Witney & District Reports - Week 7

By john smyth

By David Evans

Hailey survive fright on Halloween Saturday

With the prospect of playing on Halloween Saturday, compounded with a full moon to follow in the evening, most teams elected not to show their faces during this weekend’s fixtures. Whilst many probably put it down to Covid or the bad weather, many remain sceptical over the motives of some. Perhaps turning into a werewolf halfway through a league fixture was enough to turn most people away from the playing field Saturday just gone.

Premier Division

Hailey maintained their 100% record , but were made to work hard by Spartan Rangers. With a gale force wind blowing straight down the pitch at Newland, Spartan failed to really test Luke Manning in the Hailey goal and it was his opposite number Ash Horne who made the first save denying Freddie Buckingham. Buckingham then produced a pin point cross at the end of the half for Devon Wright to powerfully head home.
Spartan soon git themselves back in the game, a long throw was flicked on and Donny Henderson-Sowerby headed the ball in off the post. They almost went in front, when a corner was missed by Manning, but Jamie Timms headed over from close range. They were then made to quickly pay, a quick Hailey break saw Carl Wheeler cross for Tom Gregory to head home. Within minutes it was 3 when Buckingham got the goal his fine deserved.
But Spartan were not to be out-done Rhys Woodward scored his 6th goal of the campaign turning in a rebound after a shot had come back off the bar. Despite late pressure Spartan, were not able to grab an equaliser. Carterton moved to within 3 points off Carterton at the top.

Carterton Rangers crept past local rivals Carterton Town A to keep second place in the league. Beastly Billy Mo Hales opened the scoring for Rangers to get them on the way to victory. Mysterious Mark Cheriton doubled their lead but Town weren’t willing to play dead and fought back through spooky Sean O’Donnell. But it would be Rangers who stole away into the night with all three points with Hales grabbing his second to put Rangers just one point from the top of the league. Town remain rooted to bottom spot after their fourth defeat in five games

Division One

Hook Norton continued their horrifyingly good form with six points in the space of four days this week

First, under the lights on Tuesday night they ended Carterton Res 100% record with a narrow 1-0 victory. In a game of very few chances, the match was decided by a goal 10 minutes from the end when sub Josh Hunt fired home from 10 yards.

Then on Saturday the ghastly goal scoring blitz returned with the nightmare that is Jay Mair firing in yet another hat-trick as the Hooky ghost train rolled onto another victory, over Chadlington. Josh Hunt haunted the opposition for the second time in a week as he hit his eighth league goal of the season. Demonic Dave Hayward and creepy Connor Davies also scored a goal each as Hooky reached six on the day. Matt Chadwick slotted a solemn contribution for Chadlington in the 6-1 defeat.

It might be unlucky for some but goal thirsty Dan Lay fired in goals 12 and 13 as his spirited performance fired Kingham to their second league win of the season. Witney Royals were their victims in the 2-1 defeat. Corey Donohoe kept Royals in the game with his fourth goal in October but Kingham held on for the win.

Division Two

Siege FC used their initiative to rearrange their fixture but were left to rue that decision as Eynsham SSC emphatically cast them aside in a stunning 7-1 win. Jumping John Ayres notched a harrowing hat-trick to set eerie Eynsham well on the way to victory. Despite Kev Lewis grabbing a goal for Siege, three further Eynsham players found the net for the first time this season to open their goal scoring accounts. Adam Drhouri and Ash Bowerman both scored once a piece and Jack Knight dug deep to go one better than his team mates to score two to finish the scoring and send Eynsham top of Division Two in the process.

Division Three

It was definitely more treat than trick for both Hailey A and Hook Norton Reserves as they both smashed in seven without reply to maintain their 100% starts to the season.

Second at the start of the day, Hailey A faced off against second bottom FC Ascott Rangers Reserves and subsequently found themselves top of the pile by the end of the ninety minutes. There was no zombie state for Zack Payne who fired in two goals to lead the goal scoring charge before the rest of his terrifying team mates took over to frighten FC Ascott Rangers Reserves further. Owen Partridge, Curtis Hathaway, Jake Fisk, Jack Ray and Alex Barnes all notched one goal apiece to fire Hailey A to the top of the table.

Hair-raising Hook Norton Reserves followed suit in winning by seven and jumping one league place as they hosted Aston Reserves. Aston should have been ahead in the first couple of minutes but for some last ditch defending and had another opportunity to score, only for the sleepy Hook Norton defence to recover once again. On twenty minutes deadly Damien Corbin took advantage of Aston waiting for a linesman flag that didn’t come and Hooky were three up by 30 minutes as magical Mitch Faulkner grabbed a quick fire brace and it was four by half time as Corbin also grabbed a second. Aston came out firing in the second half but just couldn’t find any quality in the final third. Hooky could though and Corbin completed his hat-trick to move to six for the season in total. Will Wall grabbed goal number six and Sam Prickett finished off the scoring to put Hook Norton Reserves third in the league, one of four teams still with a 100% record.

Frightening FC Mills are the side sandwiched between Hailey A and Hook Norton Reserves as they put five past Spartan Rangers A. The deathly trio of Dean Spivey (1), Darren Smith (2) and Dan Hedges (2) stunned Spartan into submission and ultimately defeat. FC Mills are tied on points with Hailey, just behind on goal difference.

Chipping Norton Town were at their chilling best as they recorded their first win of the season against Sherbourne Harriers to rise up from second bottom to ninth in the league. Ghoulish George Knight opened the scoring for Chippy, only for Russ Griffin to drag Sherbourne level. But Chippy were not to be denied as Yusuf Okunade scored for the second game in a row to restore the advantage for Chippy and Josh Morgan completed the win for Chippy to help them jump four places, including leap frogging their opponents.

Jack Busby Trophy

In the last remaining Jack Busby 1st round tie, Hailey Reserves made it a Halloween to remember as they ensured safe passage into the quarter finals. It finished 5-0, with familiar names finding the net against Witney Royals Reserves. Ryan Stockford carried on his scary goal scoring form to notch his eleventh of the season. Dan King rolled back the years to double Hailey’s advantage and there were further goals from Moh Semlali, Sam Wright and Mark Edmunds to complete the rout. Hailey’s reward is a home tie against Division Three’s Brize Norton Reserves in the last eight.

Quarter Final Draw

Bampton United Reserves vs Hook Norton Reserves

Chadlington Reserves vs Carterton Reserves

Hailey Reserves vs Brize Norton Reserves

Wootton Sports Reserves vs Spartan Rangers Reserves

Where next?

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