Season Preview

By john smyth

Here is a brief preview of the Season. Sadly we had little info from teams in the bottom 3 divisions so there is no preview.

Season Preview 2012 / 13

Premier Division

Carterton A
Players in: Chris Zoldan, Will Bridgewater, Jason Lonsdale, Will Gubbins, Chris Oliver
Players Out: None
Player to Watch: Luke Simmonds
Last Season: 8th
Prediction: 4th

Manager Toby Longman has made some astute signings to bolster his treble winning squad from last season. Mike Duerden’s goals were missed when he went to Hellenic football (but not presumably his attitude) and they will hope that Jason Lonsdale will solve this. They showed with their cup success that they can be a match for anyone, expect them to be in the shake up.

Charlbury
Players in: None known
Players Out: Shaun Akers, Andy Woodley, Matt Holloway, Matt Smith
Player to Watch: Craig McCallum
Last Season: 7th
Prediction: 9th

Charlbury bumped along the lower reaches of the league for pretty much all of the season and the only bright spark was the run in the Senior Cup. The loss of four experienced and decent players will not help this year.
Unless they have made a number of signings that they are keeping mum about expect a season of struggle and possible relegation.

Chipping Norton Town

Players in: Andy McCabe, Wayne Beauchamp
Players Out: None
Player to Watch: Reece Bayliss
Last Season: Runners up in Div 1
Prediction: 2nd

Chippy played some great attacking football last season and gave a number of teams in Division 1 footballing lessons. If they are allowed to play in a similar vein this year a number of teams in the Premier Division will also be chasing shadows. James Harri made things tick in the midfield and he weighed in with his share of goals to add to Warwick Tomkins 20+ goals. Andy McCabe has been playing a much higher standard of football and if they can click expect a strong challenge.

Ducklington

Players in: Shaun Brown, Lee Moseley, Ryan Colleton, Bradley Bridgewater
Players Out: Craig Mays, James Fleming, Gary Brooks, Ben Reynolds
Player to Watch: Damon Tolley
Last Season: 4th
Prediction: 6th

Quite a few changes of personnel at the Glebelands and a new management team of Ben Hutter and Darren Harriss. The team is likely to be very young with Dan Moloney possibly the old man. With plenty of pace in the attacking areas they may well expect to create lots of chances, putting them away could be another matter though.
The league may be too much to hope for, but expect strong challenges in the cups.

Hailey

Players in: Craig Mays, Ben Edmunds, Danny Rayfield, Perry Tinson
Players Out: Shaun Evans, Ryan Pratley
Player to Watch: Jacob Hambridge
Last Season: Champions
Prediction: 3rd

Last season’s champions will again be one of the teams that should be challenging for honours. With a front 4 comprising the Mays brothers, Joey King and Dave Cross, they should not be lacking in goals. Replacing the departed Shaun Evans may prove to be more of a problem and it may be they will simply try and outscore their opponents.

Hanborough

Players in: None
Players Out: Lewis White, Tom Weedon, Will Potter
Player to Watch: Dan Haggie
Last Season: 2nd
Prediction: 5th

Paul Rose takes his first step into management taking over a Hanborough side that have been a model of consistency over the last 3 seasons.
They have lost 3 of their more influential younger players to the Senior and Hellenic football and this may have a major affect on them. Expect them again to be competitive, but with teams around them all getting stronger the league title looks unlikely.

North Leigh A

Players in: Ashley Overton, Richard Wells
Players Out: Lee Moseley, Marc Stayte, Jason Lonsdale
Player to Watch: Richard Wells
Last Season: 3rd
Prediction: 10th

There has been plenty of change at Nor Lye with a number of last years squad moving on. A couple such as Gareth Beale and Will Smalldon have moved up to the Hellenic Res whereas others have changed clubs.
Tom Radburn and Justin Timms both step up from the B team to take charge and they have pretty much bought the team with them. A couple of early defeats may set the tone for the season and see them struggle.

Spartan Rangers

Players in: None
Players Out: Andrew Shaw, Pete Jenkins
Player to Watch: Frank Clarke
Last Season: 6th
Prediction: 8th

After 20 years of one manager Spartan Rangers start the new season with a second new manager in 2 seasons, with Iain Harris in charge. The vibes coming form the club are not good with the lack of strikers seemingly a big worry. Jon Clarke missed most of last season through injury and he returns and with his brothers Henry and Frank they make up the spine of the side.
There are rumours of new strikers coming in, but at the time of writing they had not arrived.

West Witney

Players in: Kevin Lewis, Marc Stayte, John Andrews, Jamie Stalker, Shaun Rayfield, Paul Read
Players Out: Danny McDonagh, Paul Martin
Player to Watch: Kevin Lewis
Last Season: Champions in Div 1
Prediction: Champions

West Witney had a great season in Division 1 last year scoring goals for fun and they also had the meanest defence. Managers Tony McLeman and Andy Frost have strengthen the side considerably and in Kevin Lewis and Jamie Stalker they have added players with considerable Hellenic league experience. At the time of writing there were doubts over the keeping role but expect a rabbit to be pulled out of the proverbial hat before the season starts? Any team finishing above them is likely to end up as champions.

Witney Royals

Players in: Will Graham
Players Out: Jack Kennedy
Player to Watch: Steve Brasier
Last Season: 5th
Prediction: 7th

After a couple of seasons of getting the boots on, Ben Readhead returns to the management malarkey at Royals. The talented Will Graham is the only new addition to the squad although he expects a couple of last season’s reserve squad to step including everyone’s favourite player Lee Beer. A run of 9 consecutive unbeaten games last season show they can be challengers and if they can get off to a good start they may challenge.

Division One

Aston
Players in: Wes Dymond, Joe Hewer, Ryan Hewer, Matt Smith, Warren Austin, Ross Fleming
Players Out: None
Player to Watch: Benji Sunblad
Last Season: 5th
Prediction: 2nd

Aston have made get strides of the summer to strengthen their side under manager Adam Caswell and have signed a number of players, all of whom have played at higher levels in the past. Smith and Austin will add a combative element to the midfield whilst the Hewer boys will certainly score goals. Benji Sunblad has also returned from a long spell away at university and al the signs point towards Aston doing well provided they do not do their usual thing of failing to show up after Christmas.

Brize Norton
Players in: Michael Burke, Pawel Bronk
Players Out: Mark Hedges
Player to Watch: Matt Howard
Last Season: 3rd
Prediction: 3rd

The world’s greatest penalty taker and 2nd biggest moaner, Richard Taylor takes over as manager at Brize. The worlds best penalty saver Mark Hedges has finally hung up his dirty green jersey and Saturday afternoons will not be the same at Station Rd. The consistent and slightly mad Michael Burke will aim to fill the big mans size 14’s. Defensively the team were very sound last season and finished as the best of the rest. Expect a similar performance this year.

Chadlington

Players in: Danny Murphy, Daniel Cleevely, Mark Sheffield
Players Out: None
Player to Watch: Steven Hunt
Last Season: Oxon Senior League
Prediction: Champions

Chadlington return to the WDFA after 10 odd year break in the Senior League. With most of the successful Chad Park team in their ranks as well as a couple of other useful signings they may well prove to be the strongest side in the division.
Expect them to emerge with the Division 1 trophy at the end of the season.

FC Mills

Players in: No info supplied
Players Out: No info supplied
Player to Watch: Tim Senior
Last Season: 10th
Prediction: 11th
Sadly have had no info from Mills so can only comment only last season. They looked solid defensively but failed to show much of a spark in front of goal. Believe that Josh Lister is all done with uni so should be available for the year.

FC Nomads

Players in: Shane Imms, Danny Collins, Dan Bilton, Jimmy Hookins
Players Out: Mike Cropper
Player to Watch: Jack Costar
Last Season: 8th
Prediction: 9th

FC Nomads have added plenty of experience to their squad, no pace, but plenty of games between them. Manager Billy Bircher has been trying to add a striker to his motley crue, but with little joy at the time of writing. Expect another season of close battles and flirting with the relegation places at times but they should just about survive the drop.

Freeland A

Players in: No info supplied
Players Out: No info supplied
Player to Watch: no idea
Last Season: 1st in Division 2
Prediction: 7th

No info has been supplied for Freeland A and as I never saw them last season not really in any position to comment.

Hailey Res

Players in: Kev Southwood, Mark Edmunds, Tom Gonzales, Darrell Kew
Players Out: Charlie Winstone
Player to Watch: Daniel King
Last Season: 3rd in Division 2
Prediction: 6th

Hailey Res took the 2nd promotion spot with Duck A not able to get promoted. They played some attractive football last season and Ford Davies is an excellent midfield player who can make things tick. Tom Gonzales and Darrell Kew will challenge Stu Morrison for the striking places and hopefully Daniel King will be able to play a full season after an injury blighted few years. They will be amongst the favourites to retain the Jack Busby Cup and I would think that a top 6 place is within their grasp.

Hanborough Res

Players in: None known
Players Out: Rob Keylock, Shane Fowler
Player to Watch: Scott Akers
Last Season: 9th
Prediction: 10th

I am sure that Hanborough Res if told before the start of the season they would avoid relegation and get to 2 cup finals they would have snapped your hand off. For them to win the Junior Cup was a major achievement considering the strength of the competition.
A new generation of Keylock joins the fold this year with Craig adding to the ranks. It is likely to be tough for them to do as well as last season and expect them to be one of the sides fighting to avoid the drop.

Kingham All Blacks

Players in: Matt Grimes, Lee Haynes, Dom Hemmings, Luke Herbert, Frazer Dudfield, George Woods, Richard French
Players Out: No info supplied
Player to Watch: Sam Philpott
Last Season: Bottom in Premier Division
Prediction: 8th

After only winning one game last season, things can surely only get better for Kingham? Colin Edwards has taken over as manager and has signed virtually a whole new team including 5 from Middle Barton.
Sam Philpott and Matt Smith were a decent pair of strikers but did not get a great deal of quality to them. A season of consolidation is the most likely outcome.

Minster Lovell

Players in: Steven Burke, Nathan Bowles, Paul Wiggins, Gary McKinnon
Players Out: None
Player to Watch: Nathan Harris
Last Season: 4th
Prediction: 4th

Nathan Harris and Eddie Dunne were two of the best strikers in the division last season and they are sure to cause defences problems again this year. The two ex Royals boys will add a bit of extra skill to the side and Gary McKinnon can be classy in the midfield. Again there are questions about the defence especially the keeper’s position. This may mean they again just finish outside the promotion race.

Stanton Harcourt

Players in: Marc Cornish, Dan Smith, Jordan Hare
Players Out: Dale Cox, Wes Dymond
Player to Watch: George Woodcock
Last Season: 6th
Prediction: 5th

Manager Mark Godden is buoyant about his teams prospects ahead of the season. With the prolific George Woodcock and Martin Cripps being joined by the nomadic Dan Smith, who is rapidly approaching Dale Cox’s record of clubs in a career.
In Tom Bennington they have one of the division’s best keeper’s but their defence may be a little too suspect to challenge for the title

Where next?

Aaron Waller Memorial Match In memory of Aaron Minster Lovell v FC Chequers Friday 24th August Kick-Off 6:15

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