Match Report – FTFC Vets 2-1 Oxford City A
Town Vets were back in action at Clanfield (85) FC’s Radcot Road ground on Wednesday, hoping to keep their unbeaten run going and in turn their chances of a league and cup double dream alive! The squad assembled and were in good spirits, creating a great atmosphere in the changing room, which has been the catalyst for the squads form this season.
The opening 10 minutes of the fixture saw both sides battling out a midfield tussle until the opening half-chance fell to skipper Gary Sutton from a corner, who swivelled on a loose ball to half-volley his effort over the bar. The next period of play saw the game get a little niggly between both sides, who were sitting in 1st & 2nd position and lacked any real quality. On the half-hour, Town had their first clear-cut chance as Colin Yates was played through on goal and with the keeper advancing, he failed to beat the keeper in this one on one battle, however the rebound fell to Anthony McCusker 20 yards out, but his chip towards goal was cleared off the line by a covering defenders header. As the half came to a close, Yates had a chance to redeem his earlier miss, but again he failed to score as his effort was palmed to safety by the be-spectacled visiting keeper.
The management needed to remind the lads that they were getting involved in too many things at halftime, rather than play their normal game and that they were playing into the hands of the visitors who had failed to create a single effort on goal in the opening half. Town started brightly and with the energetic Paul Smith now playing up front and stretching the visitors, the gaps began to appear. On 48 minutes, Smith received the ball on the edge of the City penalty area before being cruelly fouled by the massive defender. Somehow, the City man-mountain didn’t receive a card for the challenge and the resulting free-kick from Craig Gaynor was cleared for a corner by the defensive wall. It wasn’t until the 58th minute that the breakthrough finally came, as Town played some neat football up to the City penalty area, hesitation by the visitor’s defenders allowed Paul Hulme to sneak in and hit a terrific right-footed strike which left the keeper motionless and Town took the lead. Two minutes later and the lead was doubled, the City defence couldn’t cope with Smith’s movement and from Glenn Townsend’s through ball, he was hauled down for a penalty to be awarded and the defender received a yellow card. Gaynor stepped up and despite the four-eyed keeper diving the correct way, he couldn’t stop the well-placed spot kick. City then pushed bodies forward to try and grab a goal and applied some pressure to the Town defence which was being well marshalled by Sutton. On 70 minutes a well-struck effort from a City midfielder struck the Town crossbar (some say Town keeper Lee Ruddle got a touch!) before Town had a chance to make the game safe before the move was smothered by the visiting keeper. With five minutes remaining, City did grab a goal, a corner from the left was put into the mixer, Ruddle came to collect, failed to do so as he claimed to have been pushed (really!!) and the loose ball was smashed home to create a nervy finish for the Town squad and bench. Town saw out the game without any further worries and claimed another three points.
Town Gaffer Martin Harries spoke to the club website at the final whistle, “That was a hard fought three points for the squad, they came here to stifle us and wanted to make it a battle. They did that first half and we fell into their trap a little and the lads needed a little reminder at half time. The opening 25 minutes of the second half, they couldn’t live with us and when we start closing sides down and springing into attack, we are hard to match. We’ve got three cup finals to play now to get this league title wrapped up, before the actual cup semi final at the end of March”.
The squad wishes full back, Dave Legg, the best of luck next week, as he goes in for an exploratory operation. All the best LEGO!!!
Squad: Lee Ruddle, Steve Pugh, Dave Legg, Damian Francis, Gary Sutton(c), Glenn Townsend, Pat Graham, Andy Lynham, Colin Yates, Anthony McCusker, Paul Smith, Paul Hulme, Phil Thompson, Nick Wojcik, Craig Gaynor, Troy Redman.
MOTM: Gary Sutton (Proper skipper performance, nothing got past him the heart of the Town defence)
DOTD: Lee Ruddle (Waving to the Folly for their goal! Pushed he say’s!!!)
