One Game Left..

With one game left to play it certainly has been a season of ups and downs.

There have definitely been a few setbacks and challenges – we have been unable to field a side on four different occasions (Wantage, Didcot Casuals, Didcot Town and Abingdon Youth) and although we managed to rearrange the first three fixtures, the latter was awarded as a walkover to Abingdon – the first time in 13 years that this has happened to us. Similarly we could only field nine players away at Abingdon in November and have had to cancel numerous training sessions for lack of numbers. Joe has been unavailable for all but one game this season, we lost George Warren and our captain Luke Kelly three games into the season, and Tom missed the opening five games with a knee injury. We also suffered a couple of disappointing cup defeats to Mansfield Road and to Stonesfield.

Despite all this, and irrespective of the result in our final game, we will finish the season in third place in the A League and have put in some excellent performances this season to beat Kidlington, Didcot Casuals and Oxford City – the latter especially satisfying. We were unlucky to draw both games with Wantage, where a combination of disallowed goals, missed penalties, the woodwork (5 times) and some outstanding goalkeeping stopped us claiming deserved victories. Away at Kidlington it took a goal deep into added time for them to snatch a draw. With a little more good fortune we would now be on 21 points rather than 15!

Charlie Fisher, Felix and Max have been ever present this season, and we welcomed JK back for a couple of games, while two new players joined – Kyle and Matteo (who will go into the record books as Charlbury’s player with the least minutes – managing 40 away at Wantage in his only appearance).

Fred leads the scoring charts with 9, second top in the league, with new captain Felix on six (plus another five assists).

So on Sunday, after three seasons of friendlies and ten seasons of league football, we play our 185th and final competitive match. Thanks to everyone who has been part of it – what a true and genuine pleasure it has been!

New Season

Following the postponement of our opening game against Wantage, and no fixture the second week, our rearranged fixtures for the season are:

26/9 Kidlington (H)
3/10 Oxford City (A)
10/10 Didcot Casuals (H)
17/10 Mansfield Road U17 (H, County Cup)
7/11 Abingdon Yth Green (A)
14/11 Wantage (A)
28/11 Kidlington (A)
5/12 Oxford City (H)
12/12 Didcot Casuals (A)
19/12 Didcot Town (H)
9/1/22 Abingdon Yth Green (H)
16/1 Didcot Town (A)
23./1 Wantage (H)

Back On Track…

After the deeply unpleasant experience of playing Abingdon, of which the less said the better, we got back to a decent game of football on Sunday with a good win over a determined Halse Utd side that never gave up throughout the 90 minutes.

Some excellent goals – particularly Felix’s first, two great strikes from Max Nicholls and Max Sulik, cool finish from Charlie M and Isaac’s run and persistence rewarded with a smart finish.

Watch Felix’s headed second and Max Sulik’s excellent goal below.

 

Pictures from the Wantage game

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Back Playing At Last

It was great to get back out on the pitch after so many months away, and play our first friendly of the new season.

It was a tough, tough game away at Wantage who had pipped us in two close matches just prior to the closing down of the season, and with just 13 available it was always going to be a stern test as they are one of the best footballing sides we have played.

So it proved, with Matthew Challis, Charlie Fisher, Isaac Harrington, and George Thomas all making their debuts, the first half was an excellent advert for youth football with Matt pulling off one outstanding diving save early on, while at the other end a lovely bit of skill from Fred saw him break away and strike a shot narrowly wide. Even stevens at half-time 0-0.

The second half saw five goals, but none better than the first as Isaac won the ball just inside the Wantage half, travelled forward and from fully 25 yards out unleashed a swerving, dipping drive into the top corner. Back came Wantage, levelling soon after with a well worked move down our right and a pull back expertly converted from close range. With the game going from end to end, we restored our lead from a corner where the keeper made an excellent save from Charlie Fisher’s header, but Wantage couldn’t clear and Archie Hawley steered a precise shot into the far bottom corner. Shortly after another fine save from a  one-on-one by Matt, a counter attack saw Joe get the better of his defender and break clear, and as he advanced down the right hand side of the penalty area struck a powerful shot with the outside of his boot just inside the near post.

Soon after Wantage pulled a goal back from the penalty spot, and then pressured hard for the last ten minutes creating some half-chances and a couple of scrambles, but we held firm to win by the odd goal in five.

An excellent performance in hot conditions and really good debuts for all the new players. In fact, some outstanding performances all across the park, but particular credit to our back-line of Charlie M, Charlie F, Sonny and Archie P, who together with Matt held firm against a very fine attacking side.

Charlbury Start at Home

We will start the new season with two home fixtures. The first versus Abingdon Utd (13th Sept) and then against Halse Utd (20th Sept) who are new to the Oxfordshire Youth League this season.

Full details of all the matches on the Fixtures page. Obviously subject to change….

New Season Details

We have been notified of the confirmed Divisions for next season, as well as start dates and formats.

The U17s will be split in to three divisions, with the A League having 8 teams, the B League having 11 and the C League 12 teams.

From last season Wantage were promoted to the A League (despite an identical record to ours) and Benson and Summertown relegated to the C League. Haddenham have stayed in the U16 age group (as they were playing a year up last season) and Cumnor have folded.

Banbury Utd, Caversham Colts and Ditcot Town White were promoted from the C League and East Oxford were relegated from the A League. Oxford City and Halse Utd are brand new teams joining straight into the B League.

While I think we could happily have held our own in the A League, the benefit of staying where we are is that we will have more games to play – fifteen instead of ten in the league, plus cup games – and I think that will be more enjoyable for everyone, especially with a big squad.

The full eleven teams are:

Abingdon Utd Yellows
Banbury Utd
Bure Park
Caversham Colts
Charlbury Town
Didcot Town Yth White
East Oxford Utd
Halse Utd
Oxford Blackbirds
Oxford City
Wallingford

The format will be the same as last season – all teams play each other once, and then the top six just play each other again, while the bottom five play each other and this is used to determine final league positions.

The season is due to start on Sunday September 13th with games on Sunday afternoons kicking off at 2pm.

I am hoping to arrange a couple of pre-season friendlies as usual.

Season Ends With A Whimper

Sadly after a long delay, and with the season poised to go down to the wire, the Oxford Mail Youth League have decided to declare the season null and void following the COVID-19 pandemic.

While this is a disappointment, it is not a surprise, and clearly there are currently bigger issues than grassroots football to worry about.

Since the last post the team suffered some agonising defeats losing a very tight cup game 2-1 to Wantage under the lights at Oxford City, then losing the league game away to the same team in the proverbial game of two halves. Archie Hawley, Fred and then Jamie had put us 3-0 up at halftime playing with the strong wind behind us and unfortunately we missed a penalty at the start of the second half before Wantage came back into the game scoring two good goals and a very dubious penalty, before sealing the win in the very last minute.

We followed that up with a fine performance away at Haddenham in atrocious conditions twice taking the league through Felix, the first a fine finish after fabulous work by Will Pulham and the second showing quick thinking to dispossess the keeper and slot home. Haddenham fought back each time to level and with a few minutes left, we were fortunate when they were awarded a penalty, which was blasted high over the bar.

At the time of the league suspension we were joint top with Wantage with identical records (7 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats) with games to come at home to Wallingford, Oxford Blackbirds and Wantage.

Despite the disappointing end to the season, it was a fabulous effort from all the team, playing some really good football and with an excellent attitude and discipline.

Postponements Frustrate Progress

Despite having scheduled fixtures for six weekends since the last post, we have only managed two games in that time. Summertown cancelled their game with us and then Headington twice before Christmas. We eventually played on the 5th January and in a match played in excellent spirits won 2-0 with an own goal in the first half and Archie Hawley sealing the victory with the last kick of the game. In between times we struck the post and bar six times and missed a penalty….

The following week we had our toughest test away at A League Bampton in the County Cup quarter final. On a cold morning and a bobbly pitch we spurned two good chances before Luke Kelly hit the bar from distance with a tremendous shot. Bampton then took the lead shortly afterwards with a fine strike from distance, and on the stroke of half time were fortunate to double the lead when a mishit cross drifted and curled over Ben and just inside the far post.

We had played exceptionally well despite the scoreline, and carried it on in the second half. We halved the arrears when Joe was fouled in the box and struck an excellent penalty low and hard into the corner. Throughout the half we continued to press for the equaliser, and also defended extremely well against some strong counter attacking with Ben and his defence keeping us in the game on three or four occasions, and then with just a couple of minutes left a fabulous run into the box from Felix saw him round the keeper and tuck the ball away from a tight angle to force extra time. Another twenty minutes couldn’t separate the teams although Bampton twice had goals (rightly) disallowed.

The lottery of penalties saw Ben twice make great saves to keep us in the game, and with the scores tied at 3-3 after five pens we went to sudden death. It took until the tenth penalty before Charlbury missed and Bampton scored to win the game and make the semi-finals.

The next week our game with Wantage was called off despite having travelled all the way there so we once again had a free Sunday…

Good Run Keeps Going

Charlbury’s good start to the season has continued with the team winning nine out of nine so far, in all competitions, which has been a fantastic effort from all the players.

After the win at Wallingford we travelled to play Cumnor on Oxford City’s 4G pitch and our first game of the season without Felix, but with Joe back after his ban from the tailend of the previous season had been served. Another fine team performance with goals from Archie Hawley, Charlie, Joe (2) and the pick of the bunch from Max saw a comfortable victory in the end although two late goals for Cumnor gave the 5-3 scoreline a slightly flattering look.

Our hardest game of the season so far followed with a very narrow 3-2 win over a very committed and physical Bure Park team who had been bolstered by a couple of late additions to their team before the game. A goal from Fred had put us on level terms at half-time, only to fall behind to a fabulous long distance strike midway into the second half. Thankfully Felix scored his first goal of his second spell from Joe’s corner to draw us level again and shortly after George scored his first of the season from another corner to give us a narrow win.

We were back on the road for a rainy day out in Abingdon where a really excellent team performance saw us come away 3-0 winners with fine goals from Felix, Archie H and Joe at one end and some outstanding defensive work at the other and then at Oxford Blackbirds where we took a 3-0 halftime lead with two opportunistic goals from Joe and an assured finish from George. Our levels dropped a little in a scrappy second half, but Oxford Blackbirds late goal was matched by an even later one from Will, with a fine touch and strike from outside the box.

An away trip to Banbury in the Cup saw us progress 4-2 on the day, marked by an excellent hat trick from Felix (the second a delightful finish from an equally delightful through ball from Max) and Luke Kelly’s first of the season. A couple of late scares and some excellent saves from Ben meant we made the draw for the second round where we will play Headington.

Another cup game, this time the County Cup, and another away game, albeit at near neighbours Chipping Norton saw a tense first half finish goalless despite Charlie, Joe and Archie Hawley all hitting the post. Matching them ten v ten meant some challenges with five subs, but two fine crosses from Will were expertly converted by Max and then Joe to put us on top early in the second half. With Luke Kelly, and then Luke Thompson controlling the midfield, we added further goals from George and then Will to run out 4-1 winners.

Most recently we were back on home turf for just the second meaningful time (following Launton’s withdrawal) to play Benson Utd in the league. A cagey start saw us comfortable without creating any clear cut chances, until a free kick from Charlie ricocheted in the penalty box and fell to Felix to drive home. Soon after Charlie’s cross deceived the keeper who, under pressure from Felix, was unable to keep the ball out of the net, and a third was added by Archie Hawley just before half-time when another corner wasn’t cleared and fell kindly to him on the edge of the six yard box. In the second half, Fred’s fabulous long shot from distance crashed against the bar before (again) bouncing around the penalty box until it was confidently hit home by George, who then added his second and our fifth with a fine run and finish from Luke’s pass. A late penalty to Benson was almost saved by Ben, who made two other outstanding stops in the game to give us a  sixth straight league win.