Posted by ChrisB on February 16, 2008, 7:46 pm
A bright and brisk afternoon saw both sides come into this match with good strings of results behind them. Nomads were missing some of their younger players, away representing the County, but welcomed back Darren Quegan, Kieran Lewis and Aaron Hall.
Mane McKenzie had an excellent chance in the first minute of the game when he broke into the box, but Tytherington keeper, Rob Dent, managed to smother the shot and the ball was scrambled clear. A sign of things to come? Unfortunately not, as the visitors quickly tightened defensively and restricted Nomads to speculative shots from distance for most of the half, and, with the tall pair of Phil Ward and Tarik Whitcliffe dealing confidently with a string of high crosses from the Oxford flanks, the visitors began to press forward with more confidence.
Darren Bright brought a save from Gareth Tucker; the lively Anthony Beacham was just offside as he raced onto a through pass; and Mark Hughes couldn’t quite control a ball that reached him in a dangerous position.
McKenzie had two chances at the other end in quick succession, but neither shot troubled Dent.
On the half-hour a flurry of activity on the Nomads’ right saw the ball end up at the feet of Beacham in space near the penalty spot and he shot over Tucker and into the net to edge the visitors in front.
Andrew Finch shot narrowly wide of Tucker’s right-hand post two minutes later, and, in their next attack, Hughes benefited from a defensive error and went to ground as he took the ball past Tucker and, after a moment’s hesitation, Mr Soloman pointed to the spot. Beacham tucked the kick just inside the post.
Nomad’s best chance in the remainder of the half came after Danny Castro was fouled on the edge of the Tytherington box. Mario Herrero’s left-footed kick was close to the top corner, but was well kept out by Dent. The ball was eventually prodded over the line after a melee, but not before the whistle had blown.
HALF-TIME: Nomads 0-2 Tytherington
A flowing move right at the start of the second period saw Castro just beaten to the ball by Dent, but hopes that the home side might stage a comeback were dashed in the 49th minute when loose marking allowed Finch acres of space to collect a pass and run on to shoot accurately beyond Tucker’s left-hand.
Nomads reacted positively and Ben Moses had a shot on target that Dent did well to clutch as it arrived through a forest of legs, and McKenzie drew another good save after he had collected a precise pass from Joe Parker and beaten his marker.
Danny Thompson might have increased the lead further but placed his shot wide with just Tucker to beat, and Parker did well to dispossess Thompson a few minutes later as he was about to shoot.
In the final quarter there was little of note at either end, though a curling free-kick from Castro caused some concern in the Tytherington defence before Aaron Hall shot over the bar, and Nomad’s third corner of the match brought a good header from Moses. And Tytherington’s best opportunities to go further ahead came as Whitcliffe almost headed home a Dunton free-kick, and Nathan Irwin’s jinking run gave him a chance right at the death, but he shot straight at Tucker.
FULL-TIME: Oxford City Nomads 0-3 Tytherington Rocks
Nomads: Tucker, Quegan, Lewis, Sackey, Hewlett (Holmes 60), Parker, Castro, Moses, McKenzie, Shaw (Denton 72), Herrero (Hall 53).
Tytherington: Dent, Dunton, Irwin, Ward (Thompson S. 82), Whitcliffe, Garbacz, Finch, Bright, Beacham, Thompson D. (Jones 82), Hughes.
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