Witney & District Reports - Week 20

John Fathers Junior Shield

Carterton Town A are proving to be Carterton’s bogey side this season after knocking them out of yet another cup competition this year. Having dispatched the premier division leaders in the Fred Ford cup back in November, the two Carterton sides faced off in the quarter finals of the Junior Shield. There was only one goal to separate the sides back in the previous tie and there was nothing different about their most recent encounter. There was plenty of perseverance and endeavour from both sides, but Carterton had the better chances forcing the Town keeper, Sam Rolls, into a handful of saves. Shortly before half-time Wes Christian made a break from midfield and slotted home past the Carterton keeper. Despite their best efforts, the home side couldn’t find an equaliser in the second half and Town advance to the last four.

That proved to be as good as it got for the Witney and District sides. Bampton United held their nerve for 90 minutes to take Black Swan to extra time but their opponents found another gear in extra time to grab a 4-0 victory before it could go to penalties. Stonesfield were beaten by the same score line inside 90 minutes. The high flying premier division side losing out to Deddington Town.

Premier Division

In the absence of fixtures for both of the top two, Hailey brought themselves within three points of the summit with a hard fought victory over Charlbury Town. Stefan Lang scored for Town but Hailey seized the initiative with goals from Jack Wood, Freddie Buckingham and Tom Gregory. The 3-1 victory sending Hailey third in the league, with two games in hand. Charlbury slip to the bottom of the table as a result of the defeat.

Milton overcame Minster Lovell to record their first home league win of the season. It was a game of two halves, with the weather conditions playing a huge part in proceedings. Milton did all their damage in the first half as they raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Stephen Pearce, Jim Littlewood and Alex Ayres. After switching sides, Minster got themselves back into the game with goals from Johnny Fletcher and Ryan Stockford but couldn’t find the elusive third goal to bring the game level. The game was brought to a close a minute early after a horror injury to Milton’s Jim Littlewood. Everyone in the Witney and District send their best wishes to Jim and hope he has a speedy recovery. Milton’s 3-2 victory allowing them to leapfrog Charlbury in the league.

Carterton Rangers missed the opportunity to go second in the league after slipping to defeat to Tower Hill. Rangers took the lead through George Westley and would have doubled their lead if they hadn’t missed a penalty. They still led at half-time but Tower Hill produced a fine second half comeback. Luke Bolley scored a sumptuous free kick before Jamie Harris fired home a screamer. Sam Britnell added a third to make sure of the points in the 3-1 win. The win takes Tower Hill one place up the table into seventh.

Division One

A solitary Andrew McCabe goal was enough to send Enstone back to the top of division one in their game against Chadlington. McCabe’s strike was enough for the three points and to give them a two point lead at the top of the league.

Middle Barton recorded their first league away victory of the season in some style after they stormed past Kingham All Blacks 4-0. John Umney scored for the fourth game in a row as he popped up with two goals, Jack Kay and James Kyberd add the third and fourth as they secured the three points, enough to take them off the bottom of the league.

Junior Cup

A Lee Spencer hat-trick has put Wootton Sports in the ascendancy in their second round tie against Eynsham SSC. Andy Stratford and Stephen Chappell scored one each for Eynsham to bring them back into the tie but Wootton stretched their advantage with further goals from Michael Steers and Craig Gilboy as the game finished 5-2 to Wootton. Eynsham will hope they’ve done enough to give themselves a fighting chance in the second leg.

Division Two

Siege FC are enjoying a bumper couple of weeks in division two, after trebling their number of league wins in the last two weeks. After beating second place Carterton last week, they stunned the current league leaders Hook Norton with another clinical performance. Just like last week, they managed to keep a clean sheet despite playing free scoring opposition. Kev Lewis scored to give Siege the lead and they never looked back. Andy Makepiece’s double then made sure of the three points and a 3-0 victory.

Spartan Rangers Reserves finally have a victory in 2020 after they edged past Brize Norton in a five goal thriller. Rob Hook and Peter Moore had both scored for Brize but Spartan went one better thank to Ben Madley, Ben Allen and Dave Cross scoring one goal each in a welcome three points for the home side.

Division Three

Only one 100% record remains in the Witney and District now after FC Mills upset the form books by seeing off runaway league leaders Bletchington. Mills, who hadn’t recorded a league win since the 4th January, took the game to their opponents and never allowed them to find their rhythm. A stunning Bletchington own goal, from about 20 yards, set the tone for Bletchington’s day and a Steve Carvey effort put Mills in further control. Richie Wells hit one back for Bletchington but they couldn’t find an equaliser and Mills held on for all three points.

Aston have reduced the gap at the top to nine points after seeing off the challenge of Chipping Norton Town. Aaron Robins bagged a brace for the hosts before Brad Smith responded for visiting Chipping Norton. Nick Angus fired home a third for Aston to make the score 3-1 and secure the win for Aston. Chipping Norton remain winless on the road as a result of the defeat. Aston face FC Mills next week in a crucial league fixture

Wootton Sports Reserves managed to keep themselves third in the league with a 2-1 victory over Chadlington Reserves. Simon Stokes and Theo Flatman both scored for Wootton to push them towards victory but Chadlington weren’t lying down and hit back through Jack Legg. Wootton did enough to hold on and remain third in the league, just two points behind Aston.

Kingham All Blacks Reserves jumped Chadlington in the league after edging their way past bottom side Witney Royals Reserves. Callum Crierie and Jake Harding scored for Royals, as they pursued a victory which would lift them off the bottom of the league. Instead, Kingham hit back through Jack Lay and Liam Barnes. Eddy Webb then put the icing on the cake as he grabbed Kingham’s third and snatched the three points.

Division Four

Milton Reserves are the proud owners of the only remaining 100% record after romping to a resounding 5-0 victory over Spartan Rangers A. Milton had five different goal scorers to thank for their impressive victory as they marched to victory. Woody Collett, Pip Benfield, George Iley, Duncan Cooper and Max Sauvagnargues all scored once to give a healthy boost to their goal difference. Milton are now level on points with East Oxford Rangers, just five goals behind on goal difference.

East Oxford Rangers were the beneficiaries of a walkover victory after FC Ascott conceded their game.

Sherborne Harriers and Brize Norton Reserves played out an entertaining eight goal thriller in which neither side could be separated. Harriers, amassed three different goal scorers with Corey Cullen, Josh Betteridge and Jim Wilkes all on the scoresheet. A Brize own goal compounded their problems further. But a Brize hat-trick from striker Richard Duffy brought them back into the game and a Jason Hirschfield effort brought parity to the scores and the points were shared.