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Football: Wherever it may be

~ Laurence's football travels

Football: Wherever it may be

Tag Archives: ladies

Belief

25 Thursday May 2017

Posted by laurencereade in B

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Tags

Ardley United, Benson Lionesses, Benson Lions, Cup, final, Football, ladies, Nomads, Oxford City, Oxfordshire FA, Womens

Sunday 23rd April 2017 ko 16.30

Oxfordshire FA Women’s Cup Final

OXFORD CITY LADIES 2 (Avery 9 McCabe 83)

BENSON LIONESSES 0

Att c100 at Ardley United FC

Entry & Programme £4

As competitions go, I suspect this one needs a rethink as Oxford City Ladies have won this one 12 times in 16 years! Now that’s no criticism of Oxford City, you can only beat what’s in front of you, and I’d note that Oxford United’s women’s team were notable by their absence from this competition. It didn’t help when Lionesses’ manager Jon Radcliffe was told to “Enjoy your day” with no one giving his side the slightest of chances. That unintentional slight certainly galvanised Jon and his team, not that they ever needed the motivation, and I certainly know why! Continue reading →

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Relationships

04 Sunday Dec 2016

Posted by laurencereade in L

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Football, groundhopping, Holywell, ladies, Long Eaton United, Loughborough University, Midlands, Women, Womens Premier League

Sunday 27th November 2016 ko 14.00

FA Women’s Premier League- Midlands Division 1

LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS WOMEN 1 (Colledge 68)

LONG EATON UNITED LADIES 4 (Newton 2 62 Moulton 40 Pashley 74)

Att 12 at Holywell Pitch 4, Loughborough University

Entry FREE

No Programme

For somewhere a two-hour drive from Oxford I don’t half see a lot of Loughborough University! It is of course entirely logical that a football enthusiast should see a lot of Britain’s leading university for sport, starting with the Paddock Pitch for Loughborough Students’ game with the now sadly defunct Woodbourne Sports. Then there was the more straightforward visit to the Holywell Stadium for Longborough University’s match with Heanor Town. Last time I discussed the relationship between town and university, but those games, and this visit hints at another relationship altogether. Continue reading →

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Another Octave

24 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by laurencereade in E

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Club Wembley, England, Germany, International, ladies, Wembley, Wembley Stadium, Women, women's football

Sunday 23rd November 2014 ko 15.00

Women’s International Friendly

ENGLAND 0

GERMANY 3 (A Scott 6og Sasic 12 45)

Att 45,619 at Wembley Stadium

Entry- Complimentary

Programme £5

It’s a fact of my footballing life that I don’t watch nearly enough women’s football. My cause in that respect was aided when a league I work with offered two Club Wembley seats, and I pondered how to get to the national stadium with the Jubilee, and Metropolitan tube lines closed for planned engineering work.

Continue reading →

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Am I still watching?

26 Sunday May 2013

Posted by laurencereade in O

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

BMW, ladies, Lauren Allison, Oxford Sports and Social Club, oxford united., South West Womens Combination, swindon town, Tash Caswell

Wednesday 22nd May 2013 ko 18.45

South West Women’s Combination

OXFORD UNITED 3 (Allison 4 8 Caswell 76)

SWINDON TOWN 0

Att c100 at Oxford United Training Ground, Roman Way, Oxford

Entry FREE

No Programme

“For Pete’s sake!” I thought as I drove the two or so miles to the former Rover Cowley ground, “How on earth am I still watching Oxford United when it’s nearer to June than April?”

The answers of course were manifest. Apart from a tasty local derby, Oxford United’s women’s team are the success story of the club this season, and this was the last game of the season, and it transpires, the last ever time the ladies side will use the ground. However the best reason for being there was to celebrate the side having won the league.

With the club’s election to the Women’s Super League, ground-grading considerations mean games will played at Abingdon United’s Northcourt Road. That’s a shame for the Roman way ground as its a little gem of the Oxford footballing scene. Its a gem that needs to be visited too, as its future is, at best uncertain.

The entire facility, with its cricket, bowls, social club and multiple football pitches is owned by BMW, whose car plant is behind. The lease is owned by Oxford Sports and Social club but they intend to hand back the facility and cease trading when the lease expires in 2016, citing a falling membership and demographic changes. So far there’s been no indication from BMW as to their plans for the ground.

So from now on in, the only way to see a competitive game here will be to watch Oxford United’s youth team, or hope that the Oxford City FA, (themselves having problems with dwindling interest) use the ground for a cup final. All manner of teams both on Saturday and Sunday use the outside pitches.

But the job is hand was the final game, whoever the opposition. There were two surprises though, the first was the Swindon team not forming a guard of honour as the sides came out. The second was that the league didn’t see fit to present the trophy at the end. The players celebrated with gusto, but looking through my pictures it does seem that there’s something missing- the trophy.

Now as an Oxford United fan you will probably never hear me utter this phrase again, “I felt sorry for Swindon,” but I did. I’ll leave to one side the individually sponsored kit shirts, printed with red letters on a red background, but this was for them an exercise in completing the season. They only named 2 substitutes from a possible 5, and found themselves two down in less than 10 minutes.

That was down to Natasha Caswell’s eye for a through ball and Lauren Allison’s predatory instincts in front of goal. Goals 49 and 50 for the campaign is a exceptional return, and its a pity she’ll now be lost to the club, moving to the USA on a sports scholarship. After that, the game settled down to a pattern of complete Oxford domination, Swindon being reduced to two decent chances, Abby Picton and Niamh Rawlins both seeing shots hit the bar. But with time running down Natasha Caswell was on hand to bundle Dani Anderson’s cross home to give the score a more realistic feel, and then it was time to celebrate.

Lauren Allison runs clear

Natasha Caswell scores

Champs!
Lauren Allison given the bumps


 

 

 

The Spark

05 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by laurencereade in O

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Tags

Abby Picton, abingdon united fc, Chynna Collings, Hananh Cox, hellenic league, Kirsty Shell, ladies, Lauren Allison, Lindsay Pinker, mark deegan, Natasha Caswell, oxford united., Sahara Osborne Ricketts, soccer, Swindon Town Ladies

Sunday 3rd March 2013

South West Women’s Combination League Cup Quarter-Final

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Allison 28 80)

SWINDON TOWN 4 (Collings 9 64 Shell 78 Picton 82)

Att 57 (h/c) at Abingdon United FC

Entry FREE

Northcourt Road and I go back a long way. I was there in November 1994 when Abingdon United unveiled their floodlights with a game against Oxford United. They were expecting the youth team, but since the first XI had embarrassingly lost at Marlow in the FA Cup so as punishment the first team played the first half and the reserves the second. The second half was notable for keeper Mark Deegan chatting to the substitutes warming up, only to look up horrified as he was lobbed from 40 yards!
I also remember visiting in August 2003 when as part of the Hellenic League’s 50th anniversary celebrations, Oxford United sent a mixture of youth and trialists who were obviously bored, and unprofessional. They were soundly beaten by an unimpressed Hellenic League select XI and all of the trialists were shown the door the next day. I have never been so embarrassed to be an Oxford United fan as I was that day.

Since then Northcourt Road has been a regular destination for North Berkshire League Cup finals, mostly it seems involving Continue reading →

The Commitments

11 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by laurencereade in O

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3G, Catherine Beaver, Community Arena, Hannah Cox, ladies, Natasha Caswell, Newquay, Oxford City, oxford united., soccer, South West Womens Combination, Victoria Taylor

Sunday 10th February 2013 ko 14.00

South-West Women’s Combination

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Beaver 26secs Caswell 53)

NEWQUAY 1 (Taylor 23)

Att 10 (h/c)

Entry FREE

Programme None

Normally speaking Oxford United’s women’s team play their fixtures at the former Rover Cowley Ground, on Romanway, but with the pitch waterlogged the tie was switched to to Oxford City’s new 3G pitch at Court Place Farm.

The Community Arena incorporates a pavilion and 6 netball courts together with the full-sized, caged 3G pitch. It opened in January 2012 at a cost of £2.1 million, but there are two flaws if you’re a spectator, there is no cover, and you have to watch from the outside of the cage. The latter isn’t too bad, I’m old enough to remember fences at football grounds, but it’s difficult to track the ball from left to right as the fence gets more dense. That I won’t remember, what I will, was the freezing cold, and the driving rain that slowly turned into sleet.

Oxford are top of the division, 4 points ahead of Keynsham Town, who have 2 games in hand. That is because Oxford have had a run in the Women’s FA Cup, in fact they play Premier League Newcastle United at Grenoble Road on Sunday 24th, their first appearance at the main stadium. With the Cornish Peppermints down in eighth place I expected a straightforward home win, even if, sensibly the visitors had stayed in Oxford the night before. That would be in marked contrast to their male counterparts!

It started so well,  Lauren Allison outpacing her marker; her shot was saved but Catherine Beaver was sharp enough to bury the rebound. I waited for the goals to come with a metronomic efficiency but despite Oxford having the vast majority of the possession, the goals didn’t come. Chances were spurned, and the inevitable happened. A Newquay free-kick was tipped on to the bar by keeper Hannah Cox, a follow-up shot hit the post, but Victoria Taylor was on hand to bundle home the equaliser.

The second half followed a similar patten, albeit with Natasha Caswell coming more to the fore, pushing the side forward from the centre. Eventually the pressure paid off, a clumsy challenge allowing Caswell to convert from the penalty spot. It’s a win that maintains United’s lead, and you can see how they’ve progressed so well in the cup, they maintain pressure on the opposition so well. Whether that run can be continued will be fascinating to watch.



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