Oxford Blackbirds B - Away

Today Oxford City Colts travelled to Blackbird Leys to take on Oxford Blackbirds 'B'in a re-arranged 'A' league fixture.

Missing the influencial Donald Zui through injury a slight reshuffle was necessary,City started brightly moving the ball well and using the full width of the pitch well,unfortunately after a lapse in concentration by city, Oxford Blackbirds took the lead with a well struck shot,Colts continued passing and were patient in their build up and this was rewarded when Liam Palfreeman latched on to a superb through ball and with clinical finishing he equalised from 12 yards,within 5 minutes colts went 2-1 up after some great wing play with the ball being put into the six-yard box from first the left and then the right wing and with Brodie Rogers chasing down a ball that he really had no right to catch as it was going for a goal-kick,he kept the ball in play, then played the ball back for Liam Palfreeman to knock home at the near post for his and colts 2nd goal,just before half-time Blackbirds equalised.

HALF-TIME OXFORD BLACKBIRDS'B'2 - OXFORD CITY COLTS 2

In the second-half kicking up-hill and with Blackbirds bouyant after equalising just before the break the game was very competitive with both teams getting in some good strong challenges,Colts went 3-2 ahead when Liam Palfreeman showed quick feet to get behind the Blackbirds defence and from the goalline he pulled the ball back for Jacob Bennett to slide the ball home with his left foot.Goal number 4 for City came after the ball was played from side to side across the Blackbirds 18 yard box and when Tony O'Donnell received the ball in space he finished expertly with a shot into the bottom corner.

The game was made safe after Rhys Davies battled away up front and when the ball broke kindly for him in front of goal he drove the ball home to give Oxford City Colts a 5-2 lead and with this score his 1st goal of the season,2 minutes from time Oxford Blackbirds had a free-kick 20 yards out and after a couple of deflections the ball found its way into the back of the net.

FINAL-SCORE OXFORD BLACKBIRDS 'B'3 - OXFORD CITY COLTS 5

Although not firing on all cylinders this morning this was a very good away win and another well earned 3 points.

TEAM - ANDREW SHEPPARD,GEORGE KIRBY,LOUIS KNOTT,JAY FERGUSON,LIAM POWELL,CHARLES FALOYE(LEWIS COOK 40 mins,BRODIE ROGERS,TONY O'DONNELL, TOM WEIR(JACK SPENCER 35mins),LIAM PALFREEMAN,JACOB BENNETT(RHYS DAVIES 50 mins).
SUB NOT USED- MICHAEL MORONEY(GOALKEEPER)

Marston Saints-Away

On Sunday Oxford City Colts took on top off the table Marston Saints,with the 8-2 cup defeat still fresh in the Colts players minds they knew that they would have to be on top form to take anything from the game, although Marston a slightly depleted side Colts started the game the hungrier team and it paid dividends when a Donald Zui shot deflected past the Marston goalkeeper to put us 1-0 up,after some excellent work from the forever improving Charles Faloye on the right side he managed to knock home number 2 for the colts from the 6-yard box.

Goal number 3 came from Donald Zui (who was playing against his former club) as he managed to out pace the Marston defence down the left,finishing with a sweetly struck shot into the back of the net.With the Colts midfield constantly harassing and creating openings just before half-time a defence splitting ball through the centre from Liam Palfreeman was steered past his own goalkeeper by the Marston centre-back as he was under great pressure from the lively Jacob Bennett.Marston did have a couple of chances just before the break but nothing came of them.

HALF-TIME OXFORD CITY COLTS 4, MARSTON SAINTS 0

Defending the goal with bright sunshine in their eyes during the second-half all the Colts player's knew how important it was to concentrate and clear their lines in order not to allow a good Marston side a chance to get back into the game,having lost their left-back Louis Knott at the interval due to family committments changes were necessary with Donald Zui superbly dropping in to this position and coping extremely well.Colts continued playing excellent football and after Liam Palfreeman had an excellent chip superbly cleared off the Marston line he made no mistake when the opportunity arose to put colts into a now comfortable 5-0 lead.
FINAL SCORE- OXFORD CITY COLTS 5,MARSTON SAINTS 0

Once again the whole team were tremendous,the midfield was controlled by the impressive Tony O'Donnell and Brodie Rogers,and once again the back-four never gave a ball up and their determination to keep their first clean sheet of the season was rewarded,their solidity at the back allowed the rest of the team to play with a little more freedom.

Many thanks to Rob Tutton for was again taking control of the middle for me, it is much appreciated

Crowmarsh-Away

This week we played away to Crowmarsh Youth,and it turned out to be one of those games that when the final whistle went you just stand and wonder how you lost.In the first half Oxford City Colts had the majority of the possession whilst continually producing chance after chance but for once we could not convert, once again we gave a solid back four performance and with captain Jay Ferguson forming a great partnership with Liam Powell in the centre of defence plus add two full-backs with strength and determination(Louis Knott and George Kirby)then i can only see our performances continuing to improve.At times we laid seige to the Crowmarsh goal so I believed it would only be a matter of time before we scored but as it turned out the Crowmarsh goalkeeper was in tremendous form and luck was not on our side.

Half-time Crowmarsh 0,OCC 0

In the second half Crowmarsh came out a different side but still we all felt confident of taking at least a point from this game but once again we were hit by the sucker punch and Crowmarsh went 1-0 up,we all know how important the first goal in a game is and so this proved as when chasing the game the team lost some of its shape and gaps started to appear this enabled Crowmarsh to pinch a further 2 goals.

Once again well done to all the boys,how we lost I cannot explain,keep your heads up as our team is not that far away and we shall continue to work and learn in order to keep progressing.

TEAM - Michael Moroney,George Kirby,Louis Knott,Tony O'Donnell,Liam Powell,Jay Ferguson,Brodie Rogers,Liam Palfreeman(Tom Weir 35mins),Jacob Bennett(Jack Spencer 40mins),Donald Zui(Rhys Davies 50 mins)

CROWMARSH YOUTH 3, OXFORD CITY COLTS 0

Reporter: Tony Rogers

Quarry Rovers-Away

Quarry Rovers 2, Oxford City Colts 0

Oxford City Colts made the short journey up the road to near neighbours and 'local rivals' Quarry Rovers,with the conditions excellent and with a good vociferous crowd the game was fast and frantic,possibly due to the fct that many of the boys knew ech other and neither side wanted to taste defeat and concede school yard bragging rights.

The first half was very tight and extremely competitive but played in a very good spirit,the Colts back four of George Kirby,Liam Powell,Jay Ferguson and Louis Knott put on their best display of the season so far(maybe it had something to do with the extra coaching they received from veteran Rob Tutton on saturday),and goalkeeper Michael Moroney was on top of his game with outstanding handling and he showed great anticipation to the long ball over the top by coming off his line very quickly to make several important clearances,goalscoring opportunities were at a premium so the teams went in all square at the interval.

The second half started where the first left of with Quarry putting the Colts defence under pressure and it finally paid of when for once they failed to clear the ball despite having a number of chances to do so and Qarry scored to go 1 up,despite this heads did not go down and Colts pressed in search of the equaliser, the introduction of Jack Spencer gave colts their two best opportunities of the game to score as twice he managed to out pace the Quarry defence only to be denied once by the goalkeeper and once to power a shot narrowly wide,with both teams tiring more space was opening up and after the best bit of football of the game Quarry managed to net the second to go 2 up.

All the boys were exceptional and a credit to themselves,their parents and especially to me,if we continue to improve and perform like this then the season ahead will be very enjoyable for us all.

Well done boys lets take this performance to Crowmarsh on sunday which will once again be a very difficult test.

TEAM - Michael Moroney,George Kirby(Rhys Davies 54 mins),Liam Powell,Jay Ferguson,Louis Knott,Tony O'Donnell,Brodie Rogers,Charles Faloye(Jack Spencer 45 mins),Donald Zui,Jacob Bennett(Tom Weir 17mins),Liam Palfreeman(lewis Cook 34mins). Sub not used Andrew Sheppard(Goalkeeper)

Would also like to say the game was very well officiated by referee Neil McCrae,thanks Neil it made for a really good competitive game.

Reporter: Tony Rogers