Witney & District Reports - Week 19

By john smyth

By David Evans

Premier Division
Michael Flavell hit a stunning four timer as Carterton Town A thrashed Spartan Rangers 8-1 in the Witney and District Premier Division. James Sinclair, Wes Christian, Dave Pearce and Sean O’Donnell slotted home one each of Town’s other four goals as they did their goal difference the world of good. Spartan could only muster the merest consolation as Luke Pettifer got Spartan on the scoreboard at least.
Hailey kept themselves in the title hunt by beating Milton by the odd goal in five in a tightly contested fixture. Alex Ayres and Stephen Pearce both scored for Milton as they looked to push themselves off the bottom of the league but Hailey, recovering from their loss to Carterton Rangers last time out, fought back through Freddie Buckingham, Travis O’Connor and Jordan Cormack to get back to winning ways. The gap to the top is now just six points and Hailey have three critical games in hand.

The top three sides in the Witney and District premier division are separated by just three points as the chasing pack were all able to make ground on current league leaders Carterton FC.
In the Carterton derby, Carterton FC faced off against Carterton Rangers. Rangers, fresh from a week off last week, carried on their fine January form by squeezing past their hosts by a single goal. Billy Hales the hero from twelve yards as he calmly slotted home from the penalty spot to secure the win for Rangers and leave them just three points off top spot.
Stonesfield remain unbeaten at home, and now just two points off the summit, as they saw off the challenge of Charlbury Town. Mark Goode and Lukas Jerowski both scored for Charlbury as they hunted for their second win of the season. But Stonesfield, who are revelling in their first season in the top league, hit back through Mike Phipps. Two goals from Carry Rice stole the three points for Stonesfield, who now sit just two points off Carterton at the top.
Watts Junior Cup
The Watts Junior Cup continued this week, with two second leg contests carrying on from last week. Eynsham and Middle Barton renewed their battle from the first leg, Eynsham leading 4-3 on aggregate. Both teams came out firing and Middle Barton managed to notch four goals as they looked to progress. John Umney, who scored last week, scored a double and with Jack Fowler and Jack Kay also scoring, Middle Barton looked like they might overturn their deficit and advance. But Eynsham have a John Ayres masterclass to thank for their progress as he hit all six of Eynsham’s goals in a man of the match performance. It finished 6-4 on the day and 10-7 on aggregate overall, Eynsham edging themselves into round two.
Things were somewhat more comfortable for Enstone against Witney Royals. Leading 4-0 from last week’s first leg, they scored a further five goals in the second leg to take them through to round two. Connor and Dan Bott scored one each, a Royals own goal and an Andy McCabe double extended Enstone’s advantage. Royals did manage to hit back through Luke Rippington but the tie was effectively over and Enstone advanced 9-2 on aggregate.
Hailey Reserves and Minster Lovell Reserves faced off in their first round first leg fixture. Minster took control of the game thanks to a Seb White brace but Hailey squeezed themselves back into the contest after forcing home a Minster Lovell own goal. The second leg will no doubt be another close encounter.
Division One
Chadlington amassed four different goal scorers as they flew past Bourton Rovers to record their first league win 2020. Alfie Peachey, Matt Chadwick, Jordan Godfrey and Konrad Weyzk all scored one each in the 4-1 win. Matt Winter hitting home Bourton’s reply.
Division Two
It was a battle of the chasing pack as second place Carterton Reserves played third place Charlbury Reserves. After spending much of the first half cancelling each other out, Dom Hemmings latched onto a long ball and fired home from 25 yards to give Charlbury the lead. Carterton picked things up in the second period and Liam Aspey didn’t waste his chance in front of goal to bring Carterton level. Carterton had the better of the second half but couldn’t find a winner, the points shared in the end.
Brize Norton lost ground on the chasing pack after succumbing to defeat against Ducklington. Ady Kew and Charlie Fisher scored for Ducklington but were cancelled out by Dan Laverton and Jon White strikes for Brize. It was left to Ady Kew to grab his second of the game and the eventual winner, to give Ducklington a 3-2 win.
Carterton Town B and Spartan Rangers Reserves couldn’t be separated as they shared six goals. Ben Madley, Ben Hardcastle and Matt Woodhouse all scored one each for Spartan but Carterton replied through Jamie Buxton, Carl Ford and Dan Chillington as they both took a point each.
Hook Norton received a walkover victory against Wootton Sports, increasing their lead at the top of the league in the process.

Division Three
Richie Wells’ hat-trick secured the three points for Bletchington against Bourton Rovers Reserves, moving them 12 points clear at the top of division three. The champions elect had a comfortable game and Jimmy Deabill added a fourth as the game finished 4-0.
Josh Carter scored for Witney Royals Reserves but couldn’t stop Royals losing for the seventh time this season in their game against Kingham All Blacks Reserves. Jack Lay, Gaz Price and Bob Harlow all fired home for Kingham, the 3-1 victory adding a bit of daylight between themselves and the bottom two.
Supplementary Cup
It was a severe case of déjà vu for Sherborne Harriers, as for the second week in succession they went down 8-0 to East Oxford Rangers. The second leg went exactly the same way as the first, with Rangers managing to get 5 different scorers on the scoresheet. Kieran Clarke followed up from his double in the first leg with four goals this time out. Dave Cooper, Nick Edwards, Kieran Peedell and Lewis Smith all scored once as well to bring the aggregate score to 16-0.
FC Ascott Rangers stormed into round two after overcoming Spartan Rangers A in the second leg of their contest. With the tie evenly poised at 1-1 after the first leg, Marshall Balmer and Adam Lowe scored once each for Ascott. Spartan had Matt Foley to thank for dragging them back into the game as he scored a hat-trick but Ascott grabbed the initiative with doubles from Steve Curran and Travis Crozier to see out the game. The second leg finished 6-3 to Ascott, seeing them progress 7-4 on aggregate.
Division Four
FC Ascott remain pointless and bottom of division four after falling to defeat against Brize Norton Reserves. Ascott made a game of it thanks to a Garry O’Donovan brace but Brize hit back through a Cameron West double and pushed through for victory thanks to further goals from Lee Litton, Richard Duffy and Darren Light.
Captain Connor O’Shea led by example as he hit two goals in Bampton United Reserves 7-0 victory over Hailey A. Kieran Collery, Scott Haley and Lewis Protheroe all scored one apiece and the scoring was complete when Steven Allery hit two of his own. The three points for Bampton drags them into a tight mid table battle, where five teams are separated by just two points.

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