Posted by Paul on February 7, 2008, 5:08 pm, in reply to "This Weekend ..."
Speak to Rob Holt, he certainly went.
--Previous Message--
:
: February 9th
:
: NOW
:
: Didcot Town visit Court Place Farm this
: afternoon for what is clearly a
: ‘six-pointer’. So far this season the two
: matches involving the two sides have
: produced high-scoring contests: a 3-3 draw
: at Loop Meadow in the league (goals from
: Jones, McSporran and an own goal); and a 3-4
: home defeat in the errea Cup (goals from
: Pond (2) and Gardner). It seems slightly
: odd now that, until last season, there had
: actually been very few matches between these
: two near-neighbours. In fact, apart from
: the meeting in the Amateur Cup (see below),
: the only other competitive match was back in
: September 1976 in the FA Cup when, on the
: day after Maurice Kyle had resigned as
: City’s manager, Didcot, then in Division One
: of the Hellenic League, pulled off one of
: the local surprises of the Round by beating
: City 1-0.
:
: THEN
:
:
:
: This weekend in 1959 , City travelled to
: Crook Town in the Third Round (last sixteen)
: of the Amateur Cup. City had entered the
: competition right back in the Extra
: Preliminary Round and played eight matches
: and scored a remarkable 51 goals to reach
: this point in the Cup. Thus far they had
: beaten Banbury NAC 10-0; Kidlington 5 2;
: Morris Motors 12-2; Abingdon Town 4-1;
: Didcot Town 4-1; St Albans City 6-1; Ilford
: 3-1 and ICI (Alkalis) 7-3. So hopes were
: high as they travelled North, but the
: weather was bad and City were out-fought in
: a physical match. Monday’s Oxford Mail
: takes up the story:
:
: “Oxford City returned from Crook Town after
: their 5-2 defeat with more casualties than
: in any other game for several seasons. Most
: seriously hurt was Harris, this nail in the
: coffin coming almost immediately after Crook
: had snatched two goals within three minutes
: to lead 4-2 with fifteen minutes remaining.
: …Ross bruised his ankle as Crook were
: scoring their second goal and ended up as a
: passenger at centre-forward; Goodison was
: hurt after five minutes and was in pain
: throughout the game; while Nathan picked up
: his injury in the second half with the
: scores level.
: …Until the final quarter it was still just
: about anybody’s match and despite their
: injury list City looked capable at least of
: earning a replay.
: Crook twice took the lead in the first half
: but City fought back strongly and thoroughly
: deserved to be on terms at the interval.
: After the change over the unfamiliar attack
: – Ross in the centre and Goodison out of the
: line at right-half – had the home defenders
: back-pedalling for a long spell. But the
: unbalanced City attack was just not powerful
: enough, although Taylor had a splendid
: chance to swing the game in the City favour,
: but passed to Ross who was easily
: dispossessed.
: Crook were undoubtedly a strong, hard, side,
: stronger in defence than attack. They were
: just that bit quicker on the ball than City
: and moved it about more speedily and
: forcefully. But there were times when
: City’s teamwork showed up weaknesses in the
: home defence, and had they not run into a
: spate of injuries the result could have been
: very different.
: To win the Cup a team must have more than
: its share of luck. The only luck that the
: City enjoyed at the weekend was the choice
: of their hotel in Darlington.
: Bricknell (penalty) and Goodison scored for
: City.”
:
:
:
:
: Crook Town went on to win the Amateur Cup in
: front of 60,000 at Wembley by beating Barnet
: 3-2.
:
: In the FA Cup City had had relatively
: straightforward wins against Banbury Spencer
: and Chesham United and had taken a 2-0
: half-time lead at the Manor against
: Headington United, but the professionals
: fought back strongly to win 3-2 with a late
: goal.
: In the league the team was playing as well
: as it had for a number of years under the
: guidance of Percy James and, for a time, it
: looked as though they were in with a chance
: of the championship. But they were left
: with a huge backlog of matches by their cup
: run and fell away towards the end of the
: season to finish fourth.
: In the Oxfordshire Senior Cup City had a bye
: to the Second Round where, because of the
: Amateur Cup run, they finally played Pegasus
: four weeks later than the date originally
: set for the match, and brushed them aside
: 5-0. The Quarter Final match, however,
: produced one of the biggest shocks for many
: years when they lost 2-1 at Thame United
: who, the press were quick to point out,
: played at the same level as the City’s 3rd
: XI. They did, however, beat Bicester Town,
: 3-2, to win the Benevolent Cup on a
: scorching May afternoon. Arthur Howlett
: needed one goal in this match to reach his
: half-century for the season and his
: team-mates tried their hardest to set one
: up, but to no avail: he even missed a
: penalty. He did score the elusive goal in
: the Whitsun Tour of Holland against Gooi,
: from Hilversum, and then, for good measure,
: scored a hat-trick in the 7-2 defeat of
: Wanner Eikel in the other tour match. After
: lengthy searching of the archives it was
: agreed that this was the first time that a
: player had reached fifty for a season for
: the 1st XI. Ron Goodison was also on good
: form and reached 44 in a season that saw the
: team score over 170 goals in all matches.
: Doug Buswell was reserve for the England v
: Ireland match in September, and Bernard
: Harris was chosen for the South v North
: England Trial, where he scored the South’s
: only goal. These two, and Arthur Howlett,
: were attracting considerable attention and
: scouts from Charlton and Everton were
: spotted at the White House. Tony Bricknell
: and Howlett represented the Isthmian League
: against the Athenian League on Boxing Day;
: and Bryan Codd was selected for the League
: Reserve XI against the Spartan League in
: November. From the Colts Ian Rundle and Vic
: Mobley were starring in an excellent Oxford
: Boys XI, and Mobley had an England
: Schoolboys’ Trial in February.
:
: Any memories from anyone who made the long
: trek up North ?
:
:
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