Posted by bab on February 10, 2008, 7:29 am, in reply to "City 0-1 Didcot Town: A View From The (unusually noisy) Terraces"
A very fair and I would say accurate report ChrisB.
It's tempting sometimes to over-react to a defeat especially in a big game but there was very little to choose between the teams and on another day, for sure, Oxford could have finished up winning it.
I have thought for a while now that it's very possible City and Diddy will end up in the play-offs and nothing I saw yesterday changes my mind.
--Previous Message--
: A fantastic early spring day heralded the
: arrival of the biggest crowd (517) at Court
: Place Farm for a league match for more than
: 10 years, with scarves very definitely being
: worn for effect rather than warmth.
: City had a splendid chance to go ahead
: almost before the stragglers had left the
: clubhouse. Yashwa Romeo broke speedily onto
: a Woodruffe pass on the left and managed to
: keep control of the ball as Didcot keeper
: Michael Watkins raced out to tackle him
: outside the area. A pinpoint cross was met
: by the head of Darren Pond but the ball
: passed just outside the post with Watkins
: racing to regain his ground.
: The next ten minutes or so saw Didcot taking
: control of midfield and pushing up onto the
: City back four. Josh Mulvany’s shot failed
: to trouble Steve Smith, and a well-crafted
: move involving Mulvany and Liam Hope ended
: with Andy Williams needing too long to line
: up a shot from a very dangerous position
: around the penalty spot.
: Errol Tellemaque was proving lively for
: City, and a fine cross-field pass found Mark
: Bell whose cross was headed just too high by
: Yashwa Romeo.
: Mark Avery needed to put in an important
: chance-stopping clearance from a dangerous
: cross from Jamie Heapy, but City were coming
: into the game a little more, though with a
: large gap developing sometimes between the
: midfield and the front-runners. George
: Redknap held the ball up well and fed Romeo,
: but his snap-shot lacked the necessary power
: to beat Watkins. Romeo was into action
: again almost immediately when he chased down
: a bouncing through pass from Liam Malone but
: went down with two defenders in close
: attendance before he could get his shot
: away. Half-hearted appeals for a penalty
: were (correctly, I think) rejected by Mr
: Bird.
: Tellemaque again did well to reach Bell with
: a raking pass, and his low drive across the
: box just needed a touch to edge City in
: front: but none came.
: Ashley Vine battled well to win a corner for
: the visitors, but, from the resulting kick
: Witt failed to hit the target. Heapy surged
: forward on the Didcot right, but his cross
: was marginally too high for his target-men.
: Tellemaque twice caused problems in the
: Didcot defence as time ran out. Firstly with
: a powerful drive across Watkins and beyond
: the far post; and then with a volleyed shot
: that Watkins held cleanly.
: In the final minute of the half Avery,
: again, recovered well to break down a Didcot
: attack at the expense of a corner, which
: Andy Parrott headed firmly into the stand.
:
: HALF-TIME: City 0-0 Didcot
:
: City started the second period strongly and
: seemed determined to get forward in greater
: numbers.
: Mark Bell twice within as many minutes
: nutmegged his marker and put testing balls
: into the danger area; George Redknap’s
: cross-cum-shot crept just past the far post;
: and Mark Avery’s centre saw Watkins needing
: to use his height and reach to deny
: Tellemaque.
: With the home defence backing away Jack King
: unleashed a great shot on 55 minutes which
: looked as though it might break the
: deadlock, but, with Steve Smith scrambling
: across his goal, it faded just past his
: left-hand post. And, in the next attack, a
: long throw from Witt eventually reached Jack
: unmarked near the far post, but his header
: missed the mark.
: Just past the hour Didcot made the first
: substitution of the afternoon, with
: youngster Michael Hopkins replacing Mulvany,
: and promptly edged themselves into the lead
: when a shot from Vine was only partially
: stopped by Smith diving to his left, and
: Liam Hope , following up, swept the ball
: home to the delight of the travelling fans.
: City needed to come back quickly from this
: setback, but the Didcot defence seemed to
: grow in stature after the goal and the home
: side, despite the introduction of three
: pairs of fresh legs over the next ten
: minutes, made little headway against
: resolute defending.
: As the home side necessarily pushed men
: forward Didcot were finding more space in
: which to operate and a second goal looked
: possible as Odihambo broke clear, but shot
: wide; Vine tested Smith with a shot that
: bounced worryingly just in front of Smith;
: Odihambo chose to shoot unsuccessfully from
: a very narrow angle with Vine waiting
: patiently by the penalty spot for a pass;
: and Jack set up Vine for a shot that was
: very close to counting.
: City worked industriously to fashion a clear
: chance, but the confident Didcot defence was
: equal to everything, and the nearest the
: home side came to restoring parity was a
: half-chance from a diving header from Pond,
: and a powerful shot from Bell that was
: blocked by a lunging defender.
:
: FULL-TIME: Oxford City 0-1 Didcot Town
:
: City : Smith, Saulsbury ( Janes 69 ),
: Woodruffe ( Davis 72 ), Avery, Pond, Gunn,
: Bell, Malone, Romeo, Tellemaque, Redknap (
: Jones 75 ).
:
: Didcot : Watkins, Heapy, Jack, Williams,
: Parrott, Witt, Mulvany ( Hopkins 61 ), King,
: Odihambo ( Gooding 86 ), Vine, Hope.
:
: It was always going to be close and it came
: as no great surprise that, despite the
: history of two high scoring games earlier in
: the year, a single goal separated the teams
: at the end.
: Still there’s plenty of time left in the
: season and it would be wrong to read too
: much into this narrow defeat: and if we
: can’t win the league then a City/Didcot
: play-off would certainly be a great
: crowd-puller!
: And let’s hope that all those extra fans who
: were backing the team this afternoon will
: continue their support for the remaining
: nine home league matches.
:
:
:
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