Thatcham - Away Part 2

Allied Counties League Premier Division Wednesday 13th December 2006

Thatcham Town (2) 2
Oxford City (3) 4 (Kamberi 5, Griffiths 18, 90, Bell 33)

Oxford City put their first league defeat behind them to get back to winning ways at a windswept Waterside Park in Thatcham. Playing into a strong wind in the first period, City were a goal up at half-time and held off Town in the second 45 minutes.

Thatcham were the only Allied Counties side other than City to reach the FA Youth Cup 1st Round proper; Town, in fact, went one better in reaching Round 2 before losing at Merthyr Tydfil. Town, like City, are a FA Charter Standard Community Club and have a well-run Youth set-up.

City went one up early on as the enigmatic Jetmir Kamberi produced one of his trademark sublime pieces of skill with a glorious curling shot from the edge of the area which left the keeper stranded. Thatcham equalized almost immediately through Maltby, although many believed there was a strong suspicion of handball in the build-up.

The gusting winds made good football difficult, and City’s carefully constructed moves often seemed to break down around the 18-yard line. However, with the returning Lance Williams providing width down the right-hand side, City became more dominant as the half progressed and scored two further goals. Both came after the Thatcham defence had failed to deal with searching Stephen Davis crosses; Jack Griffiths and Mark Bell provided two clinical finishes.

That should have killed the game off, but Thatcham were given a lifeline just before the break by a goal in a million by Piper, who beat his marker, flicked the ball back over the defender and volleyed home.

The second half saw both teams struggle against an even stronger wind. Town tried to take the game to City, but the defence, with Joel Meade outstanding, held firm.

With time running out, City had a great chance to make the game safe when Ben Hepburn combined with Griffiths to set up Davis, but his shot went over from close range. Davis, who was again outstanding, compensated for this miss in injury time by threading an inch-perfect pass through the defence for Griffiths to slot the ball past the advancing keeper. This was just reward for Griffiths’ irrepressible front-running performance.

This was another display of skill and teamwork by the Under 18s, and another excellent three points.

Team: Russell Colwell – Michael Betnay, Joel Meade, Kieron Lewis, Lewis Colwell – Lance Williams, Jetmir Kamberi, Mark Bell, Stephen Davis – Jack Griffiths, Ben Hepburn (capt).
Subs (used): Jason Evans, Lawrence El-Kassir, Simon Reeves; (unused) Jason Evans, Alex Williams.

Reporter: Hugh Simpson

Thatcham - Away

Thatcham Town 2 - OCFC 4

A good win on a very windy night.

The conditions didn't allow for free flowing football but credit to both sides for trying to play & keep the passing going.

We played some excellent football in the 1st half & having Lance Williams out on the right side gave us another attacking option. Getting the 3 goals in the 1st half against the wind was the real bonus & it was always going to be an uphill battle for Thatcham against the wind as long as we kept it tight at the back for the 2nd half.

Chances were far & few between in the 2nd period with the conditions taking it's toll & we wrapped it up with a few minutes to go.

I was very pleased with the way we approached the game & again the lad's kept to the game plan. The midfield battled for possesion & we always looked dangerous going forward. Jack Griffiths had his best game of the season for us & got his reward with 2 goals. The other goals coming from Jetmir Kamberi & Mark Bell.

Many thanks once again to all who helped with transport & the support we received.

Hugh will I am sure post a full report.

Duncan Colwell
Youth Team Manager.

Hayes - Home

OCFC 3 - Hayes 4

Another very entertaining game between 2 very good youth teams.

Mine & the players 1st reaction was one of dissapointment on not getting at least a point out of the game. I look to see the reaction of young players after losing and to say they were gutted can be looked upon as a understatement. This shows how much this team has blended & where not many gave us much of a chance in the Premier Division this season we have shown that we can compete with the best teams in this division.

I have said to the players if you finish above Hayes this season you would probably win the league. I still think this is the case.

I can't & will not question my players commitment, they tried to follow the game plan & at times we out played the league leaders. We lost the game on decision making & not shutting down quick enough in wide areas to stop crosses or letting players get a run on the full backs.

Giving the opposition, the amount of possesion & goal attempts we had says how hard we worked, & we also made their goal keeper pull of the save of the night with a finger tip push over.

We have 1 or 2 excellent players who I believe should at least be training at 1st team level, if we don't start this procedure we will once again lose these players to other teams where they will get there chance. If we take the time to develop these players & they work hard we should be looking to reward them with a chance.

It would be good to see some interest from the 1st team management or director of football in this youth team.

Hugh will fill in the scorers etc. with one of his excellent reports.

Many thanks to everyone who gave their support & the tea stall ladies for their help & excellent refreshments.

Duncan Colwell Youth Team Manager.

Northwood Match Reaction

Great report Hugh.

Hugh get's it spot on when he mention's about the 'excellent Stephen Davis'. Steve has set himself such high standards with his display's & very rarely put's in a bad performance.

I thought last night was a much better performance. We had to switch the side around a bit has centre back Kieron Lewis, who has been outstanding so far this season, was ill. His would be replacement was also unavailable so Lawrence El-Kassir was asked to play at the back for the 1st time. Ben Hepburn was only 75% fit but started & there were also 2 others who played that were only just getting over colds & illness.

I thought Lawrence played very well for his 1st game in defence, Mark Bell started to show some form & got his passing game going again, Jack Griffiths ran his socks off up front, but for me Joel Meade was a giant for us at the back. He never missed a header & was like a brick wall to get around.

All in all it was a good win against a competetive side. It was good to have a game like this with Hayes coming to visit us next week.

Well done to all the squad.

Duncan Colwell Youth Team Manager

Northwood-Home

ALLIED COUNTIES YOUTH LEAGUE
PREMIER DIVISION
Wednesday 29 November 2006

Oxford City (2)3 (Davis 7,79 Hepburn 43 )
Northwood (1)1

City’s Youth team continued their unbeaten league run with a win against Northwood in an entertaining game at Court Place Farm Stadium.

Cup commitments meant that this was only City’s fourth league game of the season and their first in two months. Exits from two competitions in the last fortnight meant that their confidence had taken a knock, but they showed great resilience to get back to winning ways without ever really firing on all cylinders.

City both began and ended the game well, and the match was bookended by two superb pieces of skill from the excellent Steven Davis. In the 7th minute he lobbed the keeper from an acute angle near the byline, and in the 79th minute he provided the game’s highlight when he made room for him self superbly inside the box through outstanding close control and curled an exquisite shot past Northwoood’s excellent keeper to make the game safe.

In between, City struggled at times, and for much of the first half were second best, with Northwood getting a deserved equaliser in the 36th minute. City were perhaps lucky to go ahead just before the break when Ben Hepburn scored from close range after Jack Griffiths had been denied by a great reflex save.

City were more assured in the second half, with Davis and Jetmir Kamberi always involved in wide positions, Jack Griffiths full of running up front and Mark Bell hitting some slide-rule passes. Northwood spurned a couple of decent chances late on to pull a goal back but Alex Williams was able to deal with any threat and City, growing in confidence as the game went on, never looked in danger of dropping points.

Team: Alex Williams – Michael Betnay, Joel Meade, Laurence El-Kassir, Lewis Colwell – Jetmir Kamberi (sub Doran Soloman 89 mins), Mark Bell, Jamie Coleman (sub Kassim Abdillahi 82 mins), Steven Davis – Ben Hepburn (capt) (sub Ajay Lloyd 75 mins), Jack Griffiths.