Saturday saw the three senior and Under 10 Development sides in action, whilst the Under 12’s and 16’s flew the club flag on Sunday.
The 1st Team were in Charity Shield Quarter Final action at Tucker Park, with NBFL Division 1 title challengers Lambourn Sports the visitors. Town took a deserved lead midway through the first half, when Mark Simpkins stooped to head home. Unfortunately, two mistakes allowed Sports to take the lead before the half time break, but Town were still in the tie. The match turned, when Town keeper Ryan Curtis was adjudged to handled the ball outside of the penalty area, which resulted in the match official showing a straight red card to Curtis. With no substitute keeper on the bench, Town faced an onslaught from the visitors with a man down and striker Robbie Harrington between the sticks. Unfortunately, Harrington was helpless to prevent Sports recording a 6-1 final scoreline.
The Reserves made the 25 mile journey to Newbury, to face Turnpike Sports in NBFL Division 2, traveling with the bare eleven and just the 42 year old management team on the bench. Town set up to frustrate the home side and for the first 45 minutes, they managed to do so, apart from one mistake when the ball was allowed to be played across the centre spot puddle whilst in Town possession and this allowed the home side to break away and score. At the half time break, Town were still in the match, just a goal down however, full back Jack Puzey had pulled up injured just before the break and joint manager John Lovegrove had to take the field. The home side took full advantage of some poor Town defending and finished winning 6-1, with Phil Thompson’s consolation being the best finish of the match.
The A’s welcomed fellow relegation fighters Abingdon Town Reserves to Tucker Park in NBFL Division 4, hoping to move away from the danger zone. Town found themselves 2-0 down minutes remaining, however one thing the A’s have always done and that is fight to the end. Top scorer Jason Evans managed to grab a quick fire double with only moments left of the tie to grab a well deserved share of the points.
The under 10’s Development side welcomed Harwell & Hendred Youth to Tucker Park and with a large crowd in attendance, the sides battled hard and played out an entertaining game.
The under 12’s were at Tucker Park on Sunday morning, with Florence Park the visitors who had a 100% record from their opening two Spring C League fixtures. Town who had suffered a heavy defeat last time out, made a pleasing improvement and gained an excellent 2-2 draw, which pleased the coaching duo of Chris Benson & Matty Pill.
The only other youth side in action was the under 16’s, who were also at Tucker Park on Sunday afternoon with top of the table Milton United the visitors. Town more than matched United and took a 1-0 lead, unfortunately their inability to make further chances pay, meant the visitors grabbed two goals in the final 10 minutes to register the three points with a 2-1 win.
