Posted by ChrisB on April 2, 2008, 11:01 am
Hillingdon Borough visited Court Place Farm tonight for a match, that if history was any guide, City might have found a tricky hurdle, not having beaten them at home in a league encounter for some time.
City, with a couple of injury-enforced changes, started in energetic fashion with no apparent signs of any hangover from Saturday’s late disappointment against Fleet and Michael Lyon was into action quickly with some incisive running. Josias Carbon’s deep cross was just too high for Mark Bell rising at the far post, and excellent work by George Redknap won him the ball by the corner flag and Barclay Lawrenson in the Hillingdon goal had to stretch to deny Errol Telemaque from his cross.
The visitors’ first chance came on ten minutes when a misplaced pass in the City midfield allowed Leon Nelson time to release Sam Byfield on the left wing whose cross was not far from Blaise O’Brien arriving at the back post.
City, though, were playing tidy football and limiting the opposition with their single front-man to relatively few chances.
Telemaque struck a firm shot just wide of Lawrenson’s post; sharp interpassing between Bell and Redknap produced a cross that Telemaque almost got his head to; Bell worked hard to get himself in a good position but took, perhaps, one too many touches, and then had the ball plucked off his head by the hard-worked and reliable Lawrenson as Telemaque’s centre tested the defense.
Lawrence had a free-kick in a promising position for Hillingdon and found Mark Kirby alone near the penalty spot, but the captain’s header was straight at Steve Smith.
Around the half-hour City were pushing forward convincingly. Telemaque’s run took him behind the defence and his delicate pass into Darren Pond’s path was hit hard and low, but well covered by Lawrenson. Then Bell set off on a run on the left that took him through two solid tackles, but, just as he seemed clear, a third reduced his momentum sufficiently for the ball to be scrambled away.
On 32 minutes, however, the home side’s pressure was rewarded when Telemaque’s persistence near the line won City a corner. Mark Bell’s corner was successfully headed clear of the box by Williams and then returned, perhaps rather hopefully, high into the box, where the only person not convinced a goal-kick would be the outcome was Darren Pond who chased the lost cause and somehow hooked the ball back from the goal-line to Andy Gunn fifteen yards out who made no mistake with his finish.
The visitors came very close to cancelling out the lead five minutes later when a piece of persistent running by Nick Salatatas gave him a chance for a shot which Smith just gathered at the second attempt with O’Brien only inches from connecting.
City had more opportunities to extend their advantage in the last ten minutes of the half. Bell worked a good opening, but his shot lacked power; Lawrenson saved well from a Telemaque drive; and Leon Woodruffe’s huge pass into the box found Michael Lyon ghosting in behind the defence but just unable to control the bouncing ball.
Right on time Hillingdon were denied as George Redknap rose the highest to make an important saving header at the expense of a corner as Byfield’s free-kick caused problems in the City goalmouth.
HALF-TIME: Oxford City 1-0 Hillingdon Borough
Though generally having the upper hand, 1-0 is never a particularly comfortable position and City were showing no sign of trying to sit on the lead. Pond’s first-time shot from Telemaque’s pass was off-target and Lawrenson, never long out of the action, was just first to a through pass intended for Bell.
Salatatas’ pass gave Lucas Williams a chance to run at the City defence, but his cross eluded everyone, before a Bell corner kick was headed on by Gunn into a yawning gap, but no City player was available to apply the final touch.
Yashwa Romeo, on for Redknap, fought hard for a ball in a tight position to free Bell whose shot crashed back off the post, and when Pond’s shot was deflected wide it began to look as though City’s luck was out.
With ten minutes left, though, another Bell run was halted by Williams and, having taken a moment or two to convince himself of the whereabouts of the offence, Mr Eaton pointed to the spot. And Alex Stewart did what he does so well and thumped the ball beneath Lawrenson’s dive.
The last passages of play saw Bell strike the post again, and then almost catch out Lawrenson at his near post with a rasping shot from an acute angle; while Romeo nearly made the most of a good pass from new-boy Craig Falconbridge. Meanwhile George Mapes made sure that Steve Smith was kept on his toes at the other end with a solid shot after a long run on goal.
FULL-TIME: Oxford City 2-0 Hillingdon Borough
City: Smith, Carbon, Woodruffe (Falconbridge 84), Gunn, Pond, Avery, Telemaque, Malone, Redknap (Romeo 76), Lyon (Stewart 72), Bell.
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