Week 12 Match Reports

Junior Shield

At the start of the day we were already guaranteed a further two sides through to the 3rd round of the Junior Shield as the two outstanding ties from last week featured all W&D affairs. In the end, Bampton and Ducklington managed to avoid upsets to advance to round three at the expense of Leafield and Freeland respectively.
Bampton produced six different goal scorers on their way to beating Division Two’s Leafield. Marcus Vinicius continued his fine season in front of goal to score twice for Leafield but Bampton were at their clinical best in front of goal as Connor O’Shea, Karl Pritchard, Luke Colville, Robert Chatwell, Mark Norridge and James Haley all scored once each. The 6-2 win earning the Division One side a home tie against Finmere next month.

Ducklington will host Enstone in round three after beating Freeland 2-0. Ady Kew and Charlie Fisher’s goals pushed Ducklington into the last 16.

Charity Cup

Penalty heartbreak ended Enstone’s run in the Charity Cup this year but only after a valiant fightback almost earned them a place in round three.
Enstone were behind to Bicester Town Colts in the 11th minute. A cute finish with the outside of the boot bounced in off the post as Reece Bayliss stood rooted to the spot. Enstone grew into the game and became the better side. Testing the keeper on a couple of occasions and also hitting the woodwork twice from tight angles. But their defence was split with just two minutes left of the half and Bicester made no mistake, making it 2-0 at the break.
Enstone had the territory and possession in the second period but other than hitting the woodwork had nothing to show for their efforts. Then, on the hour mark, the game turned on it’s head. A tame header from Nathan Bott was goal bound but covered by the keeper, however, the defender on the line saw fit to palm the ball over the bar anyway. A straight red followed and Nathan struck the ball home from the spot to halve the deficit. Enstone were now firmly on top and peppered the box with wave after wave of attack, stopped by some resolute defending and the occasional offside flag, much to Enstone’s frustration. With nine minutes left, Enstone were level, this time Dan Bott rose highest in the box to meet a pinpoint cross to nod beyond the keeper and bring the tie level. Enstone chased hard for a winner, without ever endangering their box, but couldn’t find the clinical touch to find the winner. The tie went to penalties with Bicester going first. Enstone missed their second and Bicester tucked away all 5 of theirs to win 5-3 and escape by the skin of their teeth.

Hanborough received a walkover victory to get into the quarter finals.

Fred Ford Cup 2nd Round

Alfie Peachey fired in his second hat-trick of the season as he moved his personal tally to twelve goals for the whole season as Chadlington eased into round three of the Fred Ford Cup. A 6-1 win over Eynsham made for a perfect away day for their side. Brinley Mayne, Ewan Thomas and Lorimer Kay added the extras. Charlie Partlett replied for Eynsham.

Jay Mair went one better as he helped Hook Norton thrash Division Two’s FC Mills with a four-timer that took him to fifteen goals for the season. Ben Haynes scored a hat-trick of his own with Cole Davies, Conor Davies and Robert Vincent sending Hooky into double figures. Stu Cutts got Mills’ consolation goal but Hooky advanced after a 10-1 win.

Division One

Hailey Reserves recorded their first league win of the season against Cassington Rangers to condense the bottom of Division One. It wasn’t the best start, Jason Blackman giving Cassington the lead on 8 minutes. They led for 15 minutes before Seb White equalised for the away side. The half looked to be ending all square before Moh Semlali struck with three minutes to go to give Hailey the lead for the first time. Blackman scored his second ten minutes into the second half to restore parity. Once again the game looked to be heading for a stalemate at the end of the half but Jack Wood scored with ten minutes left to regain the lead for Hailey and Seb White cemented the points three minutes later to put Hailey within a point of Eynsham above them.

10th placed Combe stunned league leaders Tower Hill and earned three points which elevated them to eighth. Alec Michaelis and Herbie Hamilton both scored twice for Combe but Tower hit back with a Jack Scott brace of their own. Sam Britnell put a third on the board for Tower but Soloman Massz’s strike secured the points for Combe’s fourth win of the season.

In a day of surprise results in Division One, bottom side Spartan held Aston to a 2-2 draw to snatch only their second win of the season. Lewis Scott and Connor Newcombe had Aston dreaming of going fourth by the end of the day. Stephen Wright and Ben Allan had other ideas though to give Spartan a share of the spoils.

Nothing could separate the sides in the battle of third vs fourth as Witney Royals and Hanborough Reserves cancelled each other out. You had to be called Jack to score though. Jack Allen putting Royals on the card with Jack Simmonds’ goal for Hanborough forcing a stalemate.

Division Two

Only three games in Division Two but the six sides still managed to amass 21 goals between them.

Moreton Rangers Reserves moved to eight wins from eight with an 8-1 thrashing of Witney Royals Reserves. Kieron Harte, Javan Nurse, Sam Tyack, Edward Churchill, Harley Wilkinson, Luke McDonagh and Lee Brooks (2) scored in another comfortable afternoon for the Gloucestershire outfit. Matt Smith scored for Royals to soften the blow of defeat a little.

Wootton also moved to eight victories with a 3-1 victory over fellow promoted side Yarnton A. Tyla Morgan and Matt Spooner traded goals for each side with Craig Gilboy’s double earning the points for the home team.

CHQ United and Siege played out an eight-goal thriller, at the end of which neither side could be separated. Troy Weaven and Jonny Dover scored two each for either side. Chris Mills and Olly Taylor scored one each for CHQ, Siege responded with goals from Danny Allsworth and Chris Hirons as the game finished 4-4.

Division Three

Played three, won three, scored 15, conceded 5, are the stats for Sherborne Harriers’ incredible November. A winless October saw them tumble down the table but three wins on the bounce following the turn of the month have put them right back in the mix. Josh Betteridge moved into double figures with a double on the day in what turned out to be a 5-1 thrashing of Eynsham Reserves. Ben Law and Ian Mitchell scored for Harriers also. Sam Godfrey scored for Eynsham who compounded their own misery by scoring an own goal in a heavy defeat.

Carterton Town made it four league wins in succession following a 1-0 win over Bampton. After weathering periods of heavy pressure, Ben Pullen was on hand to score the only goal of the game to put Carterton fourth.

Deer Park Rangers’ 100% record was maintained but they were made to work for their narrowest victory of the season so far. Liam Aust and Ethan Barret scored for Tower, as they looked to inflict a first league defeat of the season on Rangers but a Cullen Angus hat-trick paved the way for victory and Ben Madley’s goal secured a seventh win from seven games to move Rangers back to the top of the league.

Heyford Athletic Reserves and Kingham Reserves played out a goalless draw.