Strictly speaking this was a revisit for me. However, as my one and only other visit to Arlesey came back in April 2013 and, what's more, I didn't right a blog about my visit, it feels more like a new ground. Back in those days I was mainly following Stourbridge's adventures in the Southern League and was visiting more as a fan than a blogger. What I do remember about that evening was that I bumped into a guy wearing a Stenhousemuir beanie hat. Not something you expect to see in rural Bedfordshire. The Glassboys won 4-2 that evening.
Arlesey are now plying their trade two steps lower than 11 years ago. However, they have made an excellent start this season, winning 5-0 at Aylesbury Vale Dynamos in their opening fixture on Saturday. FC Romania, who have also played a step higher, lost their opening game 3-0 at home to Milton Keynes Irish. On the back of those results, Arlesey led the table after one game. FC Romania sat one off the bottom. Of course, it's very early days.
This season marks the 20th anniversary of Arlesey winning the FA Vase with a 2-1 defeat of Oxford City. To mark the occasion there were a few members of that squad introduced to the crowd before kick off this evening.

​(This section of the blog is also translated into Romanian. Scroll to the bottom to see the translation)
A fairly lacklustre opening to the game saw a couple of free-kicks from the home side. Aaron Hector put a sixth minute effort straight into the arms of Dren Hoti and then, two minutes later from the opposite side of the box, John Freeman put an effort way over the bar. That was about as close as either team got in the opening 20 minutes or so. Come the midway point of the first half, neither keeper had been stretched at all.
With 24 minutes on the clock Hoti punched a Freeman cross clear but didn't get too much distance on it. The ball was headed back into the mix where Alex Cathline nodded it goalward, but it was a simple save for Hoti.
At this stage, Arlesey were having more of the ball but failing to string enough passes together to seriously threaten The Wolves. Aaron Hector's pace on the left looked to be the home side's greatest threat, but unless they got their final ball right, that was not going to help them. For the Wolves, captain Zenon Stylianides was doing his best to prompt attacks but they too were struggling to find a rhythm.
With ten minutes to go until the break, Arlesey finally caused Hoti's heart-rate to increase when Andrew Osie-Bonsu tried his luck with a low drive from 25 yards. Hoti had to go full length to tip the ball around the post.
That seemed to kick life into Romania. Stylianides showed some great footwork up the left before being stopped illegally on the left-hand corner of the Arlesey penalty area. The captain picked himself up to take the kick, beating the wall and Oliver Skinner, only to see his strike come back off the inside of the post and rebound to safety. No more than an inch away from opening the scoring against the run of play.
As the game finally showed signs of some life, Arlesey went down the other end and came close themselves. Freeman's deep corner was met by a powerful header from Charne Lemba which saw the ball whistle past Hoti's right-hand post.
Styliandies then put another free-kick into the Arlesey wall before a late Wolves break saw then generate a two on one situation, but Tommy Pidgeon delayed the shot just that little too long and allowed an Arlesey defender to get a block in.

HT Arlesey Town 0 FC Romania 0. Arlesey have had more possession and the greater number of chances at goal. However, the closest we came to a goal was The Wolves captain's free-kick that hit the post. In all honesty, it's not been the best game so far. Hoping for a more entertaining second half

​Sadly the second half also failed to take off, at least initially. Ten minutes in Pidgeon was again thwarted by a last ditch toe that took the ball off his foot as he was about to strike for goal but, as we passed the hour mark, neither keeper had been unduly stressed since the break.
Things started to get a little more spicy when, on 71 minutes, Flavio Gyawu-Kyem was flagged offside for the fourth time in a few minutes. The winger was clearly not happy (I heard him say later that he was convinced he was onside for all of them) and let his feelings be known to the officials. He must have argued the point a little too strongly because the referee issued a yellow and sin-binned the player.
Eight minutes later, with just 11 remaining of normal time, we finally saw a shot on target when substitute Alleyne stung Hoti's hands with a powerful drive.
Then, inside the final ten minutes, the game finally sprang into life. The clock had just ticked over to 81 minutes when Zenon Stylianides went on a mazy run into the home penalty area before striking a good effort goalward. Oliver Skinner did well to parry the hot but, as it bounced in the area, Stylianides just got a toe to it before being challenged. Penalty FC Romania. Stylianides stepped up and fired the ball into the top right-hand corner. Superb spot-kick. 0-1. The Wolves had taken the lead whilst still down to ten players.
Gyawu-Kyem then came back onto the field and almost immediately made his mark. This time he beat the offside trap before slipping the ball under Skinner. 0-2. Obviously, the joy of finally not getting flagged for offside was too much for the Romania player as he peeled off his shirt in celebration. Not the best move when you've already been booked. Out came the second yellow and, almost as quickly  as he had come back on, Gyawu-Kyem was back off the pitch. However, with his side now two goals to the good with very little time left, it may well have been a small price to pay.
Arlesey, of course, tried desperately to get back into the game in the knowledge that there were at least 5 minutes of added-time to go. However, they were then undone completely by the goal of the game. With Arlesey attempting to play it out from the back Wolves sub George Horn-Hayes latched onto a lose pass some 30 yards out and unleashed a first-time strike that left Skinner grasping at thin air as the ball sailed over his head. Excellent strike. 0-3

FT Arlesey Town 0 FC Romania 3. I don't think anyone saw this score line coming even after 80 minutes played. With the game goalless at that point and neither keeper having a particularly busy evening, the wide money would have been on 0-0. However, the sin-binning of FC Romania's Flavio Gyawu-Kyem seemed to stir the game into action. A tough one for Arlesey to take but they didn't take their chances when they had them and, ultimately, were undone by a Wolves side that pushed to the end.
Check out the excellent highlights real from @thecoldend
It's FA Cup action for both sides on Saturday. Arlesey travel to fellow Premier League side London Lions whilst FC Romania are at Essex Premier League outfit, Sawbridgeworth Town.

Arlesey Town: 1.Skinner, 2.Lemba, 3.Gilbert, 4.Osie-Bonsu, 8.Freeman, 9.Cathline, 10.Dowridge, 14.Mosanya, 15.Olaleye, 16.Mulley(c), 19.Hector. Subs: 5.Boodhoo, 12.Castanho, 13.Taylor, 17.Lewis-Burgess, 20.Alleyne
FC Romania: 1.Hoti, 2.Awobimpe, 3.Danquah, 4.Warmerdam, 5.Leca, 6.Kalule, 7.Friend, 8.Dabbouk, 9.Pidgeon, 10.Stylianides(c), 11.Gyawu-Kyem. Subs: Ntim, Ilies, Williams, Cunningham, Horn-Haynes

​The Ground
New Lamb Meadow is situated just south of the village of Arlesey, on Hitchin Road. The ground is set back a little from the road allowing space for a reasonably large car park in front of the stadium. There is a large clubhouse which can be accessed from the car park or from inside the ground. If you choose to enter through the turnstile, this is situated towards the far left hand side of the car park. Upon entering the ground you can immediately sense that Arlesey have played at a higher level than their current Step 5 birth. There's an abundance of stands and spectator cover around the ground. On the clubhouse side, where there is also a snack bar, there is a covered seating area that is raised above the level of the standing section. Opposite this and rising above the large dugouts, there is another spectator stand that features both covered standing and seating. There is also an open terrace behind the Hitchin end goal.
Confession time - I've wanted to see FC Romania for a little while now because I have had a leaning towards the country since I was young. Showing my age a little, my first celebrity crush was Nadia Comăneci, the Romanian gymnast who scored the first-ever perfect 10.

Ground Number: Re-visit
Att: 111
Entrance: £7.00 prepaid (£9.00 on the gate)
Programme: Included

​Match Report translated to Romanian (used translate facility in Word, so apologies if it is not correct)

O deschidere destul de slabă a jocului a văzut câteva lovituri libere din partea gazdelor. Aaron Hector a depus un efort în minutul șase direct în brațele lui Dren Hoti și apoi, două minute mai târziu, din partea opusă a careului, John Freeman a depus un efort mult peste bară. A fost cam la fel de aproape ca oricare dintre echipe în primele 20 de minute sau cam așa ceva. La jumătatea primei reprize, niciunul dintre portari nu fusese întins deloc.
Cu 24 de minute pe ceas, Hoti a lovit clar o centrare a lui Freeman, dar nu s-a distanțat prea mult. Mingea a fost trimisă înapoi în careu, unde Alex Cathline a dat din cap spre poartă, dar a fost o simplă salvare pentru Hoti.
În această fază, Arlesey avea mai mult din minge, dar nu reușea să strângă suficiente pase pentru a-i amenința serios pe lupi. Ritmul lui Aaron Hector pe stânga părea să fie cea mai mare amenințare a echipei gazdă, dar dacă nu reușeau mingea finală, asta nu avea să-i ajute. Pentru lupi, căpitanul Zenon Stylianides făcea tot posibilul să provoace atacuri, dar și ei se străduiau să găsească un ritm.
Cu zece minute înainte de pauză, Arlesey a provocat în cele din urmă creșterea ritmului cardiac al lui Hoti, când Andrew Osie-Bonsu și-a încercat norocul cu o cursă joasă de la 25 de metri. Hoti a trebuit să meargă până la capăt pentru a înclina mingea în jurul stâlpului.
Asta părea să dea viață României. Stylianides a arătat niște pași grozavi în stânga înainte de a fi oprit ilegal în colțul din stânga al suprafeței de pedeapsă Arlesey. Căpitanul s-a ridicat pentru a lua lovitura, bătând zidul și Oliver Skinner, doar pentru a-și vedea lovitura revenind din interiorul stâlpului și revenind în siguranță. Nu mai mult de un centimetru distanță de deschiderea scorului împotriva desfășurării jocului.
Pe măsură ce jocul a arătat în cele din urmă semne de viață, Arlesey a coborât la celălalt capăt și s-a apropiat. Colțul adânc al lui Freeman a fost întâmpinat de o lovitură de cap puternică a lui Charne Lemba, care a văzut mingea fluierând pe lângă stâlpul din dreapta al lui Hoti.
Styliandies a executat apoi o altă lovitură liberă în zidul lui Arlesey, înainte ca o pauză târzie a lui Wolves să genereze apoi o situație de doi la unu, dar Tommy Pidgeon a întârziat șutul puțin prea mult și a permis unui fundaș Arlesey să blocheze.

HT Arlesey Town 0 FC România 0. Arlesey a avut mai multă posesie și un număr mai mare de ocazii la poartă. Cu toate acestea, cel mai aproape de un gol a fost lovitura liberă a căpitanului Lupilor care a lovit stâlpul. Cu toată sinceritatea, nu a fost cel mai bun joc de până acum. Sperând la o a doua repriză mai distractivă

Din păcate, nici repriza a doua nu a reușit să decoleze, cel puțin inițial. Zece minute în Pidgeon a fost din nou împiedicat de un ultim deget de la picior care i-a luat mingea de pe picior în timp ce era pe punctul de a lovi pentru poartă, dar, când am trecut de marcajul orei, niciunul dintre portari nu a fost stresat în mod nejustificat de la pauză.
Lucrurile au început să devină puțin mai picante când, în minutul 71, Flavio Gyawu-Kyem a fost semnalizat în offside pentru a patra oară în câteva minute. Extrema nu a fost în mod clar fericită (l-am auzit spunând mai târziu că era convins că este de partea tuturor) și și-a făcut cunoscute sentimentele oficialilor. Trebuie să fi argumentat punctul puțin prea puternic, deoarece arbitrul a emis un galben și l-a condamnat pe jucător.
Opt minute mai târziu, cu doar 11 rămase din timpul regulamentar, am văzut în cele din urmă un șut pe țintă când înlocuitorul Alleyne i-a înțepat mâinile lui Hoti cu o unitate puternică.
Apoi, în ultimele zece minute, jocul a prins în sfârșit viață. Ceasul tocmai trecuse la minutul 81 când Zenon Stylianides a intrat într-o cursă labirintică în suprafața de pedeapsă a gazdelor înainte de a face un efort bun spre poartă. Oliver Skinner a făcut bine să pareze fierbinte, dar, pe măsură ce a sărit în zonă, Stylianides tocmai a primit un deget de la picior înainte de a fi provocat. Penalty FC România. Stylianides a intervenit și a tras mingea în colțul din dreapta sus. Superbă lovitură la fața locului. 0-1. Lupii preluaseră conducerea în timp ce încă se reduceau la zece jucători.
Gyawu-Kyem a revenit apoi pe teren și aproape imediat și-a pus amprenta. De data aceasta a bătut capcana ofsaidului înainte de a aluneca mingea sub Skinner. 0-2. Evident, bucuria de a nu fi în cele din urmă semnalizat pentru offside a fost prea mult pentru jucătorul român, deoarece și-a dezbrăcat tricoul în sărbătoare. Nu este cea mai bună mișcare atunci când ați fost deja rezervat. A ieșit al doilea galben și, aproape la fel de repede cum a revenit, Gyawu-Kyem a revenit de pe teren. Cu toate acestea, cu echipa sa acum două goluri spre bine, cu foarte puțin timp rămas, ar fi putut fi un preț mic de plătit.
Arlesey, desigur, a încercat cu disperare să revină în joc, știind că mai sunt cel puțin 5 minute de prelungire. Cu toate acestea, au fost apoi anulate complet de obiectivul jocului. Cu Arlesey încercând să joace din spate, înlocuitorul lui Wolves, George Horn-Hayes, a blocat o pasă pierdută la aproximativ 30 de metri și a dezlănțuit o primă lovitură care l-a lăsat pe Skinner să se prindă de aer în timp ce mingea trecea peste capul său. Grevă excelentă. 0-3

FT Arlesey Town 0 FC România 3. Nu cred că cineva a văzut această linie de scor venind chiar și după 80 de minute jucate. Cu meciul fără goluri în acel moment și niciunul dintre portari neavând o seară deosebit de aglomerată, banii largi ar fi fost pe 0-0. Cu toate acestea, păcatul lui Flavio Gyawu-Kyem de la FC România părea să agite jocul în acțiune. Una grea pentru Arlesey, dar nu și-au riscat șansele atunci când le-au avut și, în cele din urmă, au fost anulate de o echipă a lupilor care a împins până la capăt.

After a midweek visit to Enstone, BotP was back on the road on Saturday as some leagues began the season in earnest. One of those starting quite early was the Spartan South Midlands League, which gave an excellent opportunity to nip just down the road to Buckingham for their opener against Letchworth Garden City Eagles. Although I have been to Stratford Fields many times over the years, this would be the fist visit since the Buckingham teams consolidated into a single club under the banner of "One club for the town".
It also gave me a first ever chance to see The Eagles in action. A glance back at the history of the fixture showed that it was Letchworth who had had much the better of the meetings, winning five and losing one of the last six. In fact, Buckingham had not won any until the last meeting at Stratford Fields when they won 4-2, despite having a player dismissed. Interestingly, the reverse fixture, which ended 2-0 to Eagles, had seen them have a player sent-off too. Letchworth had also outscored their hosts by 13 to 7 over those six games. Still, this was a new season and the slate was effectively wiped clean.

​As if to prove this point, Buckingham started much the stronger of the two teams, aided considerably by Letchworth's inability to retain possession. Time and again, they gave the ball away within seconds of getting it back. You don't want to be constantly chasing the ball on the opening day of the season when match fitness has not yet been fully gained.
However, despite having the lion's hare of the ball, Buckingham did not really test Adam Seymour, in the Eagles goal, until the 13th minute and even then the on target effort was comfortable for the stopper. The game was then delayed for a good 4-5 minutes after the home number 9 (sorry for lack of names, I wasn't able to get a home team sheet) went down under a challenge. There was nothing malicious in the incident but the Swans striker did look in some discomfort. He was eventually able to limp off, to be replaced by Wesley Iroegbu. The newly introduced player then almost made an immediate impact when a 24th minute corner from the right was flicked on at the near post. Ireogbu met it on the volley only to see his effort crash back off the bar. 
A minute later Letchworth's Will Blair had their first good effort when a freekick from 25 yards had Jamie Adim scrambling across his goal, happy to see the effort drift wide.
On the half hour Jamie Culley's dipping drive forced Seymour to tip the ball over his bar. The visitors cleared the resulting corner and launched a break of their own, culminating in Max Smith's volley being safely gathered by Admin. Although the effort didn't trouble the keeper it was, at least, a shot on target for the Eagles and a sign that they were starting to get a foothold. However, they had their own keeper to thank a few minutes later when Culley struck a freekick into the defensive wall. The ball rebounded to the Swans player who drilled a low shot through a group of players only for Seymour to make a good block with his legs.
As we moved into added time of a half that the home side had dominated in terms of possession, Letchworth came close to snatching a lead against the run of play. From defence to attack in the blink of an eye, a long ball out found Blair on the left flank and the home defence, for once, completely out of position. Blair fed the ball inside to the unmarked Luke Baranowski who looked odds on to score until Adim flew off his line and brilliantly smothered the attempt. Excellent goalkeeping to keep the scores level.

HT Buckingham 0 Letchworth Garden City Eagles 0. A dominant half for the home side but no goals to show for it. They were all so nearly caught out in the last seconds of the half and have their keeper to thanks for being level. Aside from that, the home defence has looked way to organised for the visitors to trouble them, marshalled expertly by Nathan Hawkins.

​Presumably the Buckingham coaching team would have expressed the need for them to take advantage of their possession advantage during the break, and it didn't take long for the hosts to finally take the lead. However, their goal, when it arrived, came completely out of the blue. The Buckingham defence were being tested themselves, but once again came up trumps and cleared their lines. The response was like lightning. Before the visitors could blink a long ball had bypassed their defence and Dalitso Chibwe was wheeling away in triumph after sending the ball past Adam Seymour. 1-0
Letchworth responded well to the setback, immediately pushing Buckingham back into their own half. A few minutes later Albie Battle got ahead of the home keeper to meet a corner with his head but couldn't direct his effort on target. Two minutes later Baranowski was presented with a free header at the far post but couldn't hit the target.
Maybe if one of those chances had been taken, the result could have been different but, as it was, the Eagles soon found themselves two down, and what a goal it was.
Buckingham had a goal kick which was played short to Hawkins on the left, he carried the ball across the box and played a diagonal pass to Tysan Aluko. His Crossfield ball to Wes Britnell, making a break inside the Eagles half, was inch perfect. Britnell laid the ball off first time into the path of Jamie Culley, bursting into the penalty area on the left, and his precision finish beat Seymour, going in off the far post. Four passes and one shot, from goalkeeper to the back of the net. Beautiful goal. 2-0
It was pretty much game over at this point. Letchworth, maybe having an off day, just didn't seem to have anything in them to trouble the home defence, certainly not enough to score twice. In fact, just past the hour mark, it was the home team who almost added to their tally. Substitute Iroegbu muscled his way through a couple of challenges. However, Seymour was off his line quickly and bravely to make the block, getting a knock for his troubles.
The game was then petering out into a comfortable 2-0 win for the hosts,  until the 93rd minute when a clumsy challenge saw the referee point to the spot. Penalty to Buckingham, despite many protest from the visitors. I was at the other end, so I'm not entirely sure if they were protesting that it wasn't a foul or if the incident was outside the box. Whatever the case, the referee pointed to the spot and Jack Clarkson calmly sent Seymour the wrong way to round off the scoring. 3-0

FT Buckingham 3 Letchworth Garden City Eagles 0. A comfortable opening day victory for Buckingham. Eagles Manager, Mark Nunn, said afterwards that they just weren't at the races and they were out battled. I couldn't agree more. Having said that, if Letchworth had snatched that late goal in the first half, who knows? Buckingham's defence looked very impressive. The entire back four looked solid, well organised and capable of playing out from the back, as the second goal demonstrated. There of the four players in the build up were defenders.
Next Saturday Buckingham travel to Royston Town Reserves, who lost their opener 2-1 at Moulton. 
Meanwhile, Letchworth have their first home fixture as they welcome Rothwell Corinthians, who won 3-0 at Colney Heath this weekend.

Buckingham: Adim, Aluko, Atkinson, Britnell, Chibwe, Clarkson(c), Clayson, Culley, Hawkins, Karim, Masad. Subs: Doyle, Howarth, Iroegbu, Lloyd-Roberts
Letchworth Garden City Eagles: Seymour, Bell, Jennings, Christie, Battle, Humphryes, Smith, Charles(c), Baranowski, Blair, Zekri. Subs: Waldock, Isles, Marvell, Kelly, Ali

​The Programme
Buckingham put out an excellent programme both online and printed. A whopping 28 pages, printed on thick paper and full colour throughout. Articles include a club history page and roll of hounour, visitors information, squad lists, league table (all zeros at this stage), stats from last season, a complete fixture list, coming next including fixtures for all teams, and plenty of adverts for local businesses. An excellent effort from the club. My only criticism (and this is not directly related to the programme) is that the team sheets are not displayed anywhere around the stadium.

Ground Number: Re-visit
Att: 102
Entrance: £6.00
Programme: Included

For the second season running my first outing of the new season was taking place even before August had begun. This year, in fact, I was even a few days earlier than last season's trip to Wellingborough. The plan as to make the short trip over to Enstone for a Henry Hawtin Memorial Cup Group B clash between Stonesfield and Chadlington and so start the new season with a new ground and two new teams. To be honest, before the game, I knew very little about this competition and, to be fair, even after the game I still know very little about it. I did find that a Henry Hawtin, born in Adderbury, lived in the local area from 1808 to 1875. Is this the Henry Hawtin? If so, this competition could date back quite some time. I'd be really interested to know more if any local historians out there have more details.
One thing I could find out, thanks to the Chadlington X feed, was that both sides had already played one game in the group. Chadlington beat Ducklington 2-1 (goals from Isaac Harrington and Jordan Godfrey) and sat at the top of the table. Stonesfield opened their campaign by drawing 1-1 with Milton-u-Wychwood and sat third. With the top two teams progressing, a win for Chadlington would pretty much guarantee their place in the next round.
Both of these teams will play in the Witney & District Premier League next season. Lats year Stonesfield finished in sixth spot having won 5 and drawn 3 of their 14 matches. Chadlington gained promotion from Division One on the back of a second place finish behind Tower Hill. The side's last played in the same division back in 2018-19. The game at Stonesfield ended 2-2 whilst Stones took the away game 2-1, on their way to winning the league. Chadlington finished the season in third spot, seven points adrift of the leaders.
Thanks to the referee, who's name I forgot to ask, for allowing me to photograph the team sheets. Sadly, no shirt numbers were provided, so I haven't been able to match names to shirts.

​It was Stonesfield, in the yellow kit kicking down the slope, who started the more lively of the two. They engineered a couple of half-chances in the opening few minutes before taking the lead after 11 minutes. Chadlington had not yet got themselves into the game at all when Stonesfield's right-winger (Number 7) wriggled free, drove to the by-line and squared for their Number 11 to tap the ball home. 1-0
Whilst well-deserved on the opening few minutes, the goal served as a kick up the backside for Chadlington. Two minutes later, they were level. Captain Ethan Bennett produced a perfect slide-rule pass for Kyle Grimmett to run onto, and his first time strike with the outside of the left-foot gave the Stonefield keeper no chance. 1-1
Chadlington had awoken. They now had Stonesfield on the backfoot and immediately set about looking for a second goal. Tyler Bradley's snapshot flew just over the bar after 23 minutes and a minute later the Stonefield goalkeeper had to be at his best to block from Chadlington's Number 9. However, the stopper had no chance whatsoever in the 26 minute. Tyler Bradley, who had put an effort just over a few minutes beforehand, had clearly used the opportunity to get his rangefinder working as he unleashed a dipping volley from 30 yards that flew pat the Stones keeper. 1-2
Stonesfield tried to hit back almost immediately and it was their number 7 again, who had looked their biggest threat so far, this time testing Will Foster with a low drive from a tight angle. A few minutes later Stonesfield engineered another golden opportunity with a neat passing move that culminated in the Number 9 being set up some 12 yards out. However as he struck goalward Chadlington's number 17 slid in from nowhere to make a incredible last ditch block.
Chadlington then almost grabbed a third goal after a quick break allowed Prince Nyongolo a run a goal. His curled effort drifted just wide of the far post. Then just before the break, another long ball saw Chadlington's Number 10 beat the defensive line only for his lobbed effort, under pressure from an advancing goalkeeper, fall wide of the post.

HT Stonesfield 1 Chadlington 2. A really fast start from Stonesfield but Chadlington responded well to going behind and edged the half after that point.

​Whereas Stonesfield had started the first half strongly, it was the blue and white stripes of Chadlington that surged forward early in the second period, and they so nearly added to their tally inside two minutes of the restart. Their Number 8 produced an excellent pass that sliced open the Stones defence, allowing Bradley to drive low past the keeper only to see his effort come back off the inside of the far post.
So close to a third for Chadlington but they weren't allowed to rest on their laurels because 10 minutes into the half, Stonesfield were back on level terms following a corner from the left that was not fully cleared. When the ball was recycled, Number 7 was on the spot to flick the ball high past Foster. 2-2.
The goal swung the pendulum again. Now it was Stonesfield looking the more likely to score a third and, just past the hour mark, they would have done just that if not for a brilliant, full-length stop from Chadlington stopper Will Foster. It's not just goals that win games. Saves like that make a huge difference too. It allowed Chadlington to steady themselves and calm the game down.
For the next ten minutes, neither side managed to generate a significant goalscoring opportunity but, as we close din on the final 10 minutes, Chadlington once again began to step things up. Their number 12 had two bites at the cherry from 15 yards out, volleying the second effort just wide of the mark before, on 82 minutes, they retook the lead with an almost identical goal to Stonesfield's first-half opener. Chadlington's Number 9 got to the same by-line before laying it on a plate for Jordan Godfrey to slot home the third. 2-3
There was still time for Stonesfield's Number 9 to send a volley marginally over Foster's bar and for Bradley to send a drive straight at the Stonesfield keeper, before the referee drew a close to an entertaining game of football.

FT Stonesfield 2 Chadlington 3. Not a bad way to open the BotP account for the season. Two good sides producing a very competitive game. There really wasn't too much between them. Both had periods when they were on top but, ultimately, Chadlington edged it because they finished one more chance than their opponents.

Stonesfield (squad): Hatton, J.Newman, Wynn, Holloway, Wiggins, D.Newman, J.Barker, Hart, Oliver, Phipps, W.Barker, Clarke, Sale, Connolly
Chadlington (squad): Foster, Betts, A.Bennett, Curtis, Harris, Nelson, E.Bennett(c), I.Harrington, Grimmett, Bradley, Peachey, Nyongolo, Godfrey, S.Harrington, Fuller, Bolt

The Ground
Enstone Sports & Social club is situated just outside the village of Enstone, between Chipping Norton and Kidlington. The ground has two football pitches and a cricket pitch. There's car parking next to the stone pavilion, which houses a licensed bar as well as changing facilities for players and officials.
The main pitch is directly alongside the pavilion and car park. There is a slope from right to left as you look from the car park side. There are no covered spectator areas but there is some shelter provided by overhanging trees and, in extremes, you could still watch the game from the pavilion. It's clearly a popular community location as shown by the large turnout for this pre-season match.

Ground Number: 410
Att: 
Entrance: N/A
Programme: N/A