Witney & District Reports - Week 18

By john smyth

By David Evans

Fred Ford Cup
Three quarters of the Fred Ford Cup semi-final line up is now complete following the completion of two further quarter finals this weekend.
Following Witney Royals upsetting Charlbury in last week’s only quarter final, division one’s Chadlington were more than happy to follow suit in turning over premier division Tower Hill. Jesse Lawrence did find the net for Tower only for Matt Chadwick to reply for Chadlington. It was left to Jordan Godfrey to find the winning goal for Chadlington, making them the second division one team in the hat for the semi-final draw.
In another premier division versus division one battle Stonesfield were able to comfortably see off Bampton United in a 4-0 win. Raffy Rice helped himself to a brace as the premier division high flyers progressed. Team mates Jack Barker and Mike Phipps helped push Stonesfield to victory after finding the net once each.
There will be two division one sides and two premier division sides in the final four. Hailey and Carterton Town A face off in the remaining tie which is yet to be played.

Premier Division
Donny Henderson-Sowerby cheekily found a way to finally end Carterton FC’s 100% record for this season as he scored the only goal of the game for Spartan Rangers. In a tight first half both sides worked hard to score but couldn’t find the net. The second half followed the same suit until Spartan were awarded a free kick just outside the box. Henderson-Sowerby stepped up and struck the ball along the ground just as the wall split and the ball found its way into the bottom corner to give Spartan the advantage. Carterton looked for a way back into the game spending prolonged periods in the Spartan half but to no avail and Spartan recorded consecutive victories in the league.
In a day for free kicks to make the headlines, Mark Fitzgerald scored a last minute wonder strike to rescue a point for Charlbury Town in their match against Minster Lovell. Michael Hayes had scored a double for Charlbury but had been cancelled out by Sam Wright’s double for Minster. Dean Woolgar scored a third for Minster which looked as though it had given Minster all three points before Fitzgerald stepped up and curled an unstoppable shot into the top corner for 3-3 and a point apiece.

Watts Junior Cup
The Watts Junior Cup first round started this weekend with each of the rounds fixtures to be played over two legs.
Enstone ensured that they should have a fairly comfortable return leg against Witney Royals as they strolled to a 4-0 home win. Nathan, Connor and Dan Bott all scored once each to give Enstone all the momentum they needed. Josh Hunt added a fourth leaving Royals with a mountain to climb in next week’s second leg.
In much tighter circumstances Middle Barton and Eynsham SSC played out an epic 7 goal thriller. Stephen Chappel fired home from 12 yards out after Eynsham were awarded a penalty, Ben Kinchin also scored and John Ayres fired home a double for visiting Eynsham. But the hosts made a fight of it and hit back through Tony Beckham, Lee Haynes and John Umney.

Division Two
Hook Norton kept a firm grip at the top of Division Two with victory over Ducklington. However, it was nowhere near plain sailing for the league leaders after finding themselves behind three times in the contest before eventually marching on to victory. Sam Duthie’s brace and George Townsend had put Ducklington ahead three times but were pegged back by a double from Ryan Hall and a goal from James Ingham. Sam Prickett and Joe Shipley found the net once each to eventually give Hook Norton the victory in the 5-3 win.
Hook Norton’s lead at the top is back to five points after former bottom side Siege FC stunned second place Carterton FC. Carterton, who ended Hook Norton’s unbeaten run last week, would have hoped to have kept the pressure but slipped to a 2-0 defeat. Chris Jones and Jake Godfrey both scored once each in the win. The win moving them off the bottom and up two places in the league.
Wootton Sports continued their rich vein of form after firing their January goal total to 14 after beating Carterton Town B 3-1. Peter Okerke scored for Carterton Town B but Wootton marched onto victory thanks to Michael Steers, Karl Ware, and Lee Spencer. The three points firing them into fifth place in the league with their games in hand enabling them still to catch the top two.

Division Three
It was the battle of the top two in division three as Bletchington hosted Aston and Bletchington continued their march to the title with a 3-0 win. It means its nine wins from nine and a healthy nine point lead at the top of division three as well. Regular goal scorers Michael Trafford and Richie Wells both scored one each and Jamie Hudson added a third to secure the win.
Witney Royals Reserves have finally ended their long wait for their first win of the season after beating Chipping Norton Town 5-2. Rob DeBanks, Ben Hoare and Joe Dallimore all scored once for Royals. Ollie Nolan pitched in with two more to cement their first three points of the season. George Knight and Michael Roberts hit the consolatory efforts for Chipping Norton Town.
Wootton Sports Reserves have continued their unbeaten January form as they romped past FC Mills. Aaron Bowerman scored a hat-trick to set Wootton in charge of the contest, James Minchin added the fourth in the 4-0 victory which saw Wootton climb three league places to third, including leapfrogging their scoreless opponents.

Supplementary Cup
Moh Semlali must wish he could play Brize Reserves every week after scoring his second hat-trick in two weeks as Hailey A safely negotiated their way into the second round of the Supplementary Cup. Hailey A, who were already leading 4-0 on aggregate following last week’s first leg victory, didn’t have things all their own way as Richard Duffy and Jason Hirschfield scored to drag Brize into the tie. But further goals from Kieran King and Owen Partridge gave Hailey a extended their advantage once again and they finished 9-2 winners on aggregate.
In the two first round, first leg fixtures to take place East Oxford Rangers have one foot in the second round following an 8-0 thrashing of Sherborne Harriers. Kieran Clarke and Nathan Prestidge both scored doubles to give Rangers all the momentum they needed. They were ably backed up by further goals from Shaun Rowbotham, Josh Clarke, Lewis Smith and Ben Kibble. Sherborne will need to be on top form to overturn their defecit in next week’s second leg.
Things are much closer between FC Ascott Rangers and Spartan Rangers A after they couldn’t be separated in the first 90 minutes. The first leg finished 1-1 after Dan Jeffrey cancelled out John McGeagh’s strike. Spartan will host the second leg next week to decide who will join Hailey A, and a host of other sides, in the second round.

Division Four
Milton Reserves are now only behind East Oxford Rangers on goal difference as they continued their 100% league record in a 6-0 demolition of Bampton United Reserves. It could have been more had it not been for six blocks inside his own area by Bampton captain Danny O’Shea but Milton’s persistence could not be quelled and goals from Max Sauvagnargues, Pip Benfield, John Edwards and a Martin Kraus brace kept Milton’s unbeaten season on track. A Bampton United own goal compounded their misery despite their valiant efforts.

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