Week 25 Football Report

8 Mar 2024 By David Evans

Hatty birthday to Lew! Scott powers Aston into Fred Ford last eight

Fred Ford Third Round

Aston recovered from two goals down to advance to the Fred Ford quarter finals, thanks largely to birthday boy Lewis Scott firing in a birthday hat-trick. Wootton burst into an early 2-0 lead but Aston eventually got a foothold in the game and burst into life as soon as they did. Scott walked away with the plaudits and was joined on the scoresheet by Reece Wain, Jamie Timms, Andy Horne and Nick Rose. Aston will play Combe in the quarter finals. Wootton’s goal scorers were Jamie McCuaig (2) and Paul Brown.

Fred Ford Quarter Final Draw (ties to be played Saturday 23rd March)

Charlbury Town vs Chadlington
Combe vs Aston
Enstone vs Tower Hill
Hailey vs Stonesfield

Division One

Two of the sides left in the Fred Ford faced off in a league fixture at the weekend, with Tower Hill hosting Combe at Witney ATP. It was the battle of first vs fourth, with Combe looking to get back into the promotion places and Tower Hill looking to put some clear daylight between themselves and the chasing pack in a bid for the Division One title. Tower took the lead thanks to Matthew Hunt’s low finish. Combe struck back through Luke Barton but Tower moved four points clear at the top thanks to Tom Costley’s 11th goal of the season, which earned them a 2-1 win.

Division Three

Carterton Town returned to winning ways with a hard-fought win over Kingham Reserves. The two sides faced off earlier in the year and that game saw Kingham snatch a late point. This time they were ahead inside five minutes thanks to a Shane Cooper goal. Travis Cozier was quickest to pounce on a rebound from the keeper to make it 1-1 a short while later and Carterton led at the break thanks to Guy Meredith’s audacious 25-yard strike which found the top corner. Meredith’s goal wasn’t even the best of the game. During the second half Jake Underwood picked up the ball on halfway and after noticing the keeper was off his line, decided to do his best David Beckham impression and promptly lobbed the keeper from halfway to put Carterton 3-1 up. With ten minutes to go Kingham reduced the deficit to one, Dan Nimmo’s penalty found the bottom corner with ease and although Kingham threatened to repeat their feat of stealing a point, Carterton held on for the win.

John Fathers Junior Shield Semi-Finals

On Tuesday night, North Leigh played host to the first of the Junior Shield semi finals between 2019 champions Charlbury Town and Division One’s Heyford Athletic. A fabulous game for the neutral, in a game which ebbed and flowed throughout saw Heyford’s rag tag bunch of veterans and youth take the lead thanks to a Mike Philpott goal. Charlbury struck back but Heyford took a deserved half-time lead thanks to a cracking header from Robert Gosling.
Into the second half and Charlbury were level inside sixty seconds. A neat turn on the edge of the box created a gap and a sharp left footed strike wrong footed the keeper who couldn’t get down fast enough and the ball hit the net. Heyford looked dangerous on the counter, with numerous attacks down the slope being wasted or well defended in the final third. Charlbury looked threatening from set pieces, none more so than Craig McCallum, who powered a header from four yards, only to see Tom McNamara athletically block the ball and tip it over the crossbar. Heyford then took the lead for the third time, 45-year-old Steven Roberts got the ball on the left and his cross looped towards the near post and the young Charlbury keeper misread the ball in the lights and saw the ball spin over him and into the net.
Ten minutes later Charlbury were awarded a penalty when Stefan Lang was felled in the box but it was a poor penalty, struck straight down the middle and McNamara palmed away the first effort before the defenders swarmed round the ball to clear the rebound. Charlbury were clearly in the ascendancy but were perhaps guilty of trying to create too clear a chance, desperate Heyford toes plucking balls off of waiting Charlbury legs in and around the box before thumping them clear down the slope. In the dying seconds, Charlbury earned one last corner, which was heading straight into the net, before man of the match McNamara punched the ball clear for another corner. The final seconds played out without threat and Heyford celebrated at the final whistle as they reached the Junior Shield final.

On Wednesday night, Division One leaders Tower Hill travelled to Thame to face off against Banbury side Hardwick Park. Tower had a dream start when Sam Britnell put them ahead after ten minutes when his shot from outside the box hit the bottom corner with the keeper beaten. The next ten minutes weren’t as delightful as Hardwick drew level five minutes later and then took the lead in the 19th minute to turn the game around. The game remained fairly even throughout the rest of the first half but Hardwick snuck in a killer blow on the brink of halftime, to carry a 3-1 lead into the break.
Much like the first semi-final, an early second half goal instantly made things more interesting, Matthew Hunt followed up from his goal on Saturday to reduce the deficit to one by the 49th minute. His initial shot hit the woodwork but he followed up on the rebound to slot home with his right foot.
As the game entered the final third, Tower drew level. Sam Cairns firing a thunderbolt from 25 yards out which flew into the top corner, leaving the keeper stranded. Tower were now well on top so it was a big surprise 10 minutes later when Hardwick regained the lead much against the run of play. Tower pushed for the important equaliser to try and force penalties, which naturally left them light at the back, and in the second minute of added time, Hardwick found the space to add a fifth and end the contest, moving into the Junior Shield Final against Heyford Athletic.