Witney & District Football Reports - Week 18

Threemendous Tompkins puts Charlbury in charge at the top

Premier Division
Warwick Tompkins was the star man as he scored all of Charlbury’s goals as they defeated fellow title contenders FC Hollybush 3-1. Mark Threlfall scored a mere consolation for Hollybush as Charlbury took a three point lead at the top of the table.

Hailey also produced a hat trick hero of their own as they thrashed bottom of the table Spartan Rangers. Jack Wood’s treble set Hailey well on their way to their 5-2 victory with Freddie Buckingham and Sam Wheeler also on the scoresheet. Arrun White and Cody Davies responded for Spartan.

Tower Hill continue to enjoy their first season in the top division as they cemented their fourth place position with a tight 1-0 victory over Carterton Town A. Sam Britnell proved to be the difference maker to send Tower home with the points.

Fred Ford
Kirtlington are the final name in the hat for the semi-final draw of the Fred Ford cup as they romped to a comfortable 4-0 win over Carterton Rangers. Alex Metcalfe, Shane Probitts and a Nathan Kelly double got the job done in 90 minutes. They join fellow Premier League sides Hailey and FC Hollybush as well as Division One’s Stonesfield in the penultimate round.

Division One
It was a good weekend for the top two in Division One as they both won to increase their advantages at the top of the league.

Stonesfield did wonders for their goal difference as marched to a resounding 8-1 victory over Eynsham. Carry Rice was the pick of all the scorers as he popped in a hat-trick for the league leaders. There were a further five goal scorers for the remaining five goals. Raffy Rice, Lewis Colwell, Peter Searle, Mike Phipps and Sam Bodinham all scored one each.

Things were a little tighter in the game between fifth and second as Chadlington hosted Moreton Rangers and the visitors prevailed with a 2-0 victory to stay within touching distance of the league leaders. Dave Toon and Cal Peters gave Moreton the three points.

Milton jumped into third place by edging a seven goal thriller against Bampton United. Joe Paintin and a Chris Laurence double would have given Bampton United hope of gaining their first away victory of the season but the District’s overall top goal scorer, Dan Hooton, popped up with his 18th and 19th goals of the season as he scored a brace of his own and further goals from Levi Steele and Alex Ayres secured the three points for the home side.

Bourton Rovers managed to get their first home victory of the season with a dominant victory over Witney Royals. Josh Hubbard, Lee Mosson, Adam Webley and Ben McPhilimey (2) all got on the scoresheet in Rovers’ 5-0 victory.

Division Two
Hailey Reserves had an easy weekend as their game against Corinthians was forfeited by their opponents. With three points secured before a ball was even kicked they were able to sit back and see how the rest of the league’s results played out.

There are now just six points separating second and sixth as Division Two continues to get tighter.

In the big game of the weekend, second faced off against third in the game between Minster Lovell Reserves and Charlbury Town Reserves and it was the home side who were able to prevail. Gary Mitchell scored for Minster but goals from Damian Corbin and Ryan Healing allowed Charlbury to close the gap to just one point from their weekend opponents. The result also gives Hailey a five point lead at the top of the table.

Kingham have re-joined the promotion race after defeating Ducklington 6-2. Josh Hartley and Sam Duthie scored for Ducklington but a Gaz Price hat-trick gave Kingham all the momentum they needed and he was joined on the scoresheet by Harley Miller, Shane Cooper and George Wood as Kingham closed within 6 points of Minster in second and they have two huge games in hand as well.

Brize Norton and Siege earnt themselves a valuable point and both jumped a league position in the process as they drew 3-3. Darren Light, Adam Davis and Jake Farrugia all scored one for Brize as they managed to leapfrog Corinthians into 8th position. Siege benefitted from Duck’s defeat to Kingham as they moved into fourth thanks to Karl Dodds' double and a third from Adam Maskery

Supplementary Cup 1st Round
Defending champions Carterton Town B got the defence of their crown off to the perfect start in defeating Division Four’s Chadlington Reserves. The Division Three leaders were 4-0 up inside the first nine minutes on their way to an 8-3 victory. Dave Wanless showed his qualities by hitting the back of the net four times and he was joined by team mates Danny Haining (2) Danny Howe and Tyler Webster as Carterton progressed to round two. Charlie White and an Ollie Jordan double gave Chadlington their consolation goals.

There was success for the Hook Norton in the other Division Three versus Division four battle as they defeated Eynsham Reserves 5-1. James Ingham’s name can be added to the list of people who scored hat-tricks this weekend as he scored three for Hook Norton. Jay Mair scored the other two to complete their scoring. Keiran Clarke scored in response for Eynsham.

Kingham Reserves and Bampton United Reserves played out the all Division Four battle and the home side prevailed thanks to a double from Liam Barnes. Steven Newman replied for Bampton but it finished 2-1 and it will be Kingham in the hat for the 2nd round draw.

Division Three
With Carterton Town B playing in the Supplementary Cup there was a chance for the chasing pack to make up ground on the absent league leaders but the three main players in the hunt all failed to get a victory in the weekend’s fixtures.

Fourth placed Bletchington Reserves were the only ones to get any points at all as they battled to a draw away to Bourton Rovers Reserves. Mark Payne scored for the home side but Mason Connelly’s effort secured a point for Bletchington who remained fourth.

Third placed FC Mills lost for the second week in a row as they went down to bottom club Witney Royals Reserves. James Rogers and Stu Cutts scored for Mills as they hunted for three points but they were overcome by a Kieran Colwell goal and a double from David Cross. Royals are now just a point behind Chipping Norton and Tower Hill Reserves after securing just their second win of the season.

Spartan Rangers Reserves were also defeated but remain second due to the other sides around them dropping points. Wootton upset a top three side for the second week running as they came away with the three points thanks to a 3-2 victory. Lee Spencer scored twice for the second week running and was joined on the scoresheet by Phil Stringer. Daz Craig and Gavin Kominek responded for Spartan but it wasn’t to be as they dropped points at home for the first time this season.

Division Four
There are new league leaders in Division Four as Milton Reserves thumped FC Ascott Rangers 7-0 to ascend to the summit. With no game for Stonesfield Reserves, Milton knew that three points would have taken them to the top and they got their in style thanks to goals from Josh Edwards (2), Martin Kraus (2), Lewis Reeve-Smith, Stephen Hocknell and Duncan Cooper. FC Ascott Rangers remain rooted to the foot of the table.

Wootton Reserves jumped two league places after their 4-1 victory over FC Ascott. Robert Harrison scored for FC Ascott but a brace for Mark Mumford and single goals from Freddie Ballard and Andrea Stephanou took the point’s home for Wootton as they leapfrogged their opponents and Eynsham Reserves in the table.