Weekly News Report

North Berks Football League Roundup

21^st November 2009

(Phil Annets)

In Division One Saxton Rovers were pushed all the way at Lambourn Sports before winning 5-3 and maintaining their perfect start to the season. Paul Churchouse with two, Danny Parry, Ben Sutton with a 30 yard drive, and Matt Shelton all scored for Saxton, whilst Ben Matthews, Matthew Pedder and Chris Prior hit three second half goals for Lambourn. AFC Wallingford failed to maintain their 100% record throwing away a two goal lead at Wootton and Dry Sandford, contributed to by Courtney Amos being sent off early in the second half. Craig Duncan and Ben Gladwin had put Wallingford two up before Richard Chilvers with a penalty and Tom Cooke with a long range drive levelled it for Wootton, who deserved to go on to win the match.

In Division Two Long Wittenham Athletic move to the top of the table on goal difference following a 3-3 draw at Marcham for whom Wes Coster scored twice and Lewis Hill netted the other. Saxton Rovers Reserves won a seven goal thriller 4-3 at home to Lambourn Sports Reserves with Craig O’Connor and Derek Palfrey both grabbing two goals apiece. Ollie Deehan, Jason Whaley and Steve Crame all registered for the away side.

In Division Three Sutton Courtenay and Benson AFC Reserves shared the points in a match that ended four goals apiece. Zach Gallagher and Alijando Rodriguez both scored twice for Benson whilst Dan Cox with two, Tom Francis and Karl Crockford netted for Sutton. Benson Lions ran out 2-1 winners at Shrivenham ‘A’ thanks to goals from Dave Arscott and Liam Wilkinson. Nigel Hume scored for the home side.

Stanford-in-the-Vale extended their lead at the top of Division Four with another comprehensive victory this time beating Grove Rangers Reserves 6-0 with two goals each from Jamie Hopgood and Jason Evans, and one each from Steve Holder and Adam Clay. Hagbourne United and Didcot Casuals Reserves shared the points in another eight goal thriller. Luke Ambler and Nick Guiry netted braces for Hagbourne, whilst Jamie Dutton bagged a hat-trick along with a goal from Luke Hammond for Didcot. A Peter Soane hat-trick contributed to Faringdon ‘A’ winning 6-3 at home to Uffington United. Brian Ferris, John Lovegrove and Matt Curtis also scored for the home side.

A Dan Paintin hat-trick gave Bampton Town Reserves a 3-1 win at Uffington United Reserves to go three points clear at the top of Division Five. Chris Pentecost replied for the hosts. Long Wittenham Athletic Reserves and Stanford-in-the-Vale Reserves shared the points in yet another eight goal score draw. Oliver Saunders hit a hat-trick along with a goal from Chris Bowler for Long Wittenham whilst Jamie Gregory scored two of the goals for Stanford. Kurtis Hart scored for Challow United Reserves in their 1-1 draw at home to Sutton Courtenay Reserves for whom Dave Otero scored.

In the first round of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup NBFL Division One side Warborough and Shillingford defied their league form to go within two minutes of defeating Hellenic League Division One East side Chinnor, only to end up losing 4-2 after extra time. Dave Cox and Darren Smee scored the goals that almost saw Warborough through.

Another mixed bag of results for NBFL sides in the second round of the Berks and Bucks Junior Cup. Division Three’s Harwell Village Reserves defeated East Berkshire League Division Three Side Stoke Road Legion 9-8 on penalties after the match ended 3-3 after extra time. Des Healy, Neal Smith and Eddie Yarker all scored for Harwell. Division Two’s Botley United ran out convincing 3-0 winners at Andover and District League side Inkpen thanks to two goals from Chris Potter and one from Andy Potter. Alex Bird netted twice as Division Two’s Steventon narrowly won 2-1 at Division Three Faringdon Town Reserves for whom Mike Marsh scored.

Division Two’s Grove Rangers lost 4-0 at home to Turnpike Sports from Reading League Division Two, Fourth Division Appleton Stars went down 5-2 away to Reading League Division Three side The Hop Leaf, and Third Division Drayton Reserves lost 3-0 away to Reading League Premier Westwood United Reserves. East Hendred’s match at Reading League Division one’s league leaders South Reading was abandoned after 15 minutes following an incident between the referee and a South Reading player.

In the North Berks Cup second round all three matches ended as expected. First Division Didcot Casuals, though, just scraped through 1-0 at home to Third Division Hanney United thanks to a Neil Davies Strike. First Division Crowmarsh Gifford overcame a spirited performance by Second Division Childrey United 6-2. Paul Hannigan with two and goals from Phil Hedges, Liam Correll, Liam Strudwick and Andy Allum saw the higher league side progress. In the all Second Division match Benson AFC beat bottom of the table Coleshill United 3-1 thanks to a James Oliver free kick, a great goal from Nick Skiller and a long-range effort from Adam Hodson. Chris Dixon replied for the visitors.

In the North Berks League Cup third round Division Five side Didcot Casuals ‘A’ had a resounding 6-0 win over Division Four side Marcham Reserves with two goals from Ben Chaffey and one each from Lewis Monaghan, Dan Hartnett, Luke Ridley and Derek Davies. Fellow Division Five side Steventon Reserves lost 6-3 at home to Division Four side East Hendred Reserves. Darren Pettifer scored twice for Steventon along with Richard King, whilst Tyrone McGill hit a hat-trick for the visitors along with a brace for Pat Rush and a goal for James Hicks.

Detailed Reports x 2

Berks & Bucks Junior Cup 2^nd Round (21^st November, 2009)

Grove Rangers 0 Turnpike Sports 4

(Phil Annets, NBFL Media Relations Officer)

Grave Grove Go Out

Grove Rangers went out of the Berks & Bucks Junior Cup with a whimper as they lost with ease to an eminently beatable Reading League Division Two side, Turnpike Sports.

Turnpike Sports took the lead in only the second minute when a low hit corner caught the Grove defence napping and eluded everyone in the box before Chris Maja looped the ball into the net from close range. Grove had their chances to equalise, not least through Alex Lynch who saw a succession of chances miss the target. On the half hour mark Grove were two down when the defence failed to stop Turnpike’s Mark Davies from carrying the ball all the way to the six yard area, allowing him to shoot past Callum Rowe in the Grove goal.

The closest Grove came to scoring was in the 55^th minute when Jon Wells’ goal bound header was cleared off the line by a Turnpike defender. Ten minutes later Callum Rowe made a fundamental error when he rushed wide out of his area to try to prevent a corner only to kick the ball straight into the path of Mark Davies who immediately claimed his second goal of the game. Another defensive error with just over 10 minutes remaining saw Turnpike’s Peter Jessett gifted the ball, and he calmly ran on to make it 4-0.

In the last minute of the match Maja was upended in the Grove penalty area, but his own spot kick was excellently saved by Callum Rowe diving well to his left. This save was the only bright spark for Grove on the day, but it was far too little, far too late.

North Berks Football League Division One (21^st November, 2009)

Wootton and Dry Sandford 2 AFC Wallingford 2

(Stuart Weir, NBFL Hon. Asst. (Minute) Secretary)

Wootton Peg Back Wallingford

AFC Wallingford lost their 100% league record as Wootton fought back to share the points in this entertaining North Berks League Division One match. The game really came to life when Wallingford scored two goals in as many minutes half way through the first half. First of all Craig Duncan headed home Tristan Lewis's free-kick and a minute later Ben Gladwin drove home from outside the box.

Wootton rallied after this setback and Richard Chilvers converted a penalty, awarded for handball, after half an hour to bring the home side back into the game.

Early in the second half Wallingford's Courtney Amos was sent off for a dangerous tackle. Wootton quickly made the most of the extra man dominating the rest of the game and equalising when Tommy Cooke's long shot slipped through the Wallingford keeper's dive. George Casserly and Tom Srawley both had shots blocked on the line as Wootton pressed for the winner, but Wallingford held on to claim a draw.