Match Report Holyport FC

Uhlsport Hellenic League
Saturday 21st January 2012
Oxford City Nomads 5 – 0 Holyport
Half Time 2 – 0

This was the toughest game Port had faced all season, made even harder with five first team regulars missing. Make no mistake about it Oxford are an extremely good side and should be good enough to win the league.

The game started as the whole game would pan out with Oxford City dominating play and Holyport throwing bodies in the way of crosses and shots. As early as the ninth minute Jamie Jackson in Ports goal had to save a one on one which he did with his legs, Port then cleared their lines. On the thirteenth minute Rolfe made a last ditch tackle to prevent another one on one. Sixteen minutes in and Jackson had to tip a shot over the bar.

Holyport were working hard but as soon as they won it back Oxford were regaining procession and coming straight back at Holyport. It took until the nineteenth minute for Holyport to get near the Oxford keeper. Deverall was released but the ball got held up on the edge of the box and as Deverall was about to shoot the centre back slid in to clear.

Oxford then opened the scoring after twenty one minutes. Jackson once again saved a one on one but this time the rebound fell straight to an Oxford player who shot past the Port defenders as they threw themselves across the goal. Two minutes later and Oxford hit the bar from a header at a corner but Jackson claimed the loose ball.

Holyports best chance of the game then fell to Hawkins, as the ball bounced around 30 yards out and his attempted volley just didn't have enough to lob the Oxford keeper. The ref who had made five bookings in a half that had not seen a bad challenge made then gave Ports Deverall a straight red card. Deverall slid in and won the ball then caught the Oxford player just above the ankle, the referee deemed this dangerous and gave him his marching orders.  OCN view of the is incident…This was almost the last of Deverell’s involvement in the game as a few minutes later he received a hotly contested red card for a tackle on Albi Skendi near the half-way line.

Oxford then doubled their lead on thirty nine minutes to give them a two nil lead at half time.

The second half was backs to the wall and Holyport defended very well until the seventy second minute with every player putting in a tremendous shift of hard work. The final eighteen minutes saw Oxford claim another two goals and win five nil.

No one had any complaints about the result but the referring decisions really did have a massive influence on this game.

Side: Jackson, Rapley, Britnell, Bailey, Rolfe (c), Jerrum, Deverall, Sturgess, Jeffries, Wright & Hawkins.

Subs Used – Butler & Ackerman