The Joy of Six

21 Friday Dec 2012

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Tuesday 18th December 2012 ko 19.45

FA Cup 2nd Round Replay

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Constable 66 Leven 80)

ACCRINGTON STANLEY 0

Att 2,566 (48 away)

Entry £20.50

Programme £2 (Reduced size, reissued from postponed fixture 6 days earlier)

Accrington Stanley must be sick of the sight of Oxford United. As if being replaced by Oxford in the league in 1962 wasn’t bad enough (although they replaced OUFC 44 years later!), this makes a rtun of 7 games against the two sides where the Lancastrians have failed to register a win. They came mighty close in the first attempt to settle this tie, with United equalising through the unlikely figure of Michael Raynes with seconds remaining.

Now, Accrington to Oxford on a cold Tuesday is a big ask of any fan Continue reading →

Sans Pareil

16 Sunday Dec 2012

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Saturday 15th December 2012 ko 15.00

FA Vase 3rd Round
SHILDON AFC 3 (McCabe 66 Owens 75 80)
PARKGATE 1 (Lee 8)

Att 157

Entry £7
Programme £1.50
Badge £3
Tea 80p

There’s something slightly unworldly about many Northern League grounds, a by-product of the North-East’s domination of the amateur game in the early part of the twentieth century. You’re just over the border from Teesside into County Durham here, the land of the Prince Bishops, appointed to the two roles as a bastion against Scottish incursions from the north. Shildon is the cradle of passenger steam railways too, the first passenger train drawn by steam was built here, and departed on the new Stockton & Darlington Railway. The trackbed is still there, now a footpath- I wonder whether you can walk the entire length?

That sense of history extends to the Dean Street football ground, nestled in amongst the terraced houses. Continue reading →

The Toughest of the Tough

14 Friday Dec 2012

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On every Sunday morning for the first 16 years of my life I attended my local church. Whilst its fair to say the religious side of things meant absolutely nothing to me, I was there because my mother said I had to be, but it was a wonderful place to observe and learn.
I used to watch as at communion time, the little old ladies would queue up to receive their wafer, and sip of wine from the priest, and marvel at how they defied the disabilties of old age to shuffle up the aisle to complete, as they saw it, their religious duties.
At that time I was very much discovering the world and its workings, and being a young boy I hero-worshipped the tough and the daring. Be it Ian Botham smashing the Aussie bowling around Headingley in 1981, or Oxford United’s hard-man centre-half Gary Briggs tackling Doug Rougvie so hard Rougvie’s collar was broken, these were my heroes.
As time went by I added other experiences to my palate, travel, art, and literature, but there was, and is still the part of me that likes the idea of the James Bond, Alpha-male character, because its so far from my own personality and physical prowess.
Occasionally in the adult comic “Viz” there’s a strip called “Mrs Brady, Old Lady” about a senile pensioner and her friend Mildred. They speak of their ailments in a mixture of Les Dawson-esque euphemism, and almost gruesome medical detail, but time after time there they are, still not quite comprehending their own mortality. They did, however lead me to a conclusion, especially as its now my mother who’s joined the ranks of the little old ladies shuffling down the aisle at church.
You see for all these years I’d been labouring under a misapprehension. I’d considered the tough guys as being entirely different from the little old ladies. In fact the ladies are simply the stronger, after all when someone gets mugged but successfully fights back, is it the Stallone-type muscle man? Of course it isn’t, its the toughest of the tough-the little old lady. I await the Hollywood blockbuster with interest.

Shades

09 Sunday Dec 2012

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Saturday 8th December 2012 ko 15.00


League 2
OXFORD UNITED 1 (Chapman 33) Heslop sent off 90 (dangerous play)
ALDERSHOT TOWN 1 (Mekki 84)

Att 5,721 (244 away)

Entry S/T
Programme (inc Ox Mail) £3

On occasion I take a friend of mine to football. He loves his sport, but he’s a man of definite opinions. He watch some leagues but not others, and some formats he loves, others he won’t touch. Life is in two comforting shades, black and white.
This was an afternoon in which he would have felt comfortable; one of those dull pre-Christmas games where people can shout for the manager or the chairman’s head in the near-certain knowledge that their wish will not be granted.

It had been a difficult week for Oxford United. As if losing two players, Jon-Paul Pittman and Andrew Whing to injury wasn’t bad enough, the club had been rocked to its core by the death of former midfielder Mitchell Cole the weekend before. His career had ended to a heart defect a year ago, but had remained close to the club, and so his passing at just 27 was incredibly sad. It was announced before a minute’s applause that his widow had just given birth to his third child.

Of course supporters tend to forget the human nature side of the game. It cannot be easy simply functioning, let alone doing your job under such tragic circumstances, and certainly many of United’s frailties were on display for all to see. There was little punch up front save for a glaring James Constable miss early on, and Peter Leven’s lack of mobility in midfield saw partner Adam Chapman frequently exposed. I wondered if the unfortunate Whing had been fit, whether Chapman would have started,and with Whing’s lack of scoring prowess. Chapman’s clinical finish from 18 yards was a moment of class in a game that looked precisely what it was, a game between two struggling teams.

The second half saw no demonstrable improvement in quality, but with United having failed to take advantage of their first half possession, Aldershot gradually took the ascendancy and when substitute Adam Mekki curled a delicious effort round Ryan Clarke it was as predictable as it was deserved. It was fair to say that Aldershot gained far more from their substitutions than Oxford did, and that point was underlined when Simon Heslop was dismissed with a minute left for a quite dreadful challenge. Whilst his 3 game ban won’t hurt the team as much as some other players absences, the club need all the bodies they can get at the moment.

From the visitors’ perspective, second from bottom of the league, this was a valuable point. However this wasn’t a day of black and white opinions, just an occasion to forget about what went on the pitch and consider the plight of a widow and three young children.

Marilyn

08 Saturday Dec 2012

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Tuesday 4th December 2012 ko 19.45

FA Vase 2nd Round Replay

HANWORTH VILLA 2 (King 77 Reddings 90)

LITTLEHAMPTON TOWN 1 (Kew 21)

Att c125

Entry £5

Programme £1

Tea £1

It seems an age since I watched the Vase 2nd round fixture at Newport, Isle of Wight. That day, Littlehampton playing in the second tier of the Sussex County League did well to force a replay in south-west London, as Hanworth play one step higher in the Combined Counties Premier.

This part of the world always seems busy, with a dual carriageway at one end of the ground, and the stream of aircraft taking off and landing at Heathrow. The district is probably best known for its long-disappeared airfield, which welcomed Amelia Earhart following her transatlantic flight in 1932, but the area is now cut in two by the M3.

I gave a lift to Calne based hopper Paul, for his first taste of a Combined Counties League ground. There are few great grounds in this league, Rectory Field is typical of the genre, two prefabricated stands, floodlights and a fence are recent additions to the facilities, to no doubt keep the ground graders happy, but it has provided the basics for their band of followers.

And what a jolly band they are, friendly, noisy, and clearly passionate about their club. What I didn’t expect though, was a life-size cutout of Marilyn Monroe, wearing Hanworth Villa kit. I’ve seen some strange sights at football grounds, mascot Elvis Gresley being high on my list,but I think this takes the biscuit!!

On a cold, bleak night the two teams served up a game so good I completely forgot how cold I was! In a high quality encounter Littlehampton took an early lead then were forced back as Hanworth began to control possession. In fact the game could easily have been over by half time if the  home forwards been even slightly less profligate.

The second half was a similar story, as Littlehampton were reduced to sporadic counter-attacks. The frustration began to tell as heavy challenges went in, and referee Matthew Westlake did well to keep 22 men on the field. As a neutral I was perfectly happy to see the game end 1-0, what I wanted to avoid was an equaliser and extra-time.

I ended up getting one but not the other, as Levi King finally converted a chance, then just as I’d given up hope of getting home at a reasonable hour up popped substitute Steve Reddings to send Hanworth to a third round tie away at Croydon. Obviously late goals are a hopper’s best friend!

The Old Yew Tree

01 Saturday Dec 2012

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Saturday 1st December 2012 ko 14.00

Bedfordshire County League Division One

PAVENHAM 3 (J Owen 20p 66 73)

SHILLINGTON 4 (Slough 1 32 37 Bright 25)

Att 10 (h/c)

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

Transitions fascinate me. As a child I remember standing on the German/Austrian border, and kidding myself I had a foot in each country. The TV series Doctor Who didn’t interest me, but when one Doctor regenerated into the next, that was not to be missed. For years I could never see what attracted me, but I suppose its that feeling of boundary where a place has characteristics of more than one identity.

Bedfordshire has a touch of that, I was only around 30 miles of Milton Keynes, and the narrow roads suggested the Home Counties, but the flattening of the topography suggests the canals and reclaimed land of East Anglia. I’d discovered that the village of Pavenham is rather proud of its Continue reading →

A night at the Am Drams

28 Wednesday Nov 2012

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Tuesday 27th November 2012 19.30

Beauty & The Beast

at The New Theatre, Oxford

Performed by Oxford Operatic Society

The New Theatre and I go back a long time, 1980 to be exact, when I appeared in the first of six Gang Shows there. Even then, as a 9 year old I was fascinated at the difference in appearance from the glamorous art-deco front of house and the frankly grotty back-stage, where we were told in no uncertain terms that if you touched the floor you should wash your hands immediately, as there was no lack of rat poison put down there.

I will never forget peering through the glare of the stagelights to spot Mum, Dad, and sister Elizabeth in a packed house during the Saturday matinee, and hearing Dad’s distinctive guffaw during one of Ralph Reader’s jokes. That and the crate of beer that was delivered to the Assistant Producer’s dressing room, conveniently placed on the ground floor….

Times change, and in recent years Mum’s health has begun to fail. Alzheimers and a crumbling hip have restricted both her movement and concentration. Any journey more than a few yards requires a wheelchair and she now finds even a quiz show almost impossible to follow. The doctors have told us to keep her active, but I drove to the theatre with a certain amount of trepidation- what if she got bored? What if the painkillers she takes for her hip wore off early? My unease was not helped when the wheelchair lift to take Mum to the stalls initially wouldn’t work, and when we got to our seats she asked for a painkiller 3 times in 5 minutes.

But when the curtain rose, for two hours she was transfixed. I became aware of her foot tapping along to the songs, and for a brief moment in time, she was the little dynamo back at the Gang Show all those years ago. For that I give thanks.

Sky Fall

25 Sunday Nov 2012

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Saturday 24th November 2012

Ko 10.30

Oxford University Middle Common Room League

WOLFSON/St CROSS P

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE P

Postponed due to a waterlogged pitch (!)

Ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Constable 14 Pittman 79)

NORTHAMPTON TOWN 1 (Platt 76) Carlisle sent off 89 (2nd booking)

Att 6,635 (1,075 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (ic Ox Mail)

Its been a long time since I did a Middle Common Room game. Its a league primarily for post-graduate students, perfect for Wolfson, a purely post-graduate college, and 10.30am kick-off games work well for me, when Oxford United are a home. The trouble is that Wolfson sits on the banks of the River Cherwell, bucolic when its sunny, but flood-prone when it rains. And it’s rained here for most of the week, so I really should have guessed that the pitch wouldn’t be playable, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad!

Still it left me one game to see, unlike many groundhoppers, with games falling to waterlogged pitches all over the country, and my game was a local derby too! The odd thing is that there’s never been any great rivalry between Oxford or Northampton with the former being far more concerned with swindon, and the latter Kettering. Still “Ultimate Support Saturday” did produce a better-than-average gate helped in no small part by the travelling Cobblers fans.

They got a good game too, with the action making up for technical deficiences, and the appalling weather. Oxford United and the supporters know what Ade Akinfenwa gives to the Cobblers, he’s portly but he’s still one hell of a player. Few players at this level have his control and vision, and he was marshalled carefully. Also well known to United is midfielder Chris Hackett, who started his career at Oxford before moves to Hearts and Millwall. He marked his return with a fine game showing both pace, and a glut of well place passes, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one wondering why United didn’t re-sign him in the summer?

But for all of that this was Oxford’s day. Was James Constable offside when he tapped in Alfie Potter’s cross? He looked it, but the linesman’s decision was probably based on a feeling that Potter’s pass was entirely lateral and so Constable was always behind the ball. Either way home fans will point to the woodwork being hit twice, by Jake Forster-Caskey and Sean Rigg’s deflected effort.

As befits any side managed by Aidy Boothroyd, Northampton were well-drilled and a series of corners at the end of the first half tested Ryan Clarke in the home goal, and he did well to get down to Ben Harding’s low shot.

Cliches are cliches for a reason, and one goal was never going to be enough with Oxford’s defensive frailties, and the introduction of the towering figure of Clive Platt after an hour proved to be significant. With Michael Raynes keeping Akinfenwa quiet, he rose above Jake Wright to head Hackett’s cross home. I wondered what that meant for Chris Wilder’s tenure as manager. I didn’t ponder for long as Peter Leven’s ball over the top allowed subsitute Jon-Paul Pittman to run throuugh and he blasted home past Lee Nicholls for his first goal in 10 months, and earning Oxford a first win in 4 matches.

All that remained was the dismissal of Clark Carlisle for his second booking. It made no impact on the game but I wonder if getting sent off is more embarrassing when you’re PFA chairman? The Press Association reported his second booking was for foul and abusive language, but after the game Northampton Town swiftly asked that it be altered to a simple foul. For the record, I saw the 2nd booking as for a foul challenge, and there was no hint of any back-chat. It is worth noting that the PA feed is staffed by former players sourced by, yes, the PFA!

I used the term “Predictably Unpredictable” on a previous piece on Oxford United, and nothing I saw in this highly entertaining game changed my opinion on the club, and in a wider sense the division. I do wonder what chairman Ian Lenagan is thinking though. 18th place does not represent the level of ambition, or expenditure at the club. Some might say a change is needed, but if so who?

Water…everywhere

24 Saturday Nov 2012

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Saturday 24th November 2012 12.00pm

We’ve had a lot of rain in the south of England these last few days, so when I went for a drive to one of my stomping grounds in north Oxford, I decided to bring by camera for the ride.

I didn’t actually reach my destination, but sometimes the journey is more interesting isn’t it? The area around the River Cherwell is notorious for flooding, it’s why during normal weather its something of a green oasis just off the centre of the city. But when there’s significant rain, well the whole look of the place changes….

The Victoria Arms sits in the middle of it all, on top of a peninsula jutting out from Old Marston. That settlement has a split personality, the old village retaining the “Olde Worlde” feel in contrast to suburban New Marston. The pub describes itself as “The Pub by the river,” but today is was more like “The Pub by the lake.” Normally you can punt from the city to here, but not today!

The pub holds a few memories, my mate Dave used to be chef here, and I took Peter and Mao from Osaka here when they visited last February. It really is a lovely quiet spot, and a darned good pub. Yes, it is still open and the road down to it from Old Marston is on high ground!

Good Evans!

22 Thursday Nov 2012

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Tuesday 20th November 2012 ko 19.45

Walsall Senior Cup 2nd Round

STAFFORD TOWN 1 (McMahon 55)

STAFFORD RANGERS 2 (L Reid 33 Kinsella 49)

Att 518

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

Pasty £1.50

When I was a child Stafford was off-limits, as my Dad did the vast majority of his National Service there, and hated the whole experience. When his time in the forces, was up, in 1955  and he was demobbed, he caught the bus back to Oxford and swore never to return to Stafford. That promise he kept right up to 1982 when the need to catch an early ferry from Heysham to the Isle of Man necessitated an overnight stay, and the most convenient stopping point was Stafford. Even then, we arrived late in the day, and left early the next morning.

Not of course there’s anything wrong with the place, with the ruins of a Gothic revival castle the major landmark since Norman times. More recently the town has become a major railway connection, which attracted major industry to the area. Much of that still exists, particularly in the field of Electrical Engineering. In contrast, Bostik has a factory here. Notable people born in Stafford include actor Neil Morrisey, “Compleat Angler,” author Isaak Walton and comedian Dave Gorman.

Stafford Town were formed in 1976, and Evans Park, named after chairman Gordon Evans is a fine place to have as your first permanent home. Situated around a mile from their more illustrious neighbours, it satisfies their current requirements, playing in the Midland Combination Premier Division, and has the capacity to be adapted, most obviously in the case of the stand, should the club progress. The choice of hedge as a perimeter will mean though that people will be able to watch from outside the ground for a few years yet!

With this being the first time the two clubs have met, there was a friendly buzz about the place, an atmosphere helped by Rangers opting not to take their percentage of the gate, as is their right under competition rules. It was a good game to watch too, with Rangers looking like a side 3 divisions higher, but Town working hard to keep them out. Former Oxford United forward Levi Reid opened the scoring after a fine cross from the left, no doubt annoying his younger brother Ishmale playing for Town!

When Sean Kinsella’s thumping shot double the lead, the tie looked dead and buried, but Rangers stopped the neat passing that had given them the advantage. A swirling free kick was eventually touched in by Paul McMahon. Other than a clever Fabrice Kasiama 35 yard shot that cannoned off the bar, it was all Town. Spencer Gunnell delayed far too long in shooting allowing Christian Dacres to dive across him to block his effort. And that ultimately was the difference between the two sides, that edge in front of goal.