Week 15 Match Reports

Junior Shield Third Round

Ducklington pulled off a major shock as they dumped Enstone out of the Junior Shield, wining 4-2 on pens after a pulsating 2-2 draw. Enstone started much the brighter playing down the slope with the wind in their favour and looked threatening especially from set pieces. They took the lead when Reece Bayliss picked the ball up and he arrowed a 25-yard drive into the corner, the ball skipping off the wet grass to beat Tom Shore. As the half wore on Duck managed to get a foothold in the midfield and started to play some good football, and levelled when short corner was knocked into John Clarke who fired home from the penalty spot. Both sides made changes at the break, with Danny Philips have to be replaced in the Enstone goal by Kian Cozier and Dave Pryse replacing Ben Stanley for Duck. But it was another Enstone sub Rhys Warner - Carter who should have made the biggest impact. Twice in the opening minutes he was put through on goal, but twice Shore denied him. Pryse then stepped up finishing a fine team goal by latching onto Charlie Fisher’s pass and firing past Cozier. Duck were pretty much in control at this stage and despite Enstone pressure, they always looked capable on the counter attack. As the game ticked into stoppage time, it was Bayliss again who levelled things up. Again, he picked up a loose ball and drove at a back-pedalling defence before shooting home. Ref Paul Cladingboel barely had time to restart before blowing. So, it was penalties, the opening 4 kicks were all scored before Shore Saved from Warner - Carter. Harvey Butler put Duck in front and Shore saved again from Dan Newman. Clarke then stepped up to score the winning kick and seal a fine victory.

Chadlington were another Division One side making it through on spot kicks. They faced off against fellow Division One side Aston at Chadlington. All of Chadlington’s goals came in the first half. Brinley Mayne had the boys in blue ahead inside five minutes. Jacob Hazelwood scored after quarter of an hour and Alfie Peachey returned to the scoresheet five minutes before half-time to round off a decent first half performance. Aston weren’t to be denied though and hit three of their own in reply. Lewis Scott scoring twice with Sam Bodinham adding the third which forced the penalty shootout. Aston put two in the net but Chadlington went one better in the shootout, earning a 3-2 win in the process.

Tower Hill made it three from three on the day for the Witney and District but they were the only side that didn’t have to beat another W&D team on the pitch. They dominated throughout although some sloppy defending made for a more interesting encounter than they’d have liked. Chesterton were the opposition and local reports say they managed to score both their goals from their only shots on target. Luckily for Tower that was all they allowed Chesterton and managed to put five in at the other end to progress to round four. Josh Hartley, Timothy Banks, Jack Holifield, Jack Scott and Cody Davies all scored one each on a great afternoon for the Division One leaders. However, Davies’ afternoon ended on a sour note as he was dismissed from the side line by the match official after he’d been substituted off.

Hailey, Stonesfield, Milton under Wychwood and Charlbury will attempt to go again next week, weather dependent!

Fred Ford 2nd Round

The tenth of sixteen second round Fred Ford games got completed as Freeland hosted Kingham All Blacks. The all Division Two tie saw a ninth placed Freeland welcoming bottom side Kingham, who are yet to register a win on the pitch all season. But a tight and well battled encounter took place, with an enjoyable game for many. Jerome Carbon and Jake Godfrey traded doubles for Freeland and Kingham respectively. Damian Corbin got a third for Kingham but Matt Williams did likewise for Freeland and spot kicks were required. Freeland scored four of their five and with Kingham only managing three of theirs, the home side advanced to the round of 16.

Premier Division

RAF Brize Norton are guaranteed to enter 2024 top of the Premier Division after completing the league double over Carterton United. Brize got their season underway with a narrow victory over Carterton at Kilkenny Lane in early September and managed to return to winning ways with another hard-fought victory against their fellow promoted side from last season. Another defeat would have paved the way for either Carterton or Hook Norton to catch them next week but three regular goal scorers netted for Brize in an assured 3-1 win. Dave Wanless, Mike Flavell and Ben Treadgold all found the net as Brize recovered from their first defeat of the season last week. Byron Townsend replied for Carterton. Carterton face Hook Norton in the only Premier Division tie next Saturday.

Division One

Double hat-trick heroes Connor Duggan and Joseph Flarry helped Heyford to their biggest win of the season as they thrashed Brize Norton 8-0 in the battle at the bottom of Division One. Heyford were as good as Brize were sloppy, enduring a setback in their recent upturn in form. Robert Gosling added two of his own to put the icing on the cake as Heyford leapt two places in the league, one of them at Brize’s expense.

There were seven goals in the Bampton vs Eynsham tie and another one-sided encounter as Bampton recorded consecutive victories for the first time this season. A 6-1 win over third bottom Eynsham pushed them into the top six and only three points off the top three (with a game in hand). James Haley scored twice and Scott Haley, Ross Parker, Jay Hughes and Jake Prichard all scored one each with Ben Norris grabbing Eynsham’s consolation.

Spartan might still be bottom but have now taken a point in three of their last four games as they marginally closed the gap on the sides above them. A rare 0-0 draw did nothing to significantly help either side’s ambitions but was a well-earned point for each side.

Combe moved into second place without kicking a ball as second bottom Hailey Reserves forfeited their game.

Division Two

It’s taken 3 months and 10 games but Moreton Rangers Reserves have suffered defeat in the league for the first time this season, at the hands of fellow high-flyers, CHQ United. David Toon and Callum Peters both scored for Moreton but they were undone by a superb Chris Mills hat-trick for United. Olly Taylor, Chris Saunders and Troy Weaven added the extras in a comprehensive 6-2 win. It means that ahead of next week’s fixtures Moreton Rangers and Wootton are tied on points at the top and Rangers travel to Wootton in a top of the table clash. Third placed CHQ United will hope to pounce on dropped points when they take on FC Mills.

Division Three

Another Division, another side losing their 100% record as league leaders Deer Park Rangers failed to record a win for the first time this season in the league. They were held by the season’s surprise outfit, Carterton Town, who took a deserved point to jump into third spot. Jack Barber was man of the match in the Carterton goal but he couldn’t prevent Ben Madley from scoring for Rangers. However, a Rangers own goal brought Carterton level and with no further goals, both teams had to leave with a share of the spoils.

Aston Reserves dropped to fourth after succumbing to defeat against Kingham Reserves. Aston scored twice from the penalty spot as they looked for the win that would take them second again. But Kingham had other ideas and Damian Corbin, Lewis Tout and a Josh Silvester brace brought Kingham their fourth league win of the season.