Witney & District Football Reports - Week 26

By Ant Barlow

Written By David Evans and John Smyth (Cup)

Spartan and Kirtlington take first final spots

The first of the local semi-finals have taken place, with Spartan Rangers Reserves and Kirtlington taking their place in the Jack Busby Memorial Trophy Final and Fred Ford Cup final respectively.

The Jack Busby semi-final saw an all Division Three affair, with second placed Spartan Rangers Reserves taking on ninth placed Tower Hill Reserves. Both sides cancelled each other out for much of the game with chances at a premium.

Tower defied their lowly league position by being the better team in the first half, they forced Spartan keeper to kick one effort away, but the best chance came in the final seconds of the half, a long ball over the top found Jai Smith in the box, but he fell over when getting ready to shoot.

If Tower dominated the first half, Spartan did the second, they won a series of corners where one was headed off the line with keeper Alex Vaughan beat. Daz Craig saw his spectacular volley from the edge of the box thump against the bar and rebound to safety.

Then with extra time looming, left back Ben Hardcastle came forward, his cross took a bobble just as he hit it, but luck was on his side as it floated over the stranded Vaughan and landed in the net. Rough justice on Tower who probably deserved the chance of extra time but congratulations to Spartan. They will play either Bletchington or current holders Minster Lovell Reserves in the final.

The Fred Ford semi-final was a pulsating, seven goal affair between Division One champions elect Stonesfield and Premier Division Kirtlington. Despite their difference in league status there were only two league places between the sides, which made for an entertaining, hotly contested battle.

Stonesfield took an early lead when make shift striker Mike Phipps headed home a long free kick. They almost doubled their lead but Reece Bayliss saw his shot hit the outside of the post, and Kirtlington keeper Matthew Simmonds was at full stretch to turn a Bayliss effort around the post.

Kirtlington equalised against the run of play, a corner was not properly cleared and skipper Ross Gray thumped home the loose ball to take the sides into the break level.

Stonesfield restored their lead early in the second half, Sam Bodinham, flicked on a Bayliss corner and Raffy Rice was there to tap in from close range. Kirtlington hit back almost immediately, Shane Probitts was played in and he fired home from 12 yards, then sub Jake East guided his header past Lewis Kemp from a corner to put Kirtlington into the lead for the first time in the game.

But in this see saw match, Stonesfield hit straight back, a long ball was played to Phipps and his cushioned header was right into the path of Rice who made no mistake. With the crowd barely having time to draw breath Kirtlington won it with a sublime 25 yard strike from Probitts that Kemp barely saw.
A great goal to win a great game.

Kirtlington advance to the Fred Ford Final where they will play Hailey or defending champions FC Hollybush in the final

Hollybush title hopes hampered thanks to super Simmons hat-trick

Premier Division
Luke Simmons fired in a hat-trick for Aston to condemn FC Hollybush to their second league defeat of the season, causing them to lose top spot in the process. Simmons slid in at the back post to give Aston the lead and rolled in his second from the spot to put Aston two up. Hollybush hit back either side of half time thanks to goals from Craig Mays and Matty Howard but Aston retook the lead after Ryan Colleton lifted the ball over the keeper and rolled in with ease and the victory and hat-trick were complete after Simmons ran onto a ball over the top and rolled it past the keeper into the empty net. The win gives Aston their first league win since the 15th December and keeps them fourth. Hollybush drop to second.

Charlbury also dropped points as they could only manage a 2-2 draw with bottom side Carteron Rangers. Rangers stunned the title challengers by taking the lead through George Westley. Chris King added a second for Carterton Rangers but Charlbury hit back thanks to a double from Craig McCallum. Charlbury return to the top by virtue of their superior goal difference. Rangers remain bottom with four games left to play.

Hailey now have their title ambitions in their own hands after defeating Spartan Rangers. With the top two dropping points they now find themselves just six points behind with games in hand on Charlbury and Hollybush.
They put four past Spartan with goals from Travis O' Connor, Jack Wood, Sam Wheeler and Freddie Buckingham. Spartan hit back with goals from David Pryse and Callum Hampson but they suffered defeat in their last league game of the season as it finished 4-2.

Division One
The bottom two both recorded victories to mix up the battle at the bottom in Division One.
Bottom side Eynsham SSC recorded just their third league win of the season as they overcame Bourton Rovers. Kevin Hunt and Ryan Masardo scored one each for Bourton but Eynsham fought back with a double from Ryan Stockford and further goals from Stephem Chappel and Zac Sheffield in the 4-2 win.

Second bottom Witney Royals managed to stun promotion chasing Middle Barton with an impressive 4-1 home victory. Even top scorer Dan Bott notching for Middle Barton couldn't prevent defeat as Ben Horne, Corey Donohoe and a brace from Robbie Cockroft gave Royals all three points.

Eynsham and Witney Royals move one step closer to catching Combe after they were defeated in a tight encounter by Milton. John Chapman bagged a brace for Combe but Milton went one better thanks to Rob James, Alex Ayres and Levi Steele. Victory moves Milton second in the league. Combe remain third bottom but with lots of games to play.

Division Two
No doubt that the game of the day saw the top two face off in a potential title deciding battle as Kingham hosted Minster Lovell Reserves. Recent form and league places suggested this would be a tight fixture and given that their previous league meeting was only settled by one goal, the odds looked favourable for another tight affair. So it proved with only one goal separating the sides. Will Wall scoring for Kingham to give them hopes of moving level on points with the league leaders but Minster hit back through Seb White and Gary Mitchell to give the visitors a 2-1 win and move them six points clear of their opponents. A point in their final league game will gift Minster Lovell Reserves the Division Two title but they'll have to wait until April to do so.

Kev Davis scored five goals in one half to help Hailey Reserves romp to victory over Charlbury Town Reserves. Mo Semlali scored early in the first half to give Hailey the lead and so it stayed until half time but with Charlbury down to ten in the second half, due to a player leaving and no subs available, Hailey took advantage of their extra man to hit the back of the net five time in the second forty-five, all thanks to Davis. The three points moves Hailey into second with their league campaign now concluded they'll wait for other results to come in to see their final league position.

Aston Reserves received a walk over victory against Witney Wanderers.

Division Three
Chipping Norton Town kept up the flow of bottom sides grabbing points as they defeated Bourton Rovers Reserves. They jumped two league places thanks to the three points. Victory gained by a solitary goal by Jack Knight to give them the 1-0 win. Tower Hill Reserves and Witney Royals Reserves drop a place each as Chipping Norton leapfrog their league rivals.

FC Mills' dismal 2019 is over after suffering their second 6-1 reverse of the season against Wootton. FC Mills have picked up just one point this calendar year to cancel out their phenomenal efforts prior to the Christmas break and their last league game ended in defeat. Wootton, who defeated Mills by the exact same score line in January, jumped into third position thanks to the win. Lee Spencer and Fraser Scott both notching braces to get Wootton well on their way to victory. Karl Guschtscha and Dan Power added the extras with Aaron French picking up the consolation goal for the home side.

Division Four
Milton Reserves suffered back to back league after being defeated by in form Wootton Reserves. Wootton, who had already scored 11 goals in two league games this month, hit another four to send the former league leaders a couple of places down the table. Ash Bowerman and Danny Poole both scored for the second game in succession. They were joined on the scoresheet by team mates Craig Barker and Mark Mumford in the 4-0 win.

Kingham Reserves leapfrogged Milton into second position by beating Bampton United Reserves 3-0. A Jake Godfrey double and a single effort for Liam Barnes were enough to jump one place in the league.

Chadlington Reserves are the new leaders of Division Four following a comfortable 7-0 demolition of FC Ascott. Alfie Peachey was the pick of the bunch, hitting a four timer to help send his team top. Kevin Mulhearn, Ollie Jordan and Ellis Godin all found the net once to round of the scoring and send Chadlington two points clear.

Stonesfield Reserves find themselves just three points off top spot following a hard earned victory over FC Ascott Rangers. Arron Williams scored for Rangers as they pursued a third league win of the season but Stonesfield went one better thanks to goals from Jamie Gardner and Charlie Auger to send them level on points with third placed Milton.

Brize Norton Reserves remain undefeated since January following their victory over fellow mid table side, Bampton United Reserves. They jumped two league places, including overtaking their opponents in the table, thanks to the 2-0 victory. Darren Light and Chris Greenaway hitting the net to secure the three points.

Where next?

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