I was hoping to get to a new ground this midweek but, with games dropping like flies due to the weather, my options were getting smaller and smaller by the minute. I was left with a choice of Banbury United or Southam United as grounds that I could get to in time for kick-off. The Banbury v Chesham game was tempting but, in the end, I plumped for the Midland League Division One clash between Southam United and Littleton. I hadn't been to Banbury Road since October 2013 (http://www.botp.co.uk/blog/45-minutes-in-
chesham-and-a-visit-to-warwickshire), so I thought that a re-visit was well overdue.

Several things have changes since my last visit to Southam, not least the re-structuring of the leagues. The game I saw in 2013 was a Midland Combination Premier League clash between The Saints and Studley. Southam now ply their trade in what has become the Midland League Division One. No change in pyramid status, just a different name. The other main change to the club has been on the field. In 2013 they were a comfortable mid-table team but, following a mass exodus of players, the club began to struggle, finishing bottom of the table last season last year. Things have got even worse this term with the club sitting bottom once again without a win all season and a goal difference of -102 having only scored eight times in 21 matches.

Around the ground the only real change that I could see was that the rather quaint covered standing area on the car park side of the ground had been closed, leaving only about half of the ground open to spectators. The quite impressive main stand is still in use though and the clubhouse and tea bar still seems as friendly as I reported in my 2013 blog.

Visitors Littleton came into this game having lost their last three league games but still sitting in ninth spot and only 12 points adrift of third-placed Leicester Road.
It was a cold, misty and increasingly frosty evening as the teams took to the field. Southam in their yellow shirts and blue shorts, Littleton in all red with white socks.

The game got off to an explosive start. A superb jinking run from Littleton winger Sean Brain was ended abruptly and illegally in the Southam box. Penalty!. The winger got up, dusted himself down and smashed the ball high into the Southam net. One minute gone and already 0-1. Not the sort of start required by the home side.

The Saints may be bottom of the league but they certainly didn't respond to going a goal down like a beaten team. As far as I could see, no heads dropped and they gamely fought on. To be fair to Littleton, they rarely looked troubled by Southam but, after such a great start, they did find it more difficult to make an inroads themselves. There was no lack of effort in the challenge from the home side. Maybe sometimes a little too much effort as they gave away an number of free-kicks in what was becoming an increasingly tetchy game. Littleton did manage to break the home defence again in the 20th minute but, this time, Harry Gardiner in the Saints goal, made a good save.

Southam, whilst still not testing the Littleton keeper, were beginning to look slightly more threatening which makes what happened next even more galling for the home team and their long-suffering supporters. Another clash in midfield was followed by some pushing and shoving by both players involved. Unfortunately, it was the Southam player who was the more aggressive, raising his hands high to push his opponent. The referee, by the laws of the game, had little choice but to send the player off. So, 21 games without a win, 1-0 down at home and now reduced to 10 men. The signs were not good for Southam.

Once again though they showed signs of very good team spirit and continued to battle away but were undone five minutes after the red card. Once again it was Brain who went on a good run, this time down the right flank. He drew defenders to him and then squared for the on-rushing Dan Carter to apply a straight-forward finish from inside the 6-yard box. 0-2.
​
That was how it stayed until the end of the half. HT Southam United 0 Littleton 2.

​Following a brief delay for net repairs the second half got under way with Littleton kicking towards the club house and infamous (see previous blog) bowling green end.

As in the first half it was Littleton who had the lion's share of the ball. However, to the credit of Southam, it was very hard to tell that they were a player short. Yes, they were on the back foot for a lot of the time, yes, Littleton maybe should have scored, but the work-rate of the home side really couldn't be questioned in my opinion.

When the second-half breakthrough did happen it was a route one effort. A long ball over the the Southam defence allowed Carter to beat the offside trap. Although the Southam defence got back enough to slow his advance he was able to curl a beautiful effort from the right-side of the box, past the outstretched hand of Gardiner and into the far corner. It was a fine effort, well deserving of a goal. 0-3.

When, two minutes later, a right-wing cross initially miskicked by a Littleton player fell to Matt Fusco who fired high into the roof of the net to make it 0-4, it looked as if the floodgates may open for the last 20 minutes.

However, whether The Ton Boys took their foot off the gas or Southam turned up the determination levels, the expected goals did not come. Once again, Littleton made chances and probably should have had at least two more, but Southam defended resolutely to the final whistle.

FT Southam United 0 Littleton 4.
​
In all honesty a comfortable three points for Littleton, which moves them up to eighth spot. Southam remain rooted to the bottom, win-less and with just three points. As a neutral I would dearly love to see them get a win before the season is over. I was very impressed with their effort. There is no doubt, and their league statistics show this, that they lack the quality of other teams in the league but they do have an extraordinary team spirit for a team that is getting beaten quite heavily week in, week out. Good luck to them, I say.

Southam United - @southamunitedfc
Littleton - @thetonboys

​It really must just be a matter of time before Kidlington adopt me as their official club mascot. It is now six games unbeaten watching The Greens and a 100% record at Yarnton Road. This is made all the more remarkable if we consider the statistics of the two teams involved this Wednesday. The home side had lost their last three games and conceded 16 goals in the process. Their visitors, Royston Town, in contrast came into the game top of the league and on a run on thirteen consecutive league victories. Surely this had away win written all over it?
As my last visit to Kidlington was in November (http://www.botp.co.uk/blog/three-and-easy) there is no point going into detail about Yarnton Road. Suffice to say that nothing has changed in the last 2 months.
To be honest, the decision to visit Kidlington again so soon was swayed more by the fact that it was the league leaders coming to town than anything else. One of the account managers that I deal with in my day job lives in Royston and we have been threatening to visit Garden Walk together for a while without ever managing to synchronise our calendars. So, with them playing less than 10 miles from my house, it seemed rude not to go and take a look at them.
The last time I had seen The Crows play was way back in September 2013 in an away game at Aylesbury United, who were then playing at Leighton Town's ground. (http://www.botp.co.uk/blog/ducks-and-crows)

The game started quite scrappily with neither side really make much of an impression. However it was plain to see that despite recent for and league positions, Kidlington were not going to roll over for their lofty opponents.
After 15 minutes the game sprang to life a little with two good chances coming, one at either end, in the space of less than a minute. Both were squandered and the game remained 0-0.
Royston then had the best opportunity of the half so far. A free-kick was floated deep into the Kidlington box and when the home keeper could only palm it away the resulting effort from Orlando-Young was headed off the line by a Kidlington defender.

Then, just on the half-hour mark, it was Royston who broke the deadlock when Watkins picked the ball up in a central position some twenty yards out. His speculative shot somehow squirmed under Warrell in the home goal and into the net. 0-1 after 30 minutes.

Kidlington, who didn't really deserve to be behind, tried to hit back immediately when straight from the kick-off  Lewis Coyle tried to curl a shot into Welch's top right corner. The Crow's keeper pulled off a very good full length save to tip the ball around the post. However, when the corner was played into the box home defender Charlie Wise was first to react, poking the ball home at the near post. At least that was what I thought had happened. In fact the goal was eventually credited as an own goal for Spyros Mentis. 1-1, 32 minutes played.

Kidlington's tails were now up and they were looking the more likely team to score, which they thought they had done in the 40th minute. Odhiambo got his head to a left-wing cross, glancing the ball past Welch into the far corner. However, the assistant's flag was up immediately and the goal was chalked out for offside.
​
HT Kidlington 1 Royston Town 1. A good first half from the home side. Anyone who didn't know the teams would have had great difficulty picking out the league leaders.

​After a poor first half, Royston came out for the second half looking to up their game. They were on the front foot immediately and, four minutes into the half, they forced a corner which sparked an incredible passage of play, When the corner was put into the box it was met by Ryan Ingrey who saw his effort cannon back off the bar. It dropped to Orlando-Young who, in turn, saw his attempt smash against the post to be cleared up field. As the players turned to chase the long clearance Royston defender Gus Scott-Morriss went down off the ball in some obvious pain. The ball was put out, the physio called on and, almost immediately, a stretcher called for. The game was delayed for a good few minutes until Scott-Morriss was eventually carried off. I am pleased to say that, towards the end of the game, the player re-appeared, albeit on crutches, and that the injury was not as bad as it first 
seemed.

On a cold night, and after a fairly lengthy break, both sides took a little while to get back into their strides after the restart. When they did it was Kidlington who created the next real opportunity. Odhiambo trying his luck from well outside the box and seeing his shot fizz past Welch's right-hand post. Three minutes later, on 66 minutes, Royston really should have taken the lead when their captain, Mentis, put a free header over the bar from 6 yards out. It was a missed chance that they would soon regret even more.

With 17 minutes left on the clock and Royston pushing into the Greens half, Kidlington won the ball back amidst claims of a foul from the Royston players and bench. I had a good view of the incident and I will say that I thought it was a foul. However, the referee's opinion counts for more than mine or Steve Castle's and he deemed it a fair challenge. Kidlington broke free and fed the ball down the left for Tommy Castle to have a run at goal. He duly obliged, powering a cross-shot past the despairing hand of Welch and into the far corner. A contentious build up to the goal but a very accomplished finish. 2-1 to Kidlington.

It was a lead that the home side never really looked like losing from that point. In fact, Kidlington finished the stronger of the two sides and looking more likely to extend their lead than concede an equaliser.
FT Kidlington 2 Royston Town 1. A great, if slightly unexpected, result for Kidlington who were very much deserving of the three points on the night. Royston were clearly not at their best but nothing should be taken away from the home side's performance especially on the back of three defeats.

Royston remain top of the table and 5 points clear, Kidlington stay in 18th spot but are just 3 points adrift of Beaconsfield in 11th. My record watching Kidlington now stands at played 5, won 5, drawn 1.

Kidlington - @kidlington_fc
Royston Town - @roystontownfc

I just couldn't bring myself to write a full blog about how the gallant underdogs fell to a glorious defeat. In some ways it may have been an easier defeat to take if Stourbridge had lost 4-0 but to come so close.....ah well, there's always next season.
​
What I will say though is that the Stourbridge team, to a man, were brilliant today. They scared the living daylights out of a Wycombe side that is flying high in League Two and, until today, were full of confidence.

It was an absolute privilege to be in the crowd today. The assembled Glassboys and Glassgirls (with the exception of the clown with the flare, who I hope is made to pay any fine incurred by the club) were tremendous, urging the team on from the first minute to the last.

Here is the moment that we all thought the dream was going to live on for another day.

It was my first match of 2017 but, as if to finally say goodbye to the previous year, Unite MK and Olney Town banged in 16 (sixteen) goals between them on a crazy, cold night in Bletchley. In fact, so many goals went in during a mad second-half that, for the first time ever at a football match, I lost count of the score. It took a tweet to Olney Town the following morning to confirm that I had, indeed, 'missed' one of their goals.
It was the first time that I had been to see Unite MK (formerly Wolverton Town) but not my first visit to Manor Fields. My previous visit had, oddly enough, also been for a Buckingham Charity Cup match just as it was today. It was also a United Counties versus Spartan South Midlands clash, just as it was today. However, last time out it was an all Step 6 clash between Buckingham Town and Winslow United (http://www.botp.co.uk/blog/next-round-robins) whereas today it was a semi-final second-leg between Unite MK (Step 7) and Olney Town (Step 6). Olney held a 5-3 advantage from the first leg so, as a neutral, I was hoping for an early onslaught and goal from the home side to make it an interesting tie. As it happened though, that was not to be the case.
Manor Fields, part of the Bletchley Irish Centre complex, has not changed at all since my last visit, so there is little point in describing the ground. The sides were coming into this game in very much contrasting form. Unite, sitting 15th in the Spartan South Midlands Division Two, have not won since a 3-2 victory over Hale Leys in late November. Olney, meanwhile, despite losing the Boxing Day derby with Buckingham Town on this very ground, are currently third in the league with just 4 defeats all season.
Whilst hoping for and expecting Unite to start on the front foot, it was actually Olney who went for it from the first whistle. Clearly wanting to get this game settled early, they attacked from the first minute and caused some consternation in the Unite defence with their pace up front. Their Number 10 (sorry, no team sheet), in particular, was getting in behind the home backline on numerous occasions. On one such foray, 10 got clear and chased down a through ball which the Unite keeper just about managed to get to first. 10 threw himself to the floor in an outrageous attempt to win a penalty which, quite rightly, angered the Unite players. The referee, who I must say had a good game throughout, brandished the yellow card to the Olney forward.
The goal from Unite, which would have made the tie much more interesting, never really looked like it would happen. Then, with just under 15 minutes played, Olney got the opener. Initially what looked like a sure-fire goal was averted by a superb last-ditch tackle from Unite's number 5 but when the ball was played back into the middle it was tucked away by Nick Bines to make it 0-1 (3-6 on aggregate). Eight minutes later and the tie was effectively over. A deep cross was controlled by Olney's front-man who spotted Bines running into the box. A neat lay-off was comfortably finished by the midfielder to make it 0-2 on the night and 3-7 on aggregate.
At this point the game died off a little. With a four goal deficit, there was really no way back for Unite and Olney knew that they didn't have to press for more goals. Unite, to be fair, didn't lack effort and the pace of Ben Dickens up front was always a bit of a threat to the Nurserymen. Unite did manage to rattle the Olney bar at one point but, inevitably, it was the away side who completed the first half scoring. This time the ball dropped to Lucasz Filipiak, who applied a neat left-foot finish from inside the box to make it three just before the half-time whistle.
HT Unite MK 0 (3) Olney Town 3 (8).

Olney were back out very early for the second half. A brave move given the rapidly dropping temperatures. However, it was Unite who were caught cold when Olney made it 0-4 on the night when Appleton applied a very deft flick to a left-wing cross with less than a minute on the second half clock.
Five minutes later substitute Aaron Murrell burst through the home defence and calmly slotted home number five for the visitors. 0-5 (3-10 agg.).
To compound their woes, Unite were then reduced to 10 men when Dickens, who had looked their biggest threat until that point, pushed the ball too far ahead of himself and lunged for it in an effort to retrieve the situation. Unfortunately, he missed the ball, catching an Olney defender and earning a straight red. Nothing malicious in the tackle, but no argument from Unite.
To rub things in, Olney went up the other end and manufactured an opening for Bines to grab his hat-trick and make it 0-6 (3-11 agg.).
Olney's one man advantage, however, did not last too long. Having made all their substitutions at half-time they had no-one to come on when Mason Childs limped off with over half an hour to play.
Then just on the hour, Unite substitute Constantin Popa, struck a left-foot shot to get a consolation for the home side. 1-6 on the night, (4-11 agg.). I doubt that there were any thoughts of a comeback but, just to ensure that, Olney made it seven after 65 minutes with Murrell getting his second of the evening. 1-7 (4-12).
Not to be outdone, Popa hit back almost straight away to grab his and Unite's second goal. 2-7 (5-12). Once again, though, Olney went straight up the other end and restored their 6-goal advantage on the night with Murrell getting his hat-trick. 2-8 (5-13).
Now, sometime between this point and the final whistle I must own up and say that I lost count of the goals flying in. A combination of the sheer amount of goals combined with me trying to answer a couple of work related emails meant that I miscounted somewhere along the line. What I can say is that Aaron Murrell ended up with five goals to his name, Christian Small bagged a couple and Unite substitute Popa completed his hat-trick with a late penalty for the home side.
The final score was a whopping Unite MK 3 Olney Town 13 (agg 6-18) (thanks to the Olney twitter account for putting me straight on this).

One final thing to add and that is to commend both sides. Olney set about this game in a highly professional manner and, even with the game won, still approached it in the right way. Unite, despite being massively outclassed for large portions of the game, never let their heads drop and battled away until the final whistle.

Unite MK - @unitemkfc
Olney Town - @olneytownfc