Posted by DavidB on April 27, 2007, 7:53 pm, in reply to "City 3-2 Newport IOW: A View From The Terraces" --Previous Message--
Chris, yet another accurate report. Taking all these notes I do not know how you have time to watch the game. It was obvious that some of the City players were suffering after so many games in the last dew days, however they again showed their skills and potential and although there was only one goal difference at the final whistle City were comfortable winners. Anthony Alleyne does deserve a goal after his 110% effort and hopefully management will give him another 90 minutes in the final game of the season. My men of the match were Mark Janes and once again Gavin Lane.
Lets hope we can get 3 points tomorrow thus completing a great run since March this year.
: The twice-postponed visit from the Islanders
: finally took place on what turned out to be
: a rather damp evening at CPF last night with
: the visitors looking to end a long winless
: run that had taken them close to relegation
: danger for a while.
: The pitch was showing a few bare patches but
: was generally in good condition for this
: late in the season and played better than
: for some games recently thanks to a good
: watering.
: City were first into their stride and won
: two early corners but without producing
: anything clear-cut. Although the home side
: were looking the neater, the visitors were
: clearly going to rely on quick breaks from
: defence and seemed to have enough pace to
: produce problems. Sam Hart fired over early
: on and then Mark McEnnery’s run was stopped
: by a timely tackle from Mark Avery. Even so
: it must have surprised City when Mark
: Watson stole in at the far post after nine
: minutes to shoot under Carl Wilkins and
: score only their third goal in eight
: matches.
: City almost equalised immediately when
: Anthony Alleyne was put in by Kieran Lewis,
: but saw his shot pushed just round the post
: by Jamie Bray, and from the resultant corner
: Gavin Lane had his header cleared by a
: defender on the line. A minute later and
: the luckless Alleyne had another on-target
: shot just pushed to safety by Bray.
: It looked as though a City goal would not be
: long in arriving but, all the while, Newport
: were creating chances. McEnnery had another
: strong run, but shot wide, and then Watson
: set up Ashley Wright but he shot over when
: it looked easier to score.
: Play switched to the other end and a fine
: threaded pass from Mark Janes saw Chris
: Harper produce a shot that was saved by the
: post by Bray; and then Harper headed
: narrowly over from a good centre by Mark
: Bell. Finally, on 20 minutes, the equaliser
: arrived. Mark Janes picked up the ball in
: midfield and, shrugging off some hefty
: tackles, fired in a shot from the edge of
: the area that hit the back of the net before
: Bray could react: a contender for most
: supporters’ goal-of-the-season!
: Mark Jones produced a good cross, but Bell’s
: header was comfortably held and then Jones
: himself fired in a low shot when set up by
: Merritt that the keeper did well to parry.
: For the visitors Watson just beat Wilkins to
: a high ball but was penalised for raising
: his foot too high and then Adam Shepherd had
: a good shot just wide from a difficult
: angle.
: On 39 minutes City took a deserved lead.
: Anthony Alleyne’s pace had again given him
: room in the box and his shot produced a
: reflex save from Bray at the expense of a
: corner from which Mark Jones’ precise
: delivery saw Gavin Lane rise more or less
: unchallenged to head home.
: Forays forward by Hart and Watson produced
: corners for the visitors, but no more goals.
:
: HALF-TIME: CITY 2-1 NEWPORT IOW
:
: The Islanders put on two substitutes at
: half-time and one of these, Shane Jones,
: brought a well-judged block from Gavin Lane
: as he set up a shot. McEnnery shot across
: the face of goal and, almost immediately,
: Darren Powell cleared the stand with a hasty
: shot.
: For City Anthony Alleyne couldn’t quite
: control a bouncing ball and skimmed the bar
: with his shot, and then Mark Jones delivered
: a teasing free-kick into the area that
: neither Merritt nor Janes could quite
: capitalise on.
: The start of the final quarter saw
: increasing City pressure. Firstly a Mark
: Jones corner caused problems, but the ball
: was eventually hacked clear; Chris Harper
: put in a fine run and Alleyne sliding in met
: the cross but saw the ball beat keeper and
: defenders to pass just the wrong side of the
: far post; and then another Alleyne run saw
: him hauled down in the box to produce an
: undisputed (unusual these days!) penalty.
: Chris Harper was entrusted with the
: spot-kick but his shot to the keeper’s right
: was pushed behind for a corner. The corner
: kick, not for the first time, caused
: problems for the defenders, and Harper
: made amends for the penalty miss when he
: turned well in a crowd of players to shoot
: strongly past Bray after 72 minutes.
: A run and cross by Mark Janes eluded fellow
: attackers, and another hard-hit shot from
: Janes got the slightest of deflections to
: take it just past the post.
: Just as it looked as though the hosts were
: heading for a comfortable victory the ball
: broke to Newport’s Shane Jones in the box
: and he shot home with four minutes left to
: give City a slightly nervous time before the
: final whistle.
:
: FULL-TIME: OXFORD CITY 3-2 NEWPORT IOW
:
: City : Wilkins, Durrant (Capt.) , Lewis,
: Lane, Avery, Merritt, Janes, Jones (Griffin
: 73) , Alleyne, Harper, Bell (Chakaodza 81)
: .
: Newport : Bray, Dyer, Shepherd (Odering
: 65) , Buckman, Powell, Watson, Cole
: (Sainsbury 45) , White (Wright 45) ,
: McEnnery, Wright, Hart.
:
: Several changes to the listed team, but not
: surprising only 48 hours after the Senior
: Cup Final. Again the young players
: performed with calmness and considerable
: maturity. Kieran Lewis looked very
: comfortable on the ball; Mark Bell showed
: some excellent touches; and Mark Janes put
: in some great runs/crosses on the right (a
: little reminiscent of Terry Morrisey at his
: best?) and hit a goal that would have graced
: any game. The defence did its job calmly;
: the mid-field worked hard; Anthony Alleyne
: ran and ran at the front and was again so
: unlucky not to score. The only surprise was
: that there should be only one goal in it at
: the end.
: Saturday’s game could be quite different,
: with Thatcham going all out for a win that
: might still get them a play-off place: only
: Paulton are assured of one of these places
: and there are still seven sides fighting
: over the remaining three. Quite an end to
: the season.
:
:
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