Posted by DavidB on November 17, 2007, 8:38 pm, in reply to "City 5-0 Slough Town: A View From The Terraces"
Chris, again a great and accurate report.
--Previous Message--
: Slough Town visited Court Place Farm this
: afternoon having taken just three points out
: of the last eighteen, and City would have
: been hoping to continue in the manner that
: saw them dispose of Marlow in mid-week.
: The casual observer, therefore, might have
: been forgiven for thinking that recent form
: was not a good guide as Slough came out of
: the blocks quickly and City looked the more
: sluggish of the two teams. In fact Abby
: Nsubuga came very close to putting the
: visitors ahead in the first minute when a
: flicked header put him in on goal, but his
: soft shot was comfortably dealt with by
: Steve Smith. Slough created a number of
: other chances in the opening ten minutes
: before City could settle to their game.
: Christian Metcalfe saw a volley charged down
: and the ball worked wide onto the Slough
: right where Dave Barratt thundered a
: tremendous cross-shot not too much beyond
: the far post. From the goal kick Lee
: Riddell set himself for a long-range lob but
: Smith was back in time to make a head-high
: catch. And with Slough still pressing Mark
: Avery had to be at his sharpest to take the
: ball from Erebendu as he raced into the
: area.
: For City Darren Pond picked up a loose ball
: twenty yards out and fired a foot wide of
: Richard Barnard’s right-hand post just
: before play was held up for three or four
: minutes as Jermaine McSporran lay prone near
: the half-way line after challenging for a
: high ball.
: City began to assert themselves more as the
: first quarter finished. Jon Gardner had a
: good run that it took two defenders to end,
: and McSporran shot just wide when Alex
: Stewart headed down. They edged in front on
: 22 minutes when Stewart hit a firm shot that
: spun off Daly to Mark Bell who cut inside
: from the City right and struck the ball hard
: and low beyond Barnard’s dive.
: Slough came close to an equaliser almost
: immediately as the ball broke kindly for
: Michael Murphy but his shot faded wide of
: the post.
: City’s longer-range passes were gaining in
: accuracy now: firstly Bell was put in for a
: strong run to the line to deliver a cross
: that was bundled behind for a corner; and
: then James Saulsbury and Bell combined well
: to release McSporran and his low
: cross-cum-shot was just missed by Stewart.
: The lead was doubled on 32 minutes when a
: neat header by Stewart allowed Jermaine
: McSporran to beat the offside trap and he
: finished well with the outside of the right
: foot to place a neat flick over Barnard as
: he slid off his line.
: City realistically made the game safe with a
: third first-half goal with five minutes
: remaining. A run by Gardner was stopped
: untidily by Robinson, gaining the Slough
: defender a yellow card, and Gardner’s
: free-kick was headed beyond Barnard at the
: far post by Alex Stewart .
: With the clock running down towards
: half-time another blockbuster shot from Dave
: Barratt was smothered, possibly unwittingly,
: by Andy Gunn, and Metcalfe had another fair
: chance but shot wide of the target.
:
: HALF-TIME: City 3-0 Slough
:
: Slough began the second period as they did
: the first and quickly forced a corner that
: Daly headed just beyond the far post, and
: then were presented with a good chance five
: minutes in when Erebendu was fouled near the
: edge of the area, but Riddell’s free-kick,
: though powerfully struck, was straight at
: Smith who held it with ease.
: Ikechi Anya replaced McSporran, who had not
: completely shaken off the effects of the
: first-half injury, and was immediately into
: the action with a run and pass that was cut
: out just short of a well-placed Stewart. On
: 55 minutes a great piece of football saw a
: slide-rule pass from Bell allow Pond to run
: on and cut the ball back to Stewart by the
: penalty spot, but his first-time shot was
: neatly held by Barnard. Another trademark
: Anya run two minutes later set up Stewart
: again, but his shot lacked power and
: Barnard, having a good afternoon, parried
: the ball to Anya who saw the subsequent
: ‘goal’ ruled out (correctly) for off-side.
: Slough were still breaking quickly when the
: chance arose and Barratt might have done
: better with his header from a cross from the
: left.
: Anya’s runs were causing Slough problems and
: usually drawing two defenders giving space
: elsewhere for City attackers, and as he
: latched on to a sharp ball over the top
: twenty minutes into the half the Slough
: cover did well to react quickly enough and
: clear the ball for a corner. Mark Bell
: flighted the ball to the far post and Andy
: Gunn , not for the first time this season,
: headed home to take his personal tally to
: six for the campaign.
: With quarter of an hour left there were a
: few sighs of relief in the City camp as only
: a yellow card was brandished as Steve Smith
: stumbled out of his area with the ball
: firmly in his grasp when under no particular
: pressure.
: The Blues were working the ball around well:
: Anya shot wide on a couple of occasions
: after eluding his marker(s), and Barnard
: saved well (again) from Darren Pond after a
: good interchange of passes with Gardner had
: put him in the clear.
: Jon Gardner wrapped up the scoring for the
: afternoon with eight minutes remaining when
: he picked up a loose ball twenty five yards
: out and curled a terrific shot beyond a
: surprised Barnard’s dive.
: Slough looked likely to gain a consolation
: when a long cross caught the City defence
: wrong-footed for once and reached substitute
: Landy Sakala, but Smith reacted well, pulled
: off a point-blank save and saw the rebound
: fired over the bar.
: The last chance of the match fell to the
: irrepressible Anya who again raced into the
: Slough box and saw his shot deflected
: through the keeper’s legs, but, with the
: pace taken off the ball, Barnard had time to
: retrieve the situation.
:
: FULL-TIME Oxford City 5-0 Slough Town
:
: Oxford City : Smith, Saulsbury (Janes 67)
: , Cattell, Gunn, Pond, Avery, Gardner,
: Malone, McSporran (Anya 53) , Stewart
: (Redknap 72) , Bell.
: Slough Town : Barnard, Robinson, Woodruffe
: (Attrell 72) , Daly, Harper, Barratt
: (Browne 90) , Metcalfe, Murphy, Erebendu,
: Nsubuga (Sakala 62) , Riddell.
:
: P.S. My thanks to the fantastic
: minute-by-minute highlights (how do you do
: that!!?) on the Slough website for
: identifying some Slough players that I
: couldn't see.
:
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