Thursday evening football this week. A rearranged Oxfordshire Women's Senior Cup Final at Kidlington FC, after the original date was postponed because of the weather. It was certainly different this evening. In fact, this was the first midweek game I had been able to attend in t-shirt and shorts. I also took my wife and daughter along. Desperately trying to get my little central midfielder to actually watch some football rather than just playing the game. Having already seen City play a few times, and knowing some of their players by sight, I tasked her with keeping an eye on captain Georgina Tayman who plays the same role.
It promised to be an interesting final, not least because it was a very local derby. Oxford United v Oxford City. United, who would be fielding their development squad, were the current holders of the trophy but City hold the record for the number of wins, having taken the title 15 times since the first competition in the 1999-2000 season. The Oxford clubs have dominated the competition, between them only failing to win it twice. The first ever competition was won by Launton Sports and, ten years ago Mansfield Road took the accolade.
Cit's road to the Kidlington began with a 4-2 defeat of Tower Hill. They then beat Kidlington Youth 3-0 to reach the semi-final. There they met Oxford University and, after a 1-1 draw, went through 6-5 on penalties. United, meanwhile, had a far more comfortable route to the final without even conceding a goal. A 21-0 defeat of City's reserve team was followed by an 8-0 win over Procision Oxford. In the semi-final they saw off Thame United by a 15-0 score line. Those scores alone showed the size of the task facing The Hoops.
It was good to see photographer Pete Kinsella before kick-off. We met at a game in Gloucestershire some time ago and I wondered if he would be at the game given his daughter plays for United.
Prior to kick-off there was a minute's silence in honour of City Chairman Brian Cox who passed away aged 83, in April and whose funeral was due to take place the day after this game. Then we were underway, with City playing towards the clubhouse end in the first half.
It promised to be an interesting final, not least because it was a very local derby. Oxford United v Oxford City. United, who would be fielding their development squad, were the current holders of the trophy but City hold the record for the number of wins, having taken the title 15 times since the first competition in the 1999-2000 season. The Oxford clubs have dominated the competition, between them only failing to win it twice. The first ever competition was won by Launton Sports and, ten years ago Mansfield Road took the accolade.
Cit's road to the Kidlington began with a 4-2 defeat of Tower Hill. They then beat Kidlington Youth 3-0 to reach the semi-final. There they met Oxford University and, after a 1-1 draw, went through 6-5 on penalties. United, meanwhile, had a far more comfortable route to the final without even conceding a goal. A 21-0 defeat of City's reserve team was followed by an 8-0 win over Procision Oxford. In the semi-final they saw off Thame United by a 15-0 score line. Those scores alone showed the size of the task facing The Hoops.
It was good to see photographer Pete Kinsella before kick-off. We met at a game in Gloucestershire some time ago and I wondered if he would be at the game given his daughter plays for United.
Prior to kick-off there was a minute's silence in honour of City Chairman Brian Cox who passed away aged 83, in April and whose funeral was due to take place the day after this game. Then we were underway, with City playing towards the clubhouse end in the first half.
An early mistake at the back for City almost gifted a goal to United after 5 minutes. City keeper Holly Jenkins was pleased to see Holly Sellwood's effort come back off the post. That moment set the tone for the majority of the first half. United completely dominating possession but City defending in two tanks and, for the most part, holding the yellow shirts at bay.
Jenkins was by far the busier of the two keepers. In fact Caitlin Crearie in the United goal hardly had a touch of the ball.
Jenkins was on had to foil a Sellwood effort on 20 minutes and was grateful just past the half hour mark when Poppy Dearlove could only direct a header, from Sellwood's cross, straight into the keeper's arms.
However, the incessant United pressure did eventually pay off seven minutes from the break. Jenkins once again did well to block the initial effort but was powerless to prevent Ellie-Mae Richardson from slamming home the rebound from close range. 1-0
HT Oxford United 1 Oxford City 0. In all fairness, it was pretty much one-way traffic in the first half. Having said that, City defended very well and the pace of Ellie White up front was always going to be a point of concern for United. With just a one goal advantage, the game was still very much in the balance.
Whilst the second half followed a similar pattern to the first, City did start to make Crierie earn her corn more. Holly Jenkins, however, remained the busier of the two stoppers, demonstrating again and again why she is rated highly. Twice within a few minutes she frustrated Amy Woodhead.
City top-scorer Ellie White continued to be the main threat for The Hoops but was feeding on scraps for most of the game. When she did manage to get a little space she found the United defence, led by captain Cheyenne Flynn.
FT Oxford United 1 Oxford City 0. United claim their fourth Senior Cup and their second on the bounce, scoring 45 goals in four games, with none conceded. A superb achievement whichever way you look at it. However, what an effort from The Hoops. They were up against it from the first minute but stuck in there, fought hard, always maintained a threat and never once let their heads drop. A great advert for the Southern Region Women's Football League. You can also read the Oxford City match report on their web site.
Apologies if any of the United player names are incorrect. It was difficult to match shirt numbers to names on the team sheet.
Oxford United: Crierie, Flynn(c), Woodhead, Dearlove, Harris-Beechers, Howes, Trinder, Richardson, Gray, Sellwood, Kinsella. Subs: North, Hoile, McCulloch
Oxford City: Jenkins, Hume, Latimer, Le Beau, Healy, Thorne, Tayman(c), Chapman, Gray, Alves Martins, White. Subs: Leigh, Cook, Wellington-Faissal, Kingdon, Lawal
Ground Number: Re-visit
Attendance:
Entrance: £6.00
Programme: Included
Jenkins was by far the busier of the two keepers. In fact Caitlin Crearie in the United goal hardly had a touch of the ball.
Jenkins was on had to foil a Sellwood effort on 20 minutes and was grateful just past the half hour mark when Poppy Dearlove could only direct a header, from Sellwood's cross, straight into the keeper's arms.
However, the incessant United pressure did eventually pay off seven minutes from the break. Jenkins once again did well to block the initial effort but was powerless to prevent Ellie-Mae Richardson from slamming home the rebound from close range. 1-0
HT Oxford United 1 Oxford City 0. In all fairness, it was pretty much one-way traffic in the first half. Having said that, City defended very well and the pace of Ellie White up front was always going to be a point of concern for United. With just a one goal advantage, the game was still very much in the balance.
Whilst the second half followed a similar pattern to the first, City did start to make Crierie earn her corn more. Holly Jenkins, however, remained the busier of the two stoppers, demonstrating again and again why she is rated highly. Twice within a few minutes she frustrated Amy Woodhead.
City top-scorer Ellie White continued to be the main threat for The Hoops but was feeding on scraps for most of the game. When she did manage to get a little space she found the United defence, led by captain Cheyenne Flynn.
FT Oxford United 1 Oxford City 0. United claim their fourth Senior Cup and their second on the bounce, scoring 45 goals in four games, with none conceded. A superb achievement whichever way you look at it. However, what an effort from The Hoops. They were up against it from the first minute but stuck in there, fought hard, always maintained a threat and never once let their heads drop. A great advert for the Southern Region Women's Football League. You can also read the Oxford City match report on their web site.
Apologies if any of the United player names are incorrect. It was difficult to match shirt numbers to names on the team sheet.
Oxford United: Crierie, Flynn(c), Woodhead, Dearlove, Harris-Beechers, Howes, Trinder, Richardson, Gray, Sellwood, Kinsella. Subs: North, Hoile, McCulloch
Oxford City: Jenkins, Hume, Latimer, Le Beau, Healy, Thorne, Tayman(c), Chapman, Gray, Alves Martins, White. Subs: Leigh, Cook, Wellington-Faissal, Kingdon, Lawal
Ground Number: Re-visit
Attendance:
Entrance: £6.00
Programme: Included
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