed the target from one good chance, and then couldn’t believe his luck as Gunn lifted a goalbound effort from under the bar, and both Paul Taplin and Adam Lang should have tied the match up when finding themselves with the ball at their feet and the goal at their mercy.
This belated all-out push for a goal left Winchester unsurprisingly short-staffed at the back and in the final minutes it was the visitors who came the closer to scoring the second goal of the game. Mark Jones released Lyon to cut along the goal-line and see his cross nudged behind for a corner; Jones a few minutes later again put Lyon away, down the centre of the pitch this time, but the combination of two defenders was eventually sufficient to muscle him off the ball at the expense of another corner. And with nigh on the last passage of play of the match Davis picked up a pass from Lyon to fire home past Davies: unfortunately from an off-side position.

FULL-TIME: Winchester City 0-1 Oxford City

Winchester City: Davies, Wilson, Lang, George (Allen 57), Bowler, Llewellyn, Carter (Jacob 71), McEnery (Gregory 63), Hussey, Grey, Lockyer.
Oxford City: Smith, Saulsbury, Woodruffe, Gunn, Pond, Avery, Telemaque (Redknap 85), Malone, Romeo (Jones 72), Lyon, Bell (Davis 72).