We’d have liked a 3rd Welsh Premier League game on the Saturday’s itinerary. You could see why that wasn’t made available to us, it would have been virtually impossible to have got a visiting team to travel (potentially) the length of Wales for an 11am kick-off. We tried to get the second tier Cymru Alliance involved but as in the past were rebuffed, so it was time to get creative. Continue reading →
As organiser you love to see good decisions made without you having to prompt them. We were part of a huge convoy leaving Glan Conwy on the A470, and heading into Snowdonia, and I was day-dreaming on how the A470 eventually goes right past the University of Glamorgan in Treforest, the base for the first Welsh Groundhops. Neil our coach driver suddenly turned right, with Colin in the other coach following with the rest of the convoy carrying on along the main road. I asked why the detour Continue reading →
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 →
I have to say I have a soft spot for Stanley. Their banner says it all, “The club that refused to die,” rising from bankrupcy and oblivion, to a return to League football in 2006. It’s not lost on Oxford United fans that when Accrington folded in 1966, then returned to the League, on both occasions it was Oxford United that swapped places with them! For those of us of a certain age, Accrington was imortalised in a famous advert for milk…
To the club’s credit, Carl Rice the actor in the advert, was guest of honour at Accrington’s home game against Forest Green Rovers during their Conference winning season. I was fortunate enough to be there! Today, Stanley are a benchmark for small clubs, surviving in the league despite the close presence of two much larger clubs locally, namely Blackburn and Bolton.
With Stanley 11th and Oxford 19th, you wouldn’t have predicted a drubbing like this! A few hours after the event I’m still trying to work out was it a case of United being excellent, or Stanley quite royally stinking? I suspect its a mixture of the both. Certainly a move to 4-4-2 suited the personel available to Chris Wilder, and in particular James Constable revelled in the service he got from the flanks where Alfie Potter and Sean Rigg had excellent games. The knock-downs from Constable were manna from heaven for Tom Craddock, and I’d point out that 3 of the 4 goals he scored were teed up by Constable (the other by Rigg). Craddock had, its perhaps superfluous to say, his best game for the club, working hard, closing down and taking the chances when they came. His goals were as predatory as they were welcome.
But the most welcome sight was a grinning Brummie making his first start of the season after injury. Yes, the warrior was back, and the defence looked all the more solid with Andy Whing there to marshall it. His departure, utterly exhausted in the 81st minute produced a spine-tingling standing ovation. That was the second remarkable crowd reaction, as a few minutes earlier when Craddock had scored his fourth, the chant had been “Beano, Beano,” a comment on how the talismanic Constable had unselfishly worked to give Craddock his chances.
But it was Tom Craddock, quite correctly, who took the plaudits, and became the first Oxford United player to score 4 goals in a game since John Durnin did at the Manor Ground against Luton Town in 1992. For the record, I was at that game too!
Craddock fires home the first
Constable’s shot is blocked but….
Craddock blasts home the rebound
Alfie Potter knocks in the fifth after a slide rule pass from Peter Leven
Football: Wherever it may be 