Week 28 Match Reports

Fred Ford Cup

Enstone came from behind against Division One leaders Tower Hill as they remained on track to successfully defend their Fred Ford crown. Tower took the lead on 12 minutes after a fine strike from Jack Scott. 26 minutes had gone by before Enstone restored parity, Jordan Godfrey tapping in from close range to drag Enstone level. Enstone created more but failed to find the net for the remainder of the half, Liam Harris coming closest but his strike found the upright rather than the net, meaning the teams were level at the break. The second half started in the same vain, chances came and went for twenty minutes as both sides failed to find the decisive touch to take the lead. That all changed six minutes after the hour mark, Aaron Witham cleverly rounding the keeper to give Enstone the lead for the first time. Fifteen minutes later and Shane Probbitts cemented the win, rounding the keeper just like Witham and finishing from a tight angle to put Enstone into the last four.

Charlbury will face Enstone in the last four, in a repeat of the Senior Cup final from last year, after they also beat Division One opposition in Chadlington. Cian Fitzgerald scored twice with Max Sulik and Thomas Williams adding one more each for Charlbury. Alfie Peachey and Isaac Harrington scored in the second half to make it a contest but Charlbury held on to reach their second semi-final of the season.

In the all Division One battle, Aston roared past Combe, thrashing them 5-0. Lewis Scott followed up from his hat-trick in round three with two more in this game. Charlie McCulloch, Jamie Timms and Nick Rose all scored one more to ease Aston into the final four.

Hailey and Stonesfield required penalties to separate them as they shared four goals in the ninety minutes. Jack Wood and Tom Gregory scored for the home side but Liam Hatton’s double kept Stonesfield level. To penalties it went and the visitors prevailed 4-3 from the spot and won the chance to face Aston in the next round.

Fred Ford semi-finals – 19:30 kick off

Wednesday 3rd April – Stonesfield vs Aston @ Carterton FC
Thursday 4th April – Enstone vs Charlbury Town @ Clanfield

Premier Division

Hanborough moved back into the top four of the Premier Division after beating Milton under Wychwood by the odd goal in five. Pat Collett scored after sixteen minutes to give Milton a good start but Hanborough found the net on three occasions thanks to Craig Johnson, Alpha Breezy Kamara and Sean Quinn. Jonny Fletcher scored again for Milton with fifteen minutes left but Hanborough held on for all three points.

Division One

With the top two on the wrong end of Fred Ford results, there was a chance for third placed Ducklington to close the gap on their promotion rivals. They travelled to Cassington and made the worst possible start as Charlie Nelson scored with a fine low shot that went in off the post after six minutes. Eight minutes later they were level. Charlie Fisher popping up in the box to restore parity. A combative half saw no further clear chances, with the wind causing havoc, as well as a brief but painful shower of hailstones. Cassington started brightly again in the second half, Aaron Pyke scoring five minutes into the second period, to give Cassington the lead again. Ducklington then peppered the Cassington box but without any real pressure on keeper Chris Dowdrick. In the 68th minute the points were secured. A long ball forward from captain Ross Lewington landed in the box and Nelson got the better of Henry Clarke and fired home for 3-1. Ducklington had the better of the final twenty minutes but couldn’t breach the Cassington defence.

In the crucial battle at the bottom, Hailey Reserves jumped out of the relegation zone as they beat Eynsham SSC, causing them to replace them in the bottom two. Charlie Partlett scored for hosts Eynsham, but Hailey Reserves fought back for all three points with goals from Dan Reading, Josh White and Omar Semlali for a 3-1 win.

Robert Gosling scored twice as Heyford Athletic thrashed Brize Norton 7-0 to keep their outside chances of promotion alive. Five other players combined to score the other goals, Filip Wojcik, Ben Heath, Joseph Flarry, George Stimson and Dion Mukono all fired home for an impressive victory.

Bampton United also have their promotion destiny in their own hand as they closed the gap to Ducklington to five points, with a 2-1 victory over Witney Royals. Luke Varney scored for Royals but goals from Jake Prichard and Luke Colville, scoring against his former club, got Bampton their eighth win of the season. Their two games in hand could see them overtake Ducklington during the run-in.

Division Two

Twenty-nine goals in the division this weekend as attackers were definitely on top on Saturday, with two games seeing 10 goals each.

League leaders Moreton Rangers Reserves moved to a goal difference of +81, and reached 100 goals exactly this season, with a 9-1 win over fourth placed Faringdon Town Development. It was more than ample revenge for Rangers after Faringdon were responsible for inflicting a first league defeat on the league leaders in January. Top scorer Lee Brooks moved into the thirties as yet another hat-trick was completed. Callum Peters scored twice with Harvey Wilkinson, Javan Nurse, Kyle Smith and Sean Connor all adding one each. Richard Evans stopped Moreton from leaving with a clean sheet but that was as good as it got for the home side.

Bourton Rovers managed to go one better, in keeping a clean sheet and putting ten in the other end as they thrashed Witney Royals Reserves 10-0. Charlie Maudsley, Dalton Cooper, Todd Bedwell, Josh Hubbard and Kyle Wootten all scored one each. Matthew Winter scored two but Henry Atkinson stole the headlines with his hat-trick. The victory means Bourton have taken seven points from their last four games, having only taken nine in their opening thirteen games, to significantly ease their relegation woes.

Another game, another hat-trick hero as Carlos Paiva’s three goal haul helped FC Mills return to winning ways against bottom side Milton under Wychwood Reserves. James Morgan scored the other two in a 5-0 win as Mills won for the first time since the 28th October!

CHQ United also beat relegation threatened opposition as they squeezed past Chadlington Reserves 2-0. John Watson and Olly Taylor’s goals giving CHQ their 16th win of the season as they stay second, four points behind Moreton.

Siege and Kingham are the draw specialists in the league so it came as no surprise that when they met at the weekend the game finished in a draw. Jonny Dover’s goal cancelled out by Dylan Ellis’ strike as both sides earned their sixth draw of the campaign.

Division Three

Bampton United Reserves have the biggest win of the day and the season, trumping Bourton’s 10-0 win in Division Two and Moreton Rangers’ 11-0 win back in September, after hammering Leafield Reserves 16-0 at Leafield. Strike pair Dan Paintin and Chris Laurence were responsible for half the goals as they both scored four each. Aaron Court also popped up with a hat-trick as Bampton became the second highest scoring side in the division. Adam Davis, Aidan Foard, Tom Cruttwell and Arron Mullis all scored one each in the rout. A Leafield own goal compounded what was a miserable afternoon for the home side.

Deer Park Rangers still lead the way but did not have things all their own way on Saturday afternoon against Spartan Rangers Reserves. It was a dream start for the league leaders, Jamie Horne scoring inside the first minute to give Rangers the lead, who then promptly doubled it eight minutes later. Cullen Angus scored in the 25th minute to have Rangers coasting but Spartan hit back through James Macke and Josh Williams to reduce the deficit to one at the break. It stayed that way until the final minute when Ben Delnevo settled Rangers’ nerves by scoring in the 89th minute to secure the points, but they were definitely given a scare.

Carterton Town snatched victory from the jaws of defeat as their come-from-behind win over Yarnton B returned them back to second spot. A poor start from Carterton and a rapid start from Yarnton had the latter 2-0 ahead inside twenty minutes thanks to Chris Marsh’s brace. Carterton fortuitously pulled one back on the brink of half-time as Jake Underwood had the ball kicked into him by the keeper and the ball flew into the net as a result. Carterton dominated the second period and on the half hour mark they drew level thanks to a fabulous Tyler Webster free kick. The game appeared to be heading for a draw but in the 87th minute, Jake Underwood popped up with the winner as Carterton earned their 12th win of the season.

Heyford Athletic Reserves were also on the goal scoring charge as they put seven past Faringdon Town A without reply. Rob North, George Stimson, Jack Scott, Henry Campo and Josh Haynes scored one each. Connor Mills grabbed two for Heyford’s biggest win of the season as they leapt up into fourth place with seven games to go.

Josh Betteridge’s double moved him to eighteen goals for the season as Sherborne Harriers moved back into seventh spot in the table. Ben Law and Jean-Pierre Fourie scored one each in the 4-0 win over Kingham Reserves, the team the overtook in the table.
A first-half brace from Marko Babic gave Stonesfield all three points as they beat Tower Hill Reserves 2-0. Stonesfield climb a place to tenth, Tower drop to fifth.