Witney & District Football Reports - Week 19

Bish, Bish, Bush: Dan at the double for title chasers

Premier Division
Dan Bishop scored twice as FC Hollybush overcame Carterton Town A to ramp up the pressure on league leaders Charlbury. Richard Williams joined him on the scoresheet to round off a 3-0 victory.

Hollybush recovered some of the ground lost in last week's defeat to Charlbury as the league's top side dropped points for the second time in three games. They faced off against Tower Hill and found them in fine form once again as they battled to a 1-1 draw. Lewis Bartlett scored for Tower with Tom Williams responding for Charlbury. Tower will remain grateful to keeper Dan Cox who pulled off a wonder save in the first half to play his part in a share of the spoils.

Another in-form team, Hailey, continued their fine form in 2019 as they took points off high flying Aston. Tom Gregory scored for Hailey to notch their twelfth goal of the month. Nick Angus replied for Aston who remain third and within touching distance of the top two.

Carterton Rangers won out in the battle of the bottom sides as they beat Spartan Rangers in a close fought 1-0 victory. Dan Hall the solitary difference maker as Rangers jumped two league places courtesy of the three points.

One side they managed to leapfrog were Kirtlington who once again lost out in a close fought battle. Frank Harrison's double would have left Kirtlington hoping for at least a point but Minster Lovell came away with all three points thanks to three different goal scorers. Johnny Fletcher, Herbie Hamilton and Mark Norridge notching one each in the 3-2 success.

Division One
Results following this week’s fixtures in Division One have given the top two sides a little bit of breathing space in their pursuit of reaching the top league as members of the chasing pack faltered in their bid to keep pace with them.

Moreton Rangers did all they needed to keep up the pressure on Stonesfield as they claimed a 3-0 victory away to Bourton Rovers. Cal Peters, Kyle Smith and Holbie Clayton all scored once to claim the win.

Leaders Stonesfield managed to go one better however, defeating Middle Barton 4-0 to remain five points clear at the top. A Mike Phipps double got them well on the way to victory, with Raffy Rice and Jordan Newman joining him in the hunt for goals as they dented fifth placed Middle Barton's promotion hopes.

Fourth placed Chadlington also dropped points as they could only manage to draw against bottom side Witney Royals. Miles Roberts hitting the back of the net for Royals, Matt Chadwick responding for Chadlington.

Third placed Milton were also guilty of dropping points as they fell to defeat away to Combe. Alex Ayres netted for the away side but an Ethan Penney double ensured that the home side took the points with them leaving Milton seven points adrift of second place Moreton.

The remaining fixture proved to be a cracker as Bampton and Eynsham shared a seven goal thriller.

Steven Chappel and Jason Blackman (2) put three on the board for visiting Eynsham but goal machine Chris Laurence hit back with a double of his own, rising to the top of Division One’s goal scoring chart in the process. Team mates Jordan Ford and Jake Pritchard joined him on the scoresheet to give Bampton all three points.

Division Two
Hailey Reserves found themselves on the wrong side of a 3-1 score line as their pursuers gained ground in the Division Two title race.

They faced a Witney Wanderers side who found their momentum once again to achieve their first win of 2019 thanks to goals from Omar Semlali and Telmo Fernandez (2). Tom Evans replied for the despairing league leaders.

The gap has reduced to two points after Minster Lovell fought to s 1-0 victory over Ducklington. Luke Hessey proving to be the difference maker to push Minster within a win of top spot.

With three games in hand, Kingham also find themselves capable of catching Hailey Reserves after receiving a walkover victory after Corinthians forfeit their game. Kingham remain fourth and eight points behind Hailey. Corinthians are still stuck in the bottom two.

Brize Norton put an extra point between them and Corinthians as they battled to a 1-1 draw with Charlbury Town Reserves. Ben Brown scored for Brize, Gary Jones replying for Charlbury.

Division Three
Jay Mair followed up from his hat-trick last week by hitting the back of the net four times as Hook Norton ramped up the pressure at the top by dispatching second placed Spartan Rangers Reserves. Jay's goal scoring partner James Ingram scored two of his own. Max Harris got a double as well and Ryan Hall made it nine in total. Gavin Kominek and Jono Reeves (2) secured some consolation but it finished 9-3.

Spartan's defeat left Carterton Town B with the chance to increase their lead at the top and they duly obliged without having to kick a ball as Chipping Norton Town forfeited their game. Carterton are now eight points clear and look good to achieve back to back promotions.

With Chippy forfeiting their game, Tower Hill Reserves well-earned point enabled them to leapfrog Chippy and escape the bottom two. Their 1-1 draw with bottom side Witney Royals Reserves was enough to climb above Chippy whilst Witney Royals Reserves join Chippy on seven points but remain bottom by virtue of their weaker goal difference.

Bourton Rovers halted Wootton's fine run of form by firing themselves to a 3-1 victory away from home. Mark Payne, Jordan Harding and Ollie Simmons scored one each to give Bourton the three points. Matteo Barraclough responded for Wootton.

Division Four
Chadlington Reserves can boast a 100% league record in January as they jumped into second place in Division Four with another victory at the weekend. They won out in the battle of third versus fourth as they overcame Kingham Reserves 2-1 after 90 minutes. Adrian Williams had scored for Kingham but Ollie Jordan and Connor McMahon replied to give Chadlington the points.

Milton Reserves are also in the 100% club as they went three for three in the league in January with victory over Spartan Rangers A. Impressively, Milton racked up six different goal scorers in the 6-2 win as Brandon Laing, Jonny Lowe, Josh Edwards, George Ford, Luke Dore and Martin Kraus all hit the back of the net. Mev Gundem and Dan Jeffrey both scored for Spartan A. Milton remain top by three points but the four clubs below them all have games in hand on the league leaders.

In the battle in the middle of the table Bampton Reserves and FC Ascott played out an entertaining 2-2 draw. Dan Toma and Brian George scored for FC Ascott with Oli Partridge and Steven Newman responding for Bampton.

Eynsham Reserves picked up a walkover victory courtesy of Brize Reserves forfeiting their game at the weekend. Eynsham jumped two league places as a result and now sit sixth. Brize remain ninth.