Week 20 Football Report

Premier Division

Second bottom Minster Lovell have just their second win of the season as they overcame third bottom Milton Under Wychwood to condense the league table considerably. Milton were the unfortunate masters of their own downfall as an own goal was the only thing that separated the two sides on the day. Minster’s second three point haul means that just three points separates eighth placed Minster and fourth placed Hanborough. Milton remain seventh, just one point above the bottom two.

Stonesfield dropped points for the first time this season as they failed to take full advantage of Hailey’s week off. Charlbury were their hosts and got into the game thanks to Martin Nutt’s strike. Jack Sale’s goal drew the visitor’s level to put them six points off top with three games in hand.

Enstone remain second and are now four points behind Hailey after a walkover victory over Freeland. Enstone and Hailey go head to head next week in the league.

Hanborough remain fourth but had to settle for a point against bottom side Spartan Rangers. Hanborough were forced into a myriad of changes due to injury and unavailability, which along with Spartan’s combative and disruptive tactics, removed any flow and rhythm from the game. Aston Leach failed to convert a one on one, Dan Haggie’s long range strike was well saved and Al Rogers saw an effort go wide as Hanborough pressed for the winner.
Hanborough keeper Tom Bennington had a quiet day but stayed alert to make a fantastic save towards the end to ensure both sides left with a point in the 0-0 stalemate.

Junior Shield Semi-Final Draw

The OFA have completed the draw for the semi-finals of the John Fathers Junior Shield. On Wednesday 22nd March, defending champions Hailey will face Enstone. The following Wednesday, Hanborough will face Graven Hill. Both games are 19:30 kick offs and will take place at Oxford City FC.

Division One

Carterton FC Reserves have their third victory, their third clean sheet and their eleventh goal this month with a resounding 4-0 win over Tower Hill. There were two Bellenger’s on the score sheet. Ben getting his first goal of the season whilst Jack was grabbing his fifteenth. Jay Revill and Ethan Barrett also found the net in a comfortable win.

RAF Brize Norton Social suffered their second league defeat in three games as they fell to a shock defeat at lowly Witney Royals. Royals jumped a league place with their win thanks to goals from Stuart Tranter, Matt Smith and Corey Donohoe. Mike Flavell and Maahir Alam couldn’t prevent the 3-2 reverse as Brize slipped four points behind Carterton at the top.

Hatherop bounced back from last week’s defeat with a 5-2 win over second bottom Faringdon Development. Robbie Harrington and Richard Evans scored for Faringdon. Alistair Eccleston scored against his former club before doubles from Fabian Daniels and David Legg secured all three points. Hatherop visit league leaders Carterton next week.

Heyford also bounced back from a defeat with a 4-1 win over Ducklington. A game which started very quickly saw Heyford lead after 13 minutes when Robert Gosling fired home and he doubled his tally and Heyford’s lead ten minutes later. The two goal lead allowed Heyford to relax but that just allowed Ducklington into the game. Jasper Winder becoming increasingly involved down the left but keeper Matt Ingram was hardly troubled. In the 43rd minute a clumsy clash on the edge of the box gave Ducklington a penalty which Michael Casling fired against the left hand post and in to halve the deficit at the break.
It took just eight minutes of the second half for Heyford to restore their two goal advantage. A wicked Kian Duggan corner took a critical deflection of the head of Winder and the ball ended up in his own net. Further endeavour from Ducklington brought no chances of note despite good work from Dwayne John on the right wing. Heyford made sure of the points with an inspired substitution. George Stimson had been on the pitch less than 20 seconds when a floated free kick fell into the box and Stimson poked the ball in off the underside of the bar.

It’s three league wins in a row for Hailey Reserves as they heaped more misery on Aston. Aston are winless in 2023 after a promising start to the season. Luke Beauchamp scored for them but Hailey made use of the fact that their firsts had the week off as Jack Wood scored one. Perry Tinson hit a crucial second to give Hailey a 2-1 win.

Two own goals allowed Chadlington to escape with victory over bottom side Combe. Combe did at least manage to put the ball in the right net on two occasions. Ryan Stockford’s penalty and Paldon Ball’s effort had Combe in the game but a Chadlington player was at least able to score one for their own team, James Andrews slotting home to give Chadlington a 3-2 win.

Division Two

Only one place to start in division two as Cassington hosted Brize Norton in a battle of the top two. Cassington started the day with a 100% league record and, after a less than impressive set of results for Brize this month, a 12 point lead at the top. Not that it would ever be said by Cassington, but a fifteenth straight league victory would have all but wrapped up the title given their imperious form this season. It started well too, Declan Green giving the home side a 22nd minute lead. But Brize never stopped battling and hunted down a leveller, which came courtesy of Dylan Briggs. Yellow cards started going in Cassington’s direction as Jason Blackman and Billy Jones were both cautioned and it was left to Jacob Hambridge to get his eighth goal of the season to give Brize a crucial 2-1 win and a glimmer of hope on their title ambitions.

The chasing pack lost ground on second place Brize as both Witney Royals Reserves and Eynsham both slipped up against lower opposition.

Royals snatched a point from the jaws of defeat against Siege. Danny Allsworth gave Siege a deserved lead but Ollie Nolan restored parity. Siege thought they’d won it when a glorious Jonny Dover header flew into the net from just inside the box but Mikey Piper came off the bench to hit a sumptuous screamer from the edge of the box, which flew into the top corner as the game finished 2-2.

Eynsham dropped points for the first time since October as they were held to a draw against Bampton. Bampton started the day eleventh and had James Haley to thank for getting them on the scoresheet. Stephen Chapple replied for Eynsham. Bampton jump two league places because of the draw. Eynsham slip seven points off the promotion spots and get ready to face Cassington next week.

Hailey A are up to sixth after a 3-0 win over Faringdon A. Lewis Mills, Mo Semlali and Nathan Rees scoring one each in their sixth win of the season.

Spartan Rangers are off the bottom after a walkover victory over Hatherop Reserves.

Kingham All Blacks are up to fifth after a walkover victory against Freeland Reserves.

Division Three

The bottom two both won this weekend to tighten things up in the lower half of division three.

Eynsham Reserves won for the first time since October as they beat Tower Hill Reserves. Jack Morgan and Malek Chok scoring one each in a stunning 2-0 win.

Leafield Reserves earned their fourth win of the season with a 2-0 win over Carterton Town. Jamie Rooney and James Hearn doing the damage. The bottom four now separated by only four points.
The top three all won as well to maintain their good form heading into the last third of the season.

Top side Chadlington narrowly beat Stonesfield Reserves, 3-2. George Slatter had them ahead after just ten minutes. James Hobden scored in the 35th minute for breathing space but Stonesfield continued to fight and a Mike Phipps brace had them well in the match. Aaron Bennet’s 60th minute goal was the difference as Chadlington stay three points clear.

Ethan Penney’s four-timer gave Yarnton A an easier afternoon than their title rivals. Those four goals took Penney’s tally to fourteen for the season as Yarnton beat Sherborne Harriers 6-0. Michael Trafford scored one and David Bray came off the bench to score one as well for Yarnton’s eleventh win of the season.

Asha Townsend has the outright lead in the goal scoring charts once again as his 21st goal of the season helped Wootton defeat Aston Reserves. A Reece Waine double gave Aston a fighting chance but Michael Steers, Matthew Leach and Philip Stringer all scored one each in an important 4-2 win which keeps Wootton four points off second place.

Deer Park Rangers and Kingham Reserves played out an entertaining 0-0 draw, the point keeps Kingham seventh whilst Rangers go back into fourth spot.