Tag Archives: James Constable

Quality

16 Sunday Feb 2014

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Saturday 15th February 2014 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 3 (Connolly 27 Wroe 53 Smalley 68)

MANSFIELD TOWN 0

Att 5,108 (365 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc’ Oxford Mail)

Its been a good week to look at sport as a whole. I do enjoy the Olympic games, and like many others I watched agog as Lizzie Yarnold won gold for Team GB in the Skeleton Bobsleigh. I’m not sure why I enjoy watching the sports that I don’t know intimately, but there’s something visceral about throwing yourself down an ice tube on a tray with your chin an inch from the ice. Of course she won by just under a second over 4 runs, a massive margin, but it was the way she conducted herself afterwards that impressed me. Calm, collected and respectful she is a credit to herself, her country and her sport, and watching her interview you could imagine a legion of young girls taking up sport with her as their inspiration. I fact a few hours later I saw a tweet of a 5 year-old girl, face down on a skateboard wearing her brothers cycle helmet. It’s a powerful, positive message, and one I hope will be repeated many, many times. Continue reading →

Loneliness

05 Wednesday Feb 2014

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1st February 2014 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Newey 40 Connolly 56)

AFC WIMBLEDON 1 (Wyke 75)

Att 5,745 (693 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc’ Oxford Mail)

A few years ago I was genuinely lonely. I was sat in a house that I was doomed to be leaving, on my own. Although friends and family spent plenty of time with me and I’ll always be grateful for their support,  I didn’t start rebuilding my life until I moved out.

It felt a lot like that at Oxford United over the last few weeks with former manager Chris Wilder surrounded by people, but utterly alone with only his own thoughts for company.  On Saturday with Wilder happily ensconced in a relegation battle at Northampton Town, it felt that the burden has been lifted on both club and former manager.

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Ginger Spice

15 Sunday Dec 2013

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Saturday 14th December 2013 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Constable 8 Kitson 90)

DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE 1 (Murphy 45)

Att 4,091 (194 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc Oxford Mail)

This game saw something unusual for OUFC manager Chris Wilder, he actually had to pick the team! With Michael Raynes, Sean Rigg restored to fitness and loanee Asa Hall eligible, the side looked far more like the side top of League 2, and in the FA Cup 3rd Round.

There was one massive surprise though, and that is that the visitors tried to play United at their own passing game. Ask any Oxford United fan how to beat the U’s at Grenoble and you’ll get the same answer. Stifle the midfield, and in particular Dave Kitson, then counter-attack where you can. It worked for Bristol Rovers and Portsmouth, and its got to the point where I settle into my seat expecting more of the same.

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It’s All About You

29 Friday Nov 2013

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Tuesday 24th November 2013 ko 19.45

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 0

NEWPORT COUNTY 0

Att 5,042 (437 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (including Oxford Mail)

Every football fan should have a small corner for Newport County AFC. Not so much for the Newport County, who sank out of the Football League in 1988, and were bankrupt with debts of £330,000 less than a season later, but for the trials and tribulations that befell the reformed club, Newport AFC, that started life in June 1989.

From the outset the aim was always to regain their Football League status, but the new club found a major obstacles in their path.  They played one season in the Gloucestershire village of Moreton-in-Marsh http://wp.me/p1PehW-qP, due to a dispute over the old club’s unpaid rent at Somerton Park before returning to their old ground. Continue reading →

Shelled

24 Sunday Nov 2013

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Saturday 23rd November 2013 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 3 (Constable 15 Rigg 24 Williams 31)

MORECAMBE 0

Att 4,871 (92 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc Oxford Mail)

For the first time this season you could feel the chill wind at Grenoble Road. Obviously the weather was the major quotient, but a sparse crowd, and poor home form were factors. In fact, with a growing injury list too it was easy to forget that Oxford United were and are top of League 2. Nothing I saw from 3pm onwards made me think that statistic was likely to change. Continue reading →

Backlash

06 Wednesday Nov 2013

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Saturday 2nd November 2013 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 0

BRISTOL ROVERS 1 (O’Toole 71p)

Att 6,374 (862 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (incl’ Oxford Mail)

I’ve got used to professional footballers’ interviews with radio stations, the media training tends to remove anything of interest. So OUFC’s Dave Kitson’s interview on Radio Oxford was a welcome breath of fresh air even if, in time the FA disrepute charge will cost him in one form or another.

He described referee Mark Brown as, Continue reading →

Square Pegs

13 Sunday Oct 2013

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Saturday 12th October 2013 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNTED 2 (Constable 44 Rose 45p)

NORTHAMPTON TOWN 0

Att 6,177 (910 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3

It did seem strange swapping the mud of Bedfordshire for some League 2, but that I suppose is the dichotomy of being a groundhopper but also having a season ticket at a Football League club. It was great to get the occasional text and Twitter message from Craig and others that the day went well, and that by and large the weather was kind.

Oxford versus Northampton is one of those fixtures that looks like a local derby but isn’t. Oxford hate Swindon like no other club, but in the case of Northampton I do wonder who their local rivals are these days. It used to be Continue reading →

Rope-a-Dope

10 Thursday Oct 2013

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Tuesday 8th October 2013 ko 19.45

Football League Trophy Southern Section 2nd Round

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Constable 89)

PORTSMOUTH 2 (Agyemang 66 Marquis 82)

Att 3,697 (1,132 away)

Entry £10

Programme £2 (reduced size, fold out) inc’ Oxford Mail

It has to be said that the Portsmouth support for this fixture was astounding, I did start to worry that the away fans would outnumber the home support! I remember Oxford United doing that to St Albans City during OUFC’s first season in the Conference.

The Football League’s competition for the bottom two divisions does at times Continue reading →

That’s the wise thrush; he sings each song twice

08 Sunday Sep 2013

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Saturday 31st August 2013 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Constable 24)

ROCHDALE 1 (Lund 50)

Att 5,260 (203 away)

Entry – Season Ticket

Programme £3 (including free Oxford Mail)

With the plethora of organised groundhops (too many to tell the truth) this season, this was my first visit this season to Grenoble Road. A lot has changed since last season, especially on the playing side with over a team’s worth of players released, and replaced, some from the youth team. There’s been some high-profile recruits, Continue reading →

And deduct the number you first thought of

23 Saturday Mar 2013

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Saturday 16th March 2013 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 0

CHESTERFIELD 1 (Richards 5)

Att 6,003 (385 away)

 

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc Oxford Mail)

A few Oxford United games ago, I commented that the rest of the season would consist of a series of meaningless games, with no possibility of promotion or relegation. Yes, the league table suggests still the possibility of both but take Tuesday’s last-minute win in tandem with this, and what do you get? Two goals in five minutes that utterly cancel out both each other and the two results.

It was the same old story too, one defensive slip, and an excellent finish by Marc Richards and that was it. You could have spared yourself the cold and scuttled home. United huffed and puffed and did easily enough to warrant a victory but as ever the Achilles heel was the finishing. If Alfie Potter could shoot straight both he and OUFC would be playing in League 1, and the proved goalscorer James Constable has developed an annoying habit of trying to smash the leather from the ball ever time he gets a chance. Tom Craddock, ever the mystery wrapped up in an enigma suffered the indignity of being replaced by someone who can’t even claim his goalscoring touch has deserted him, Deane Smalley, as its never been there during his two-season stint here.

Smalley did at least endear himself to himself to the home fans by picking up an unusual booking. Chesterfield left-back Nathan Smith picked up an knock, and received treatment. He carried on but realised he couldn’t carry on, so waited for a throw in. He limped off the pitch to the ball, kicked it away, then walked back onto the pitch and then fell over. With referee Darren Bond not understanding how his authority was being mocked, Smalley forcibly removed Smith from the pitch, and picked up the most popular yellow card I’ll see for a while!

Another game and another inconsistant performance. Soon the season will end, the departures will start and the rebuilding will begin. I suspect many fans are just counting down the hours.