Witney & District Football Reports - Week 13

Five W&D sides advance to Junior Shield quarter finals.

John Father’s Junior Shield
It was a generally positive weekend for the Witney and District during Junior Shield Round Three as five sides managed to advance into the hat for the quarter final draw. The district were guaranteed four representatives as 8 of the league’s teams faced off against each other in four of the games.

Hailey managed the biggest margin of victory by overcoming fellow Premier Division opposition in beating Carterton Rangers 4-0. Hailey flew into the quarter finals thanks to goals from Jack Wood, Tom Gregory, Paul Read and Freddie Buckingham.

The other all Premier Division affair between Carterton Town A and FC Hollybush finished in a much tighter affair. Both sides battled hard in what is already their third meeting of the season and Hollybush managed to prevail for the third time this year. Connor Kelly gave Carterton the lead with a sublime finish from the edge of the box. Hollybush had the lead by half time thanks to an equally wonderful goal from Johnny Andrews and a Craig Mays penalty. Bradley Bryant finished the scoring for Hollybush whilst Ben Liddle scrambled a goal in from a corner to give the game a tight finish but Hollybush proceed courtesy of the 3-2 victory.

Charlbury are the third Premier Division side into the draw after beating lower league opposition in Witney Royals. Division one Royals managed to keep Charlbury honest and worked them hard but goals from Kieran Watts, Craig McCallum and Josh Hunt gave Charlbury a 3-0 win.

The final all Witney and District affair saw Division Two battling Division One. Division Two’s Kingham hosted and had Gaz Price to thank for their goal but a Connor O’Shea brace put division one Bampton into the quarter finals.

There was also good news for fellow division one side Milton as they beat Hornton 3-2. It required extra time but Milton managed to avoid a penalty shootout thanks to goals from Paul Dray, Chris Godfrey and Stephen Pearce.

An Alex Metcalfe hat-trick helped Kirtlington to battle beyond 90 minutes and into extra time as they finished all square with Tetsworth. Further goals from Ryan Moran and Jake East meant the score was 5-5 after 120 minutes. Penalty heartbreak was to follow as Tetsworth advanced 6-5 in the shootout.

There was also disappointment for Tower Hill as they went down 6-2 to Deddington Town. Chris Olive and Josh Carter scored Tower’s consolations.

Premier Division
It’s been a long time coming but Spartan Rangers finally have their first league win of the season. Callum Hampson, Cody Davies and Henry Clark scored one each as Spartan put three past Minster Lovell for their first three points of the season. Sam Wright scored Minster’s consolation in the 3-1 reverse. Spartan escape off the bottom of the league as a result, leapfrogging Tower Hill in the process.

Division One
During the course of the week, we learned that Bletchington’s first team were sadly required to withdraw from the league and, as a result, all fixtures completed by them this season have been deleted.

This meant a change at the top of the table as Moreton Rangers went top by default. However, they missed out on a golden opportunity to extend their lead in the only division one fixture this weekend.

Robbie Schurmer, Javan Nurse and Jamie O’Hara all scored one each for Moreton as they faced off against Middle Barton but Dan Bott scored his second hat-trick in three games to ensure that the points were shared in the 3-3 draw. Moreton are top by three points whilst Middle Barton remain well placed in the middle of the chasing pack.

Division Two
Charlbury Town Reserves were the biggest beneficiaries as a result of the weekend’s fixtures, being on the right side of a 9 goal thriller ensured that they jumped 3 league places in Division Two. Their opponents, Corinthians, would have hoped that scoring four goals away from home would have been enough for at least a point, Tom Cattanach, Richard Miller and a Harry Purfitt double on the scoresheet for them. However Charlbury went one better thanks to a Mitchell Faulkner double and further goals from Lee Stefanovic, Sean Godfrey and Dom Hemmings. Charlbury go fifth thanks to the win and jump Corinthians in the league.

Charlbury also benefitted from Brize Norton going down against league leaders Minster Lovell Reserves. Minster Lovell remain 100% away from for the season thanks to a 3-0 win. Gary Mitchell (2) and Russell Whitlock hitting the back of the net to keep Minster one point clear.

Hailey Reserves managed to keep up their continued pursuit of top spot thanks to Reuben Wertheim and a Bradley Snell brace as they overcame Aston Reserves 3-0.

Ducklington and Witney Wanderers succumbed to the weather as Duck’s pitch was waterlogged.

Division Three
There was only one fixture completed in Division Three this weekend.
FC Mills and Hook Norton were another victim of the weather. Another waterlogged pitch preventing the crucial 3rd vs 4th encounter taking place.
That left Wootton vs Bletchington Reserves and it was the away side who prevailed to close the gap to Wootton who are directly above them in the league. The game finished 5-2 to Bletchington. Luke Sanders scoring a double for Wootton but he was eclipsed by Danny Evans who went one better in scoring a hat-trick to help Bletchington to victory.

Division Four
Martin Kraus scored a hat-trick for the second week in a row to help Milton Reserves thrash Brize Norton Reserves 10-2. However, Kraus was eclipsed by his own team mate Levi Steele who popped up with four goals of his own as Milton significantly boosted their goal difference with further goals from Jonny Lowe, George Ford and Josh Edwards. Brize replied through Dan Sollis and Gavin Smith.

Milton went three points clear in second place thanks to a shock defeat for Kingham Reserves. FC Ascott Rangers managed their first win of the season as they managed to overcome their highly placed opponents. Danny Case scored for Kingham but Rangers picked up their first points of the season thanks to goals from Aidan Lowe and Anthony Hull.

Bampton United Reserves kept up their own promotion interests with a closely fought victory over FC Ascott. Brook Jones and Jason Bufton scored for FC Ascott but Bampton went one better thanks to an Oli Partridge brace and a single goal from Mike Catherall.

Two of the bottom three faced off against each other and managed to produce a 10 goal thriller in the process. Eynsham SSC Reserves triumphed over Spartan Rangers A as it finished 6-4 to the home side. Nathan Tang, Jordan Saverton, Mickey Hole and Mev Gundem all scored one each for visiting Spartan but Andy Stratford and Kieran Clarke scored a brace each and were backed up by goals from Ash Bowerman and Harry Buckingham as they secured the 3 points. Eynsham jump out of the bottom three thanks to the win. Spartan Rangers A remain in the bottom two.