Witney & District Football Reports - Week 23

By Ant Barlow

Written byu David Evans

Top Two swap places as Charlbury suffer first loss.

Premier Division
It was a critical weekend at the top and bottom of the Witney and District Premier Division this weekend and there were huge changes in both areas after the culmination of the weekend’s fixtures.

At the top, Charlbury Town suffered their first league defeat of the season against in-form Hailey. Hailey visited Charlbury yet to lose a game in 2019 and dished out their second thrashing in two weeks as they swept aside the former league leaders 6-2. Jordan Cormack, Dev Wright, Tom Gregory and Jack Wood all scored once, Travis O'Connor grabbed a brace and sent Hailey third in the process. Josh Hunt and Craig Macallum replied for Charlbury but they fell short.

Josh Grant was the sole difference maker as FC Hollybush returned to the summit with just five games to go. They beat Tower Hill 1-0 in a tightly fought encounter.

The fixtures brought the bottom four teams together as Spartan played Kirtlington and the Carterton derby took place at Monahan Way.

Spartan jumped off the bottom and into 8th as they defeated Kirtlington 1-0. Luke Pettifer got the only goal inside 90 minutes to give Spartan back to back wins for the first time this year and leapfrog their opponents and Carterton Rangers in the table.

Connor Kelly scored a 35 yard screamer to help Carterton Town defeat Carterton Rangers 3-0 in the Carterton derby. Nick Rose and Carl Ford also scored a goal each as Town did all the damage in the first half. Carterton gain a place and go seventh but defeat for Rangers sees them slip to the bottom of the league.

Division 1
In Division One the fixtures saw the top four face off against each other as the battle for promotion to the Premier Division took more twists and turns as we enter the final quarter of the season.

First placed Stonesfield hosted fourth placed Milton and just as it was in the Premier Division, the game ended in defeat for the league leaders. Jim Littlewood found the net twice for visiting Milton with team mates Alex Ayres and Levi Steele also scoring once each in the 4-3 win. Mike Phipps, Chay Fisher and George Redknapp replied for Stonesfield in an entertaining encounter but it wasn't enough as the leaders fell short.

It was honours even as Moreton Rangers and Middle Barton drew 2-2. Cal Peters and Josh Summerhill scored for Moreton as they went in search of the win that would have closed the gap to Stonesfield. Middle Barton fought back however with goals from James Kyberd and Dan Bott.

Alfie Peachey popped up with a hat-trick to help Chadlington close the gap on the top four. An own goal and Iuri Esteves' strike took the total to five as Chadlington grabbed three points. Lee Mosson and a Chadlington own goal put Bourton on the scoresheet but it finished 5-2.

Watts Junior Cup
A Chris Laurence hat-trick proved to be the difference maker as Bampton United moved into the ... round of the Junior Cup. Bampton defeated Witney Rivals 5-0 to advance. Ryan Hewer and Jake Pritchard were the other scorers. The remaining third round fixtures will be played next week.

Division Two
The top four are separated by just four points as the Division Two promotion race continues to heat up. The top two both dropped points as the chasing pack start to close in on those illustrious league positions.

Ducklington jumped two league places and into fourth as they won 2-0 against Witney Wanderers. Sam Duthie and Dan Stanley both found the net to leave Ducklington four points off the top.

They closed the gap on Minster Lovell Reserves at the top as third placed Kingham visited Wash Meadow and came away with the three points. Will Wall scored the only goal of the game as Kingham moved within three points of their opponents.

Hailey Reserves missed the chance to retake top spot as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Siege FC. Hailey remain second but have moved level on points with Minster Lovell Reserves at the summit.

In the leagues other fixture Brize Norton defeated Aston Reserves 4-0. Ben Brown helped himself to a double. Shaun Rawlings and Steve Marshall completed the scoring for Brize. Defeat leaves Aston Reserves with a mountain to climb to remain in the division.

Division Three
Carterton Town B bucked the weekend trend by being the only team at the top of the league at the start of Saturday's games to win. They came through a crunch fixture of their own as they travelled to third placed Bletchington. The home side may have harboured outside thoughts of invading the top two league places but the 2-1 reverse has dented those ambitions. Mason Connelly scored for Bletchington but Shay Lowthian and Dave Wanless scored one each for the three points to guarantee a top two finish for Town this season.

Carterton can now only be caught by Hook Norton due to their games in hand but only need two points from their final 3 games to secure consecutive league titles. Bletchington drop to fourth, level on points with FC Mills but with a worse goal difference. Carterton will be champions if Hook Norton don’t win next week

Hook Norton can still have those ambitions thanks to a 5-2 victory over Chipping Norton Town. Rocky Burton and Josh Morgan scored for Chippy but Jay Mair hit all five for the home side to bring home the three points. Hook remain fifth but are now just a point behind Bletchington and FC Mills.

Wootton received a walk over victory as Tower Hill Reserves forfeited the game.

Division Four
Division Four continues to make for interesting reading as the battle for promotion continues to get tighter and tighter. Just like Division Two, the top four are separated by just four points following the culmination of this weekend’s fixtures.

Harry Rose was the headline maker as Kingham Reserves thrashed Spartan Rangers A 7-1. Harry notched a hat-trick in the big win as Kingham jumped into second place in the league. Liam Barnes and Adrian Williams both scored a brace each to complete the scoring. Matt Townsend scored Spartan’s scant consolation.
It was first vs second in Division Four and Milton Reserves were the fourth of the five league leaders to drop points as they travelled to in-form Chadlington Reserves.

It was always due to be a tough battle when league positions and recent form were taken into consideration. Four goals, shared evenly, was the final result which was enough for Milton to remain three points ahead of Chadlington and Kingham Reserves. Charlie White and Ellis Godin scored one each for Chadlington but Pip Benfield bagged a brace for a share of the spoils.

Jason Bufton scored a double for FC Ascott but couldn’t prevent his side falling to a home defeat against Wootton Reserves. Chris Mumford, Mark Mumford and Jacob Cooke scored one each in the 3-2 success.

There was only one goal to separate Bampton United Reserves and Eynsham SSC Reserves and the home side came through for the three points in the 2-1 victory. Stephen Chappel scored for visiting Eynsham but Kieran Colley and Rich Ghagan scored one each for Bampton.

Where next?

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