Week 21 Match Report

Fred Ford 3rd Round

Some of the remaining third round ties were finally played this weekend after being washed out in January, with each of the third-round victors scoring four times to advance to the next round.

Defending champions Enstone ignored their current league form to reach the last eight with a 4-0 win over Division One’s Witney Royals. Royals dumped out Premier Division leaders RAF Brize Norton in the previous round and might have been hopeful of a similar outcome against the bottom club from the same league. Royals had the best chance inside fifteen minutes but they were denied by a smart save by Danny Phillips in the Enstone goal. Halfway through the first period and the Bott brothers combined to break the deadlock. Dan’s corner met superbly by Nathan at the back stick who nodded home for 1-0. Into the second half and Enstone came out firing in a bid to end the tie. They scored twice by the hour mark to give them some daylight, Liam Harris’s strike finding the top corner ten minutes into the half before Nathan Kelly broke the offside trap and calmly slotted home after 60 minutes to end the contest. Royals kept battling but couldn’t find a way through and it was left to Nathan Bott to get his second from the spot, with the last kick of the game.

Chadlington also scored four without reply as they brushed past Moreton Rangers. There was to be no upset from the Division Two leaders as Chadlington breezed into the quarter finals. Rocky Burton, Jordan Charlesworth, Freddie Andrews and Dan Marlow all scored one each in the 4-0 win.

Hailey also scored four to advance but Cassington did at least get on the scoresheet in the 4-1 reverse. Just like Chadlington they had four different scorers in their win. Jordan Cormack, Matt Knapton, Sam Wheeler and Jack Muttock all scoring one each. Jordan Lyne was responsible for Cassington's reply.

Fred Ford 2nd Round

There were still two outstanding round two ties to be completed, with Heyford Athletic and Charlbury getting their tie played at the weekend, in what is a dress rehearsal of the Junior Shield semi-final being played next month. Charlbury will be hoping for a similar outcome as they reached the third-round stage with a 5-2 win. Joseph Flarry’s brace had Heyford in the contest but five different scorers combined for Charlbury to put them through. Martin Nutt, James Robertson, Stefan Lang, George Sulik and Sam Lewis all scoring one each. Charlbury will visit Division Two Freeland this weekend in the third round.

Premier Division

Hanborough moved up two league places as they beat Milton under Wychwood 2-0. Milton were unbeaten in three as they came into the game but couldn’t find a way past the resolute Hanborough defence. Kev Davies and Jonny Ayris goals gave Hanborough their third win in four and jumped up to fourth in the process.

Division One

Tower Hill showed their title credentials as they came back from 2-0 down to steal all three points and move four points clear at the top of the league. They were in deep trouble part way through the game, Dan Thompson and Luke Colville’s goals putting Bampton two up and looking like inflicting a first defeat on Tower since November. However, Bampton missed some chances and when Tower’s came in the second half, they took them clinically. Tom Costley scored twice, including one from the spot to restore parity. In the final seconds Ed Smith found the winner and Tower Hill earned their tenth win of the season.

A David Pryse hat-trick helped Ducklington thrash Hailey Reserves as they moved second in the table. Michael Casling came off the bench to score two with Ady Kew and Harvey Butler adding one more each. Moh Semlali put Hailey on the board but they crashed to their second consecutive six goal defeat.

Spartan Rangers might still be winless but they earned their sixth draw of the season to keep their survival hopes alive. They left Hanborough with a point after a 1-1 draw with Hanborough Reserves. Eliot Major scoring Hanborough’s goal.

Aston earned their fourth win in five and moved to five unbeaten after completing the league double over Brize Norton. After thrashing Brize 8-1 earlier in the season this contest proved to be somewhat closer, with Aston prevailing 4-2. Matthew Webster and Jason Hirshfield scored for Brize. James Fleming, Cairo Cuss, Connor Newcombe and Kieran Watts all scored for Aston for a fifth win of the season.

Division Two

You wait eleven games for one win and then two come along at once if you’re Kingham All Blacks as they earned back to back wins with victory over Bourton Rovers. Yusuf Okunade and Ash Thornton’s goals led them to a 2-0 win which elevated them four places up the table, and pushed Bourton into the relegation zone in their place.

Leafield also jumped up four places and off bottom spot after a walkover win against Witney Royals. The three points for Kingham and Leafield mean that the bottom five are now separated by two points.

Chadlington Reserves have their first draw of the season as the points were shared in their match against Siege. Ethan Taylor’s goal for Chadlington was cancelled out by Alfie Occleshaw’s goal for Siege but the point was crucial as it stopped Chadlington from slipping into the bottom two.

Milton under Wychwood now occupy bottom spot after their opponents, CHQ United, moved top with a 7-2 win. Two goals each from Olly Taylor and Chris Mills pushed CHQ to their twelfth win of the season. Jack Romanek also scored two in reply for Milton but Alex Anderson was the star of the show as his hat-trick confirmed the points for the home team.

Wootton are outside the promotion places on goal difference only after edging past Yarnton A by the odd goal in five. As two of the promoted sides from last season, they have shown they are more than capable in this league with promising first halves of the season. The tie could have gone either way with Asha Townsend scoring for Wootton as Luca Davies and Henry Payne replied for Yarnton. But Tyla Morgan’s brace took him to nine goals in five games and stole the points for Wootton with a 3-2 win.

FC Mills and Freeland’s mid table battle couldn’t find a winner as they took a point each in their game. Daz Craig's goal for Mills was equalled by Liam Harris' goal for Freeland.

Division Three

Deer Park Rangers moved three points clear at the top of the table after coming from behind twice to eventually see off third placed Tower Hill Reserves and end their winning streak. It was an early start to the goal scoring action, Matthew Warner putting Tower Hill ahead inside five minutes before James Scott equalised after ten minutes. Ethan Barrett’s strike gave Tower the half-time lead but a second half resurgence from Deer Park took them to yet another win this season. Top scorer Cullen Angus equalised on the hour mark and Jamie Horne’s goal eight minutes later proved to be the match winner as Tower Hill lost for the first time since November, incidentally to Deer Park Rangers.

Aston Reserves edged closer to the promotion places with a 5-1 win over Sherborne Harriers. No prizes for guessing the Sherborne scorer as Josh Betteridge moved to 15 goals for the season. But Aston’s own goal machine, Reece Wain, scored his thirteenth of the campaign and had excellent goal scoring support from Dan Jeffrey, Jordan Blackstock, Alex Murrell and Tom Merchant for their third win in a row.

Faringdon Town A moved further away from the bottom with their second win in four games as they beat Eynsham Reserves 3-0. Chris Rutt and a Will MacPherson brace saw to all three points and a fourth win of the season.

Carry Rice made a goal scoring return from injury to help Stonesfield Reserves earn a point against Yarnton B. Angus McIver replied for Yarnton in the 1-1 draw but the point helped Stonesfield move above Eynsham in the process.

Adrian Williams’ four goal haul helped Kingham Reserves to a 5-0 win over Spartan Rangers Reserves. Lewis Pretorius grabbed the fifth and the Kingham defence held firm for a clean sheet as well.

Bampton Reserves current trend of lose one, win one, continued as they beat Heyford Athletic Reserves at home. Since the end of November, whenever Bampton have lost a league game they’ve then won the next one and after last week’s narrow defeat to Yarnton B, they grabbed three points this week by a margin of one goal. Joshua Smith scored for Heyford but Aidan Foard brought Bampton back into it and Will Griffiths grabbed the winner.