Farnborough - Away

The City Youth team are at Ardley on Sunday, 29 April in the Joe Roughton U18 County Cup Final against Witney Utd, KO 2.00pm. Please go along and support them if you can!

They are also at home at Court Place Farm Stadium in the league v North Greenford on Monday, 30th April and again on Wednesday, 2nd May v Chalfont St Peter. The team now lie 3rd in the Premier Division after being promoted last season and with 3 remaining matches to play.

Hugh's report from last night:

Allied Counties Youth League Premier Division Wednesday 25th April 2007

Farnborough Town (1)1
Oxford City (0)1 (L Williams 56)

Oxford City took a creditable point at Farnborough in a game which they could have won after a slow start.

Farnborough have an excellent home record, having inflicted leaders Hayes’s only defeat at Cherrywood Road in January. Recent events at Farnborough meant that half their Youth team had featured for their first team the night before; City were also without several regulars due to injury, unavailability and first-team calls. In particular, captain Kieron Lewis was called upon to marshal an experimental and inexperienced back three.

The game started slowly on a rock-hard pitch and the fatigue of many of the participants was easy to see. City were struggling to impose themselves on the game and Town were dominant without really threatening.

Town started to look more dangerous and Doran Solomon made two excellent saves before he was beaten by a header at close range from a Hayes corner in the 41st minute, sustaining an injury in the process which led to his replacement by Alex Williams during a protracted period of stoppage time.

The first ten minutes of the second half followed the same pattern, but City switched to 4-4-2 and the whole complexion of the game changed. Lance Williams equalized with a fierce shot which beat the keeper at his near post, and City started to control the midfield. Williams, Ben Hepburn and Jetmir Kamberi were much more prominent than in the first period, and a typically inventive performance from Mark Bell in a 20-minute cameo appearance also caused problems for the Borough defence.

Kamberi, Bell and Jack Griffiths all came close to snatching a winner as an under-pressure Farnborough side had seven players booked, six of them for dissent. In the last minute, man-of-the-match Kieron Lewis, superb throughout yet again, looked to have won the game with a majestic header from the latest in a series of corners, only to see the goal ruled out by the linesman for a mysterious infringement.

A draw was perhaps a fair result but City could easily have snatched this match. As it is, Town’s dropped points mean that Hayes retain their championship. City once again showed great resilience and invention after going behind to an accomplished side.

Team: Doran Solomon (sub Alex Williams 45) – Lawrence El-Kassir, Kieron Lewis (capt), Lewis Colwell – Lance Williams, Corey Forbes, Jamie Coleman, Jetmir Kamberi, Ben Hepburn – Ajay Lloyd (sub Mark Bell 67), Jack Griffiths. Unused sub: Russell Colwell.

Wealdstone - Home

ALLIED COUNTIES YOUTH LEAGUE
PREMIER DIVISION
Wednesday 18 April 2007

Oxford City (2)3 (Griffiths 35, Hepburn 53, Kamberi 73)
Wealdstone (1)2

City’s youth side continued their winning run in a game whose scoreline failed to reflect the overall run of play.

Wealdstone, although bottom of the table, had managed to inflict one of City’s two league defeats this season. The City team were without several players, including Stephen Davis and Mark Bell; more than half of the team had also played Southern League or Hellenic football for City or Nomads 24 hours previously. It looked even more ominous for City when Wealdstone went a goal up in the third minute when a bad bounce on the dry pitch defeated Doran Solomon.

However, City showed great character and laid siege to the Wealdstone goal for the remainder of the half, with Corey Forbes, Kieron Lewis and Jetmir Kamberi going close before Jack Griffiths scored his now customary goal in the 35th minute, flicking home deftly after good work by Lance Williams and Mark Janes.

City continued to press and could well have had a penalty when Corey Forbes appeared to be fouled inside the area.

The second half continued in similar vein and City went ahead when Ben Hepburn, who showed great skill throughout, drilled home a weak clearance from 14 yards.

City were playing some lovely one-touch football and gained their reward when Jetmir Kamberi scored a textbook header from a Ben Hepburn corner.

Wealdstone pulled a goal back late on from a debatable penalty, but in truth there was more than one goal separating these teams. Praise must go in particular to Kieron Lewis and Joel Meade who have been outstanding at the back all season, to Jamie Coleman, who never shirked a challenge, and to Jack Griffiths and Corey Forbes up front, whose tireless running and hard work never gave Wealdstone a moment’s peace.

The recovery from an early setback, by a side who could have been forgiven for pleading fatigue and simply going through the motions, is testament to the character of the whole team and their management.

Team: Doran Solomon – Mark Janes, Joel Meade, Kieron Lewis (capt), Lewis Colwell – Lance Williams, Jamie Coleman, Jetmir Kamberi, Ben Hepburn – Jack Griffiths, Corey Forbes.

Subs (unused): Lawrence El-Kassir, Ajay Lloyd, Alex Williams, Russell Colwell.

North Greenford-Away

Allied Counties Youth League
Premier Division

Wednesday 11th April 2007

North Greenford United (0) 1
Oxford City (0) 3 (Griffiths 55, Bell 58, 90)

City kept their winning run going when they came from a goal behind to beat North Greenford.
The first half was goalless and largely uneventful on a difficult surface. The pitch, while well-kept and tidy like the rest of the ground, was extremely dry like most other pitches at present, and both teams were occasionally defeated by the bounce. Both teams were passing the ball well but failed to give either keeper any real problems.
City, fielding a makeshift defence in the absence of the commanding Joel Meade, were caught out just after the break when a long free-kick found North Greenford’s lively centre forward in space and he slotted the ball past Alex Williams to put the home side one up.
This seemed to act as a wake-up call to City, who completely dominated the next half hour. Griffiths and Bell saw shots saved before a Lance Williams through ball found Jack Griffiths, who calmly lobbed the advancing keeper.
Three minutes later Mark Bell put City in the lead when he fired home from close range after an excellent Griffiths run and cross. Bell, Griffiths and Corey Forbes then all went close with Griffiths particularly unlucky when his snap shot rebounded off the post straight into the keeper’s arms.
An accidental collision between the home keeper and City’s Jetmir Kamberi saw the goalkeeper leave the field missing his two front teeth. The North Greenford manager was eventually sent from the bench amid considerable confusion.
Deep into injury time Mark Bell completed the scoring with a shot from twelve yards after he cleverly made space for himself in typical fashion.
City only displayed their best form in patches but still did enough to deservedly win the game. North Greenford were a quick and skilful side who certainly contributed to a generally entertaining game.

City Team: Alex Williams, Mark Janes, Simon Reeves, Kieron Lewis (Capt), Lewis Colwell (sub Jamie Coleman 88), Lance Williams, Jetmir Kamberi, Mark Bell, Ben Hepburn, Corey Forbes (sub Lawrence El-Kassir 90), Jack Griffiths.

Chalfont-Away

ALLIED COUNTIES YOUTH LEAGUE
PREMIER DIVISION
Wednesday 4 April 2007

Chalfont St Peter (0)0
Oxford City (1)5 (Griffiths 33, Bell 49, 83,90, Janes 81)

City recorded their second win of the week with a convincing victory at Chalfont St Peter.

City again started the game slowly and could have been behind in the first half-hour as Chalfont created several chances, striking the bar on one occasion. However, as City began to adjust to a surface which had become hard and bumpy owing to recent weather, they began to dominate the match.

Jack Griffiths once again opened the scoring with a strong run from halfway and a well-placed finish past the advancing keeper.

City created several chances in the remainder of the half, but had until wait to just after the break to increase their lead thanks to a well-placed Mark Bell header from a Stephen Davis free-kick.

City started to produce some fluent attacking moves, and Jetmir Kamberi and Mark Janes, both rested at the start owing to the recent heavy programme of matches, provided further impetus. Indeed, Janes’s first touch produced the third goal as he showed great technique to collect and fire home a Kamberi pass.

Janes, Davis, Griffiths and first-half substitute Corey Forbes made up a potent, all-action attacking quartet who never gave the Chalfont defence a second’s peace as the game wore on, while Joel Meade and Kieron Lewis were their usual commanding selves on the rare occasions they were called into action.

City could have scored several more goals – Davis was particularly unlucky to hit a post with the keeper stranded – but it was Bell, once again impressive, who completed his hat-trick with two excellent left foot strikes.

This was another praiseworthy performance from a side who in some cases were playing their third game this week. Some of their football was as good as has been seen from a City side in a long time.

Team: Russell Colwell – Simon Reeves, Joel Meade, Kieron Lewis (capt), Lewis Colwell – Lance Williams (sub Mark Janes 79), Lawrence El-Kassir (sub Jetmir Kamberi 68), Mark Bell, Stephen Davis – Jack Griffiths, Ben Hepburn (sub Corey Forbes 40).

Unused subs: Alex Williams

Northwood-Home

ALLIED COUNTIES YOUTH LEAGUE
PREMIER DIVISION
Wednesday 28 March 2007

Oxford City (2)3 (Williams 40, Kamberi 42, Griffiths)
Northwood (0)1

City’s under 18s picked up three points in their first home game in several months. Recent results have meant that City’s outside title chance has disappeared, but this was an important victory which helped them consolidate in the top half of the table.

Thatcham were on top in the first twenty minutes, with Mark Janes clearing a header off the line. City began to come back to into the game but struggled to find the killer final ball. In the 32nd minute, an almighty scramble saw Mark Bell head against the bar, Ben Hepburn have a shot well saved and Lance Williams fire just over within a matter of seconds.

City took the lead in the 40th minute. Great work by Simon Reeves, Lewis Colwell and Ben Hepburn created a chance which Thatcham failed to clear and Lance Williams was on hand to tap home from 3 yards.

Two minutes later City had increased their lead. Jetmir Kamberi could stage his own ‘goal of the season’ competition, but this was outstanding even by his standards, as he picked the ball up in midfield, ghosted past three players, drew the goalkeeper and slotted the ball inside the far post.

Thatcham pulled a goal back in the 49th minute from a well-struck 20-yard free kick. This heralded a period of Thatcham pressure as City struggled to regain their shape. However, the introduction of the rested Stephen Davis in the last ten minutes provided fresh impetus, and Jack Griffiths, who contributed his usual 100% effort as substitute, first beat the offside trap, then was on hand to bundle home a Mark Bell cut-back.

City failed to produce their best form consistently in a game which was rarely allowed to flow, but were well worth their victory over the 90 minutes. The next league game in their crowded end-of-season programme is at home to Harefield next Monday (2nd April).

Team: Doran Solomon – Mark Janes, Kieron Lewis (capt), Joel Meade, Jamie Coleman – Simon Reeves (sub Jack Griffiths 57 min), Mark Bell, Jetmir Kamberi, Lewis Colwell (sub Steven Davis 80 min) – Ben Hepburn (sub Corey Forbes 88 min), Lance Williams.

Chesham-Away

The Youth Team earned a valuable point away to Chesham last night.

With some of the squad being asked to play their 3rd game in 3 day's it was a case of seeing who could stand let alone run & play football.

Chesham took the lead & we looked tired & jaded. For us on the bench we were wondering if this was 1 game to many. With encouragement from the bench we picked ourselves up & scored a great equaliser from Jetmir Kamberi who after chasing the ball down over 40 yards showed great skill & compsure to round the goalie & slot the ball home.

After this we took control of the game & the 2nd half saw some great football from us. The back 4 were always in command, the midfield hussled & were 1st to most things, the wide players beating their markers & getting crosses in & the forwards always willing to chase every through ball. The only thing missing was the winning goal from our numerous chances.

All of the squad showed great energy levels & to play with the skill & purpose shown takes great commitment & concentration.

Well done to all.

Duncan Colwell.