Witney & District Match Reports - Week 17

By john smyth

By David Evans

Five star Hooky start New Year with a bang!
Premier Division
Jay Mair’s incredible goal-scoring form saw no ill effects from the Christmas break as he
scored all five goals in Hook Norton’s 5-1 victory over Spartan Rangers. In fact it was the
second consecutive game that the Hooky front man had scored five, repeating his amazing
goal scoring feat from Hook Norton’s last game before Christmas, a 7-0 rout of Milton. Frank
Clarke pulled a goal back for Spartan but had no impact on the overall result as Hooky
marched to their fourth league win of the season.
Stonesfield beat Hanborough to move within three points of the league leaders. As the first
whistle sounded the rain began to fall and the already soft ground began to churn easily,
making passing football difficult to achieve. Hanborough had the better of the early
exchanges but never tested Lewis Kemp in the Stonesfield goal. Slowly Stonesfield grew
stronger with Carry and Raffy Rice a constant threat. One smart shot from Carry drew a fine
save from Tom Bennington in the Boro net but he could do nothing to prevent Stonesfield’s
opener, as Carry came back inside on the right wing and with his weaker left foot curled a
beautiful shot into the far corner, Bennington rooted to the spot. It didn’t take long before the
scores were level. Stonesfield mistakenly backing off Jack Morton 25 yards out, he was
afforded the space to power home a glorious strike, over the keeper’s head and into the
middle of the goal.
It was level at half-time and Hanborough started the second half stronger. Morton was
unable to repeat his 25 yard strike with the next effort going high and wide, Carl Austin had a
difficult header which was put wide from a corner and ultimately Kemp was never tested.
Stonesfield’s pace up front was hurting at every opportunity and Bennington made two fine
saves to keep the scores level but from one of the many corners earned the ball broke to
Jordan Newman who fired the ball home to regain the lead. And just three minutes later they
were two in front. Carry Rice, once again breaking down the right, fired the ball in first time
and John Umney was on there to slide in and poke the ball home for 3-1. Bennington was
never tested as Hanborough enjoyed more possession and territory but could do nothing to
trouble the Stonesfield net and slumped to their third defeat of the season.
Nathan Bott scored the only goal of the game as Enstone defeated Milton to move within two
points of Hanborough as well.
Carterton FC Rangers returned to winning ways with a comfortable 3-0 win over Charlbury
Town. In what was their first league win since November, Rangers secured all three points
with goals from Liam Day, Ryan Clish and Kev Davies.
Division One
The top three sides in Division One all won as the chase for the title begins to heat up.
Third place Witney Royals did wonders for their goal difference with a thumping 8-1 victory
over Chadlington. Corey Donohue scored four to put Royals well on the way to victory. Kyle
Grimmett also got in on the goal scoring action, netting a hat-trick of his own. Although Matt
Chadwick scored one for Chadlington, Luke Rippington popped one more in for Royals to
complete the scoring.
Second placed Minster Lovell recorded just their second away win of the season with a hardfought 2-0 win against Wootton. Alex Stubbs and Chris Hirons scoring the goals that keep
Minster just two points behind Freeland.
Freeland also battled hard for their own 2-0 win in their visit to Kingham. The home side kept
the league leaders honest and went in at half-time level. The second half continued to be a
tightly contested affair but Rob Keylock managed to break the deadlock and the points were
secured when Jason Lonsdale scored a penalty to keep Freeland clear at the top.
Division Two
Similar story in Division Two as the top sides all coasted to victory.
In the battle near the top, third placed Carterton hosted fourth placed Ducklington to see who
could maintain their assault on the top two league placings. Ducklington went ahead through
Charlie Fisher only for Adam Fisher to equalise for Carterton but after that it was one-way
traffic. Charlie Fisher scored two more to complete his hat-trick before half time and further
goals followed during the ninety minutes from Harvey Butler, Jasper Winder, Lewis Bartlett
and Dan Stanley. Joe Langdon scored a second for Carterton but Ducklington won 7-2 to
leapfrog their opponents into third place.
Fratellos still have their destiny in their own hands after a thumping 12-0 win over Spartan
Rangers Reserves. The headlines go to Ashley Edenborough who scored a hat-trick on his
debut for the club, even if goal machine Levi Cox did go one better by scoring four. Nick
Stanley bagged a brace and there was still time for goals from Steve Davies, Dave Gee and
Jason Gunnett as Fratellos reclaimed the best goal difference in the league title and
remained four points behind RAF Brize Norton but with three crucial games in hand.
Dave Wanless scored twice as he helped RAF Brize Norton to a 4-0 win over Siege FC.
Scott Bamford and Jamie Williams both scored once to complete the win and keep Brize four
points clear. All eyes will be on Division Two next week as Brize host Fratellos in their first
league meeting of the season.
Cassington Rangers received a walkover victory against Bourton Rovers
Division Three
Faringdon Town A are back on top of Division Three with a 5-1 win over Eynsham SSC. The
Harrington brothers, Derran and Robbie both scored with Derran getting one and Robbie
scoring twice. Ben Oates pulled one back for Eynsham but Mitch Eddolls and Adam Finney
both scored once to give Faringdon the three points and the four goal margin of victory
giving them a superior goal difference to Hailey A which sent them top.
Leafield are back up to third after a 5-2 win over FC Mills. Carols Peiva and John Frederick
scored for Mills but they were undone by Markus Carvalho’s hat-trick for Leafield. James
Wade and Guilherne Silva scored further goals for Leafield and the three points sent them
back above Brize Reserves in the table.
Milton Reserves put some daylight between themselves and the bottom three with a 4-1 win
over Chadlington Reserves. Doubles for James Simpson and Jason Hester put Milton on the
road to victory. Mauro Esteves’ goal nothing more than a consolation for the visiting
Chadlington.
Divison Four
Sherborne Harriers returned to winning ways in style with a resounding 8-2 win over Spartan
Rangers A. Without a win, in the league, since the 6th November, Harriers went goal crazy
on Saturday afternoon to reignite their outside chances of promotion. Andy Barnes scored
four, including two penalties to get Sherborne marching to victory. Ross Milroy and Lee Saif
also scored two each as Sherborne returned to a positive goal difference in the table. James
Macke and Will Watts scored Spartan’s goals in their thirteenth defeat of the season.
Hatherop also scored eight as they burst eight points clear at the top of the table, in the
absence of a fixture for second placed Freeland Reserves. Ollie Nolan scored a hat-trick for
defeated Witney Royals but he was matched in the hat-trick department by Craig Whitbread
for victorious Hatherop. Alex Griffith, David Legg, Mani Rawanawa and Jake Denness
scored further goals for Hatherop and Royals’ difficult afternoon was complete when they put
the ball in their own net in the 8-3 reverse.
Dan Squires scored the only goal of the game to give Leafield Reserves a 1-0 win over
Stonesfield Reserves.
Faringdon Town B are up to third after a walkover victory against Kingham Reserves

Where next?

Witney & District Match Reports - Week 18 Saturday 15th January 2022 Written by David Evans

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