Week 24 Football Report

Premier Division

A huge crowd descended upon Enstone on Saturday as third placed Enstone played host to second placed Stonesfield. A high paced start was probably no surprise with tackles flying in from both teams, some handbags erupting out of some tackles and plenty of crossed words, but nothing that warranted more than a talking to from the referee who let two closely matched teams get on with it. That all changed in the 32nd minute, Raffy Rice raced onto a perfect through ball and everyone around knew a collision between keeper Josh Hunt and Rice was inevitable. The collision happened and Hunt came off much worse. A lengthy delay followed with Stonesfield’s Mike Phipps leading the first aid team. Hunt eventually returned to his feet, and was shown the red card by the referee as he left the field. Enstone facing over an hour with ten men. The first half looked as though it would remain goalless but Jordan Newman fouled Jordan Godfrey inside the area deep into stoppage time and Nathan Bott calmly put the penalty away to give ten man Enstone the lead at the break.
Amazingly, the ten men of Enstone continued to dominate in the second half, Newman making four outstanding saves to prevent Enstone from going further ahead. Then, in the 71st minute, Stonesfield were level. A harmless through ball from Stonesfield approached Enstone’s replacement keeper, but he slipped and Will Barker didn’t need asking twice as he slotted into the empty net to bring Stonesfield level. Both teams had chances as the game entered the final stages, Stonesfield convinced they deserved a penalty in injury time but their appeals were waved away and the match ended 1-1. In the absence of a fixture for Hailey, three points would have seen either side move to the summit but the draw sees Stonesfield move level on points with Hailey and the sides will face each other next Saturday! Enstone are just a point behind.

Adam Clarke’s hat-trick helped Minster win the battle at the bottom as second bottom Minster hosted bottom side Spartan. A frantic first half saw five goals scored. Rui Alves giving Minster the lead as early as the fifth minute with a header which drifted over Matthew Waite’s head in the Spartan goal. Just five minutes later though and Spartan were level. Tomasz Mazur spilled a shot between his legs and before he could regather it, Arrun White had poked the ball into the net. Clarke got his first on 19 minutes, a corner from the left found Clarke rising highest at the back post to thump a header home. Spartan fought back though. A wave of attacks came from Spartan with Minster clearing each one but as the ball fell to Alfie Saunders on the left, his sumptuous cross found Frank Clarke all alone in the box who simply guided the ball home past the stranded Mazur. Parity remained for less than sixty seconds however, Richard Williams found space down the left and his cross found Clarke who was able to put his head on it once again to give Minster the lead for the third time.
Into the second half and the pace of Alves upfront was beginning to cause problems as he earned a couple of fouls. The next time he got into the box he skipped past Jamie Timms who swung a leg out to try and clear the ball but could only find Alves ankles and down he went. Nick Rose put the penalty to the keeper’s right but Waite guessed correctly. Unfortunately for Spartan he could only palm the ball back to Rose who then put the ball in the opposite corner.
Spartan tried their hardest to work through the phases and they dominated the territory in the remaining 25 minutes but left themselves open to the counter attack with Alves constantly busy. Waite pulled off another incredible save as the ball hit the post and bounced off the back of his head and headed goalwards but he quickly scrambled the ball back into his hands before it crossed the line. There were no other major chances and it looked as though the game would finish 4-2 but one final scramble in the box saw the ball fall to Clarke who lifted the ball home from six yards out for his hat-trick and a 5-2 win for Minster. The three points lifting Minster out of the bottom two with two games left. They face Freeland, who slipped to second bottom, on Saturday.

Charlbury’s impressive league form continued as they completed a league double over Hanborough at the weekend. Charlbury are now unbeaten in five games, a run which has seen them take points off Hailey, Enstone and Stonesfield, and beat Hanborough twice. The score line was the same as three weeks ago as Charlbury won 2-0, but different goal scorers were on the score sheet. Tom Williams and Billy Sweet’s goals keeping Charlbury fourth and now just four points off top spot with four games to go.

Division One

Nothing short of a mathematical miracle will prevent Carterton FC Reserves and RAF Brize Norton finishing in the top two as results went their way this weekend, but the title race could go the full distance.

Carterton maintained their grip on top spot as a two hat-tricks helped them to beat Witney Royals 6-0. Ethan Barrett and Connor Townsend both scored three each to give Carterton their 14th league win of the season.

Mike Flavell’s 15th league goal of the season helped Brize to another win as they beat Aston to remain one point behind Carterton. Nick Angus hit back for Aston but Jamie Williams’ double gave Brize a 3-1 win. The fixture list sees Carterton host Brize next week for a pivotal match in the title race.

Hatherop are now ten points behind with just four games left as they fell to defeat against Chadlington. A goal in each half was enough for all three points and Chadlington’s sixth win of the season. Sam Lewis’ 30th minute goal was matched by Calum Curtis’ strike on the hour mark for a 2-0 win.

Tower Hill also got their sixth win of the season as they beat bottom side Combe 5-2. Five different goal scorers combined for Tower, Will Hayes, Bradley Olive, Jack Holifield, James Scott and Lewis Bartlett all scoring once for the away side. David Snook and Charlie Ibbotson both scored in response for Combe.

George Townsend’s brace helped Ducklington secure a point which moves them three points away from the bottom two. Luke Bolley and Gary Mitchell replied for Hailey Reserves in the 2-2 draw. The teams remain tenth and ninth respectively.

Division Two

Goals galore for Cassington as they took advantage of their game in hand to beat Spartan Reserves 7-0 to move five points clear of Brize Norton in the title race. It was a quick start for Cassington, who were two up inside eleven minutes. Josh Clarke scoring after three minutes with Lewis Hooper doubling their lead after eleven minutes. Spartan battled well after that and managed to stop Cassington scoring for the next thirty minutes but Nick Prior did grab a third in the 44th minute, just five minutes after coming off the bench. Into the second half and once again Spartan held firm against the league leaders, only for a late flurry of goals to inflate the scoreline in Cassington’s favour. Tyler Walker scored in the 72nd minute to make it 4-0, Nathan Prestidge then made it 5-0 just three minutes later. Two goals in a minute at the end brought the tally to seven. Billy Jones and Prestidge both scoring in the 89th minute to give Cassington a healthy win.

Eynsham Reserves are back into third place as they beat Witney Royals Reserves to leapfrog them in the table. Stephen Chappel, Ben Oates and Luke Hamill all scored once for Eynsham with Matthew Harris and Taylor Cooper doing the same in return for Royals. Andy Stratford’s hat-trick was the difference though as he pushed Eynsham to a 6-2 win.

James Haley was also a hat-trick maestro as he helped Bampton beat Leafield 5-1. Robert Chatwell and Callum Driscoll scored Bampton’s other goals. Ciao Jusius replied for Leafield.

A massive second half fight back gave Siege a crucial win over Kingham. Kingham led 3-1 at half time thanks to goals from Sean Collins and Mitch Faulkner (2). Ryan Clish replying for Siege from the spot in a difficult first half. But Siege came back from the break revitalised to score four without reply in the second half. Lee Marsden scored two headers, both from corners, Ryan Clish added his second of the game and Jamie Kennedy scored to give Siege a 5-3 victory and push themselves up two places in the league.

Faringdon A received a walkover victory against Hailey A.

Division Three

The top three teams all switched positions in a chaotic weekend at the top of Division Three.

Top side Yarnton visited second placed Wootton and would have been hopeful of victory given their recent form, unbeaten in their last eight games. Wootton were then reduced to ten men inside the first fifteen minutes, Lee Spencer seeing red for foul and abusive language, making their challenge that little bit more difficult. But in the end it would be the ten men of Wootton who would take all three points. Steve Haines scored for Wootton with Sean Dyer responding for Yarnton but Asha Townsend’s 26th goal of the season gave Wootton a 2-1 victory and sent them top of the table as a reward for their efforts.

Chadlington are up to second after beating Carterton Town 3-1. It was another quick start for Town who were ahead within two minutes, Tyler Webster latching onto a long throw and then finding Sean Dennis who flicked it over the Chadlington keeper for an early lead. The game was full of long balls over the top with the midfield very quiet and Chadlington capitalised in the 12th minute when Rocky Burton ran onto one of the long kicks and fired home the equaliser.
In the second half, Chadlington took the lead in the 55th minute. Two corners in succession were awarded to Chad and whilst Carterton cleared the first one they couldn’t do anything about the second as Burton grabbed his second of the game. Chadlington secured the points in the 70th minute. Adam Tinkham slotted home to give Chadlington a two goal cushion and whilst Town made substitutions to try and change the outcome, Chadlington held on for all three points. Chadlington jump into second spot, overtaking Yarnton in the process.

Kingham Reserves recorded their tenth win of the season as they narrowly beat Leafield Reserves. Ciao Jusius completed his double for the day, having grabbed Leafield’s consolation in the first team defeat, he then also scored for the Reserves as they played back to back home fixtures. Kingham scored through Jake Godfrey and Elliott Sabin to take all three points and remain fourth.

FC Mills also got their tenth win of the season, easing past Aston Reserves. Joe Cockroft was the headline maker for Mills as he scored three to help Mills return to winning ways after five games without tasting victory. Ryan Williams came off the bench to score twice and Dean Spivey got the sixth in a 6-1 win. Daniel Jeffrey replied for Aston.

Jason Bufton’s brace helped Tower Hill Reserves beat Eynsham Reserves at West Witney. Fenn Carey got in on the action as well as Tower won 3-0. Eynsham are still bottom by one point. Tower climb up to eighth.

Stonesfield Reserves received a walkover victory against Sherborne Harriers.