Week 7 Football Report

Charity Cup

Last season’s Premier Division runners-up, Stonesfield are through to round two of the Charity Cup thanks to a clinical hat-trick from Carry Rice. Hardwick Sports were the hosts but proved to be no match to Stonesfield’s speedy striker. Rice scored all of Stonesfield’s goals in a brilliant 3-1 win.

Last season’s finalists, Hailey, are out in the first round, being beaten by the odd goal in five by Adderbury Park. Jack Wood’s double wasn’t enough to give Hailey the win.

There was also disappointment for Hanborough as they went down 2-0 to Watlington. A feisty game which saw sin bins for both sides was settled by two late strikes for the home side and Hanborough left rueing what might have been had they taken their chances in front of goal.

Premier Division

Freeland find themselves top of the league after a 3-1 victory against fellow promoted side Minster Lovell. Tomasz Mazur scored for Minster but first goals of the season for Adam Lonsdale, Tyler Castle and Regan Pritchard put Freeland on the route to three points and a second victory of the season.

Charlbury picked up their first point of the season in an entertaining 2-2 draw with Spartan Rangers. In a scrappy contest without many chances, Charlbury took a deserved lead on 42 minutes when David Jenkins burst through the Spartan defence and placed the ball into the corner of the net. Spartan came out stronger in the second half and had Alfie Saunders to thank for bringing them level, a stunning free kick from the edge of the box, leaving the keeper no chance. Spartan then took the lead as Josh Wilkinson pounced on a loose ball in the box to fire home but regular hero Craig McCallum rescued a point with another fine finish. Bursting through from midfield and beating a defender, his initial shot was saved but the rebound bounced up off the defender on the ground and McCallum regained his composure to fire in from a tight angle.

Fred Ford

Comfortable victories for Yarnton A and Hatherop put them into the hat for round two of the Fred Ford Cup.

In all Division Three battle, Yarnton A beat FC Mills 5-2. James Melvin’s double along with goals from Ethan and Paul Penny and a strike from Chad Blackman assured them of victory. Dean Mays and Stu Cutts replied for Mills but couldn’t prevent defeat.

Hatherop also scored five for their deserved win. Troy Weaven scored for the second game in a row, with goals from Ollie Waite and Charlie Bailey pushing their advantage. Jack Campbell replied for Heyford Athletic but Paddy Cripps’ double secured a 5-1 win.

Division One

A busy day in the Division One saw ten of the twelve teams in action.

Aston recorded their first league win in October with a 4-0 away win at Faringdon. Following two consecutive 2-2 draws, a welcome three points pushed them back up to third in the table. Kieran Watts scored twice, with additional goals from Lewis Scott and Sam Aston, the defeat leaving Faringdon bottom of the league still.

Witney Royals dropped to second bottom after a 5-2 reverse against Ducklington. Ryan Harris scored two great goals to have Royals in the game but Ducklington had too much quality on the pitch with goals coming from Ady Kew (2), Charlie Fisher, Alfie Roberts and George Townsend.

Eight goals but no victor in the mid table battle between Hailey Reserves and Chadlington. Jake Smith, Jack Muttock, Seb White and Gary Mitchell all scored once for Hailey but Alfie Peachey’s brace, Sam Lewis’s goal and Rocky Burton’s third goal of the season left the side’s level at full time.

RAF Brize Norton have the best goal difference in the league now thanks to a 9-1 thrashing of Combe. Maahir Alam, Wes Christian, Sam Jarvis and Nathan Nyenha all scored once each. Michal Duerden opened his account for his new club with a brace but they were all outdone by Michael Flavell who notched a hat-trick to end Brize’s scoring. Ciaran Northwood scored Combe’s consolation.

Carterton battled hard for three points that kept them top of the league. Hosting Tower Hill at Kilkenny Lane, Byron Townsend and Jack Scott traded goals in the first half, the score 1-1 at half-time. Connor O’Shea scored for Tower Hill after the break but Adam Fisher and Jake Bee goals for Carterton helped them escape with all three points and top spot in the process.

Division Two

Three teams are locked on 12 points in this early stage of the season.

Cassington Rangers are the pace setters, still holding onto a 100% record so far this year. This week they thrashed Hatherop Reserves 5-0, recording five different goal scorers in the process. Shaun Rowbotham, Jason Blackman, Lewis Hooper, Max Gallagher and Will Morris all helped themselves to a goal each, doing their goal difference the world of good in the process.

Hot in pursuit are Brize Norton and Witney Royals Reserves. Brize bested fellow top four side Kingham at Brize Rec. Joe Hatt’s brace, for Brize, was cancelled out by goals from Yusuf Okunade and Damian Corbin for Kingham. Morgan Oxendale and Dylan Briggs’ goals for Brize secured victory and second spot in the league.

Royals beat Freeland Reserves in a five goal thriller. Connor Smith’s brace for Freeland would have had them hoping for their first point of the season, at least, but Royals bounced back from last week’s defeat thanks to goals from Ollie Nolan, Rob DeBanks and Zack Ryall to move into third place. Freeland are still on the hunt for their first point.

Two other teams recorded 3-2 wins, with both sides earning their first league wins of the season.

Faringdon Town A defeated Spartan Rangers Reserves. Tom Burdett’s goal got Faringdon on the way but a Faringdon own goal and an Andrew Tennant strike had Spartan well in the game. However, Faringdon didn’t give up and a Justin Yates double gave them the 3-2 win and all three points.

Leafield also have their first win, beating Milton Reserves away from home. George Ford and Dan Hooton’s goals had the home side battling but Mark Vinius scored twice to level things up and Pedro Rozini fired home to snatch the three points for Leafield.
Eynsham and Siege played out a 1-1 draw. Peter Edwards scored for Eynsham but Mykel Ryan’s goal ensured both sides left with a point.

Bampton were awarded a walkover victory against Hailey A.

Division Three

Chadlington Reserves positive October continues as they recorded consecutive league victories to move into third position. They kept a clean sheet as well as they saw off Tower Hill Reserves 2-0. George Slatter and Mauro Esteves’ goals giving Chadlington all three points.

Deer Park Rangers continue to make a solid start to their footballing existence with a 6-1 win over Eynsham Reserves. Top scorer Brandon Laing was on target once again, alongside fellow team mates Ethan Phillips-Richardson, Josh Carter and Louis Beresford. Ben Partlett pulled one back for Eynsham but Jamie Horne’s double polished off an emphatic win.

Wootton are still at the top, with the most goals scored, the joint best defence and the best goal difference. The winning margin was just three this week as Sherborne Harriers forced them to battle for the points. Asha Townsend scored two more to take his early season tally to fifteen, however he was matched in the goal scoring department by Harriers’ Josh Betteridge who scored two of his own. Sadly no other Sherborne players could find the net but three more Wootton players did. Michael Steers, Liam Robinson and Gary Townsend scored one apiece in the 5-2 win.

Aston Reserves returned to winning ways with a 3-1 win over Stonesfield Reserves. Josh Hornsby’s worldie strike complimented Jay Whelan and Jack Chaundry’s goals for Aston. James Mathias responded for Stonesfield.

Kingham Reserves recorded their first home win of the season, against Carterton Town. Liam Barnes scored for Kingham, Brian King replying for Town. Barnes grabbed his second of the game to make it 2-1 and that’s how it stayed until the final whistle.