Witney & District Football Reports - Week 28

Semi-final drama and League titles settled in thrilling weekend fixtures.

An enthralling set of fixtures played out at the weekend to set up one half of each of three end of season finals, whilst also producing two more league champions in the process.

Ted Young Senior Cup
Kev Davies came off the bench to bag a brace to send Hailey into their second cup final of the season. After reaching the Fred Ford Cup Final last month, they faced off against Tower Hill to determine who would become the first side into the Senior Cup Final. Luke James and Jesse Lawrence scored for Tower Hill with Freddie Buckingham and Travis O' Connor responding for Hailey to leave it at 2-2, with Davies' heroics from the bench settling things inside 90 minutes. They'll play the winner of Kirtlington and Hollybush who play next week.

Watts Junior Cup
Stephen Pearce and Levi Steele both scored doubles to send Milton into the Junior Cup final. Milton comfortably overcame fellow Division One side Eynsham SSC 7-2 thanks to further goals from Louis Breaks and Alex Ayres, as well as an Eynsham own goal. Nathan Prestidge and Ryan Harrison grabbed the consolations for Eynsham who sadly fell at the last hurdle.

Milton will play the winner of the game between Stonesfield and Bampton in the other semi-final.

Supplementary Cup
Following in the footsteps of the Fred Ford and Jack Busby Cups, the Supplementary Cup will see new champions after the current holders were dumped out in the penultimate round. Hook Norton were the successors as they thumped current holders Carterton Town B 6-1 in the semi-final affair.

Jay Mair hit four to get Hook Norton well on their way to victory with Ben Haynes and Josh Hunt grabbing the extras to make sure of victory. Ben Moreby's own goal was Carterton's only consolation.

Hook Norton will play the winner of Wootton and Bourton Rovers Reserves who play next week.

Premier Division
Charlbury took a giant step towards the Premier Division title with a well battled 2-0 victory over Minster Lovell.

Needing seven points to secure the title before the game, Kieran Hunt's double took them three points closer with just two games to go. Their season is hurtling towards the crucial game against Hailey on the 20th April where they could be crowned champions.

Carterton Rangers helped themselves off the bottom of the league and all but ended FC Hollybush's title challenge with a 4-2 victory at Kilkenny Lane.

Jack Robinson and an own goal looked set to keep up Hollybush's pursuit of Charlbury but Rangers hit back through a Liam Day double with further goals from Mykel Ryan and Ryan Callow to seal a crucial three points in the relegation battle.

Division One
The Division One title race was made a little tighter after second placed Moreton Rangers defeated league leaders Stonesfield. Moreton are now just four points behind thanks to the victory, courtesy of goals from Cal Peters (2) and Ben Shurmer. Mike Phipps hit back for Stonesfield but it finished 3-1. Stonesfield are four points clear with two games to go but it's now a potential three horse race with Milton's considerable games in hand. Stonesfield need five points from their two remaining games to win the title.

Chadlington kept up the pressure on the top two and heaped a load of pressure on Witney Royals at the bottom, as they battled to a 2-1 victory. Matt Chadwick and Jordan Godfrey earned the three points. Corey Donohoe replied for Royals but it wasn't to be. Chadlington remain three points off second spot with one game to go. Royals are still in the bottom two but have four games left to change that.

Dan Bott scored once again as he helped Middle Barton defeat Bampton United. He grabbed a brace with Tony Beckham scoring a third. Bampton's very own goal machine, Chris Laurence, hit back for Bampton but it finished 3-1 in the end.

Division Two
Congratulations are in order for Minster Lovell Reserves who have secured the Division Two title on their last game of the season. Frank Webb scored a screamer for Minster to bring the scores level against a dogged Aston Reserves which earned them the solitary point required to seal the championship.
It was a necessary point as well, with Siege FC forfeiting their game against Kingham earlier in the day, Minster needed to make absolutely sure that things were out of Kingham's hands before their last game of the season.
Seb White had scored for Minster but Ryan Colleton and Reece Wain replied for Aston to heap all the pressure back on Minster. But they were not to be denied as Webb popped up with a fantastic equaliser to send the Minster men into wild celebrations as the final whistle brought their season to a close in the best way possible.

Kingham's walkover victory guarantees them second place in the league with one game remaining.

Division Four
Further congratulations go to Chadlington Reserves who saw results go their way at the weekend to allow them to secure the Division Four title. They've been on fire since the turn of the calendar year, unbeaten since December 8th and haven't looked back as they eventually secured the title with two games to spare.

Alfie Peachey hit his eleventh goal in three games as Chadlington romped to victory over Stonesfield Reserves, incidentally, the last team to beat them in the league in that December reverse. Peachey scored his third consecutive hat-trick by scoring four goals in the 7-0 rout, including a 30 yard strike during the first half which was the pick of his goals.

Further goals from Ellis Godin (2) and Ollie Jordan made sure of the three points and celebrations were in order after the game.

Second to seventh are separated by just four points as the battle continues to finish as high as possible in the bottom league, with some crucial fixtures coming in the next few weeks.

Brize Norton Reserves are still in with an outside chance of jumping into the top two after emerging victorious out of a five goal thriller versus Milton Reserves. Lewis Reeve Smith and Martin Kraus scored for fifth placed Milton but Brize went one better thanks to Ciaran Clarke and Chris Greenaway's double. Brize are sixth, just three points off second placed Kingham Reserves with two games to go. They face fourth placed Stonesfield Reserves in their next fixture.

Wootton Reserves continued their fine form as they won their fifth league game in a row to leap into third position in Division Four. Jacob Cooke and Simon Stokes (2) grabbed the goals in the 3-0 victory against Bampton United Reserves, a victory which puts them level on points with second placed Kingham.

Their season will come to a dramatic close as their final two league games see them face off against new champions Chadlington Reserves and then a final game against fellow top four side, Stonesfield Reserves.