Malmesbury Victoria

Posted by ChrisB on March 15, 2008, 8:20 pm

Malmesbury Victoria paid their first ever visit to Court Place Farm this afternoon on the back of two wins and a draw, and looking to move further up the table, though Nomads, having won their last two matches, looked to be running into a good period of form of their own.
The home side started brightly with Ian Roper and Mark Janes running strongly at the visitors’ defence and Roper looked as though he might have gained a penalty as he stumbled under a heavy challenge in the first ten minutes.
Victoria went ahead after twelve minutes in their second real attack as Ed Wilkins found himself in space and raced into the box only to be brought down by Kieran Lewis as he tried to rescue the situation. Wilkins took the spot-kick himself and squeezed his shot beneath Gareth Tucker’s dive.
Nomads continued to have the greater possession and Janes twice had promising runs halted clumsily, but Nomads were unable to capitalise on the resultant free-kicks from useful positions as Woodhouse got good distance with his punched clearances.
As the half-hour approached Malmesbury’s No. 9 thought he had doubled the lead as his lob over Tucker found the net, but the Assistant’s flag came to Nomads’ rescue: but it must have been a very close call.
Play switched to the other end and Nomads’ pressure earned them two corners in quick succession, but again Woodhouse dealt well with the threat, before some quick passing put Malmesbury in on goal and it needed Neil Greig’s considerable experience to spot the danger and produce a fine saving tackle.
Corey Forbes produced a couple of testing crosses, and a neat pass from Ian Roper gave Ben Moses his best sight of goal of the half, but his shot was straight at Woodhouse.

Half-Time: Oxford City Nomads 0-1 Malmesbury Victoria

The visitors had an early chance to stretch their lead and Tucker did well to beat away Wilkins’ shot, but Nomads were back on terms after 49 minutes when Ben Moses’ pass released Roper into the box and he went down under the combined attention of two defenders. Moses’ accurate kick put the ball to Woodhouse’s left – as the keeper went right.
The introduction of Lance Shaw at half-time in place of Darren Quegan, who had suffered a heavy knock early on, seemed to have a positive effect on the Nomads’ attack and he brought a good save from Woodhouse before giving Roper a chance to sprint along the goal-line and bring another fingertip save from Woodhouse, who was becoming increasingly busy.
On the hour Nomads’ increasing pressure in the final third brought its reward as Neil Greig’s free-kick picked out Lee Hewlett pushing forward unnoticed into acres of space on the City right, and his curling cross was powerfully headed home by the unmarked Roper.
Kieran Lewis cleared the clubhouse with a snap-shot after Roper had flicked on a Janes corner, and then a well-read interception by Greig allowed him to race forward and slide a pass through to Roper who ran on to finish well from a difficult angle on 68 minutes.
Two minutes later and scorer turned provider as a long ball out of defence was chased by Roper on the Nomads’ right and his inch-perfect cross was headed firmly past Woodhouse by Moses for Nomads’ fourth.
In the final twenty minutes Malmesbury created two clear chances to narrow the gap but Atkins, and then substitute Price, fired wide of the target having outpaced the defence.
For Nomads a defence-splitting pass from Shaw gave Janes a chance to deliver a deep cross but Forbes’ shot was scrambled away; and Michael Sackey’s centre was headed narrowly past the post by substitute Rhys Denton.

Full-Time: Oxford City Nomads 4-1 Malmesbury Victoria

Nomads: Tucker, Quegan (Shaw 45), Lewis, Hall, Hewlett, Greig, Forbes, Sackey, Moses (Denton 80), Roper (Pitt 80), Janes.

Very definitely one of those games-of-two-halves! Plenty of possession in the first half for Nomads, though it didn’t look like a goal would be forthcoming. Very different after the break when there seemed to be much more space for the players to operate in, and they ran out, in the end, comfortable winners.

Old Woodstock

Posted by Paul on February 23, 2008, 7:13 pm

Oxford City Nomads came away from Old Woodstock Town pointless after a game which appeared destined for a draw until the final minutes.
Both teams cancelled each other out in the first half on a rutted surface with neither keeper troubled.
Half time Old Woodstock 0 Oxford City Nomads 0
On the hour Tucker was brought into the game where he made a point blank save the keep the game scoreless.
In the 70th minute Nomads were then denied what looked an obvious penalty when Ben Moses was brought to the ground under the attention of two Woodstock players.
Woodstock then took the lead in the 87th minute when poor control let in Tom Roberts who tapped the ball home.
With Nomads then pressing for the equaliser,Tom Roberts broke clear and again finished well from a wide position.
This result puts Woodstock on the top of the Hellenic League Division 1 West.
Full Time Old Woodstock Town 2 Oxford City Nomads 0

Tytherington Rocks

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.

Launton

Posted by ChrisB on February 6, 2008, 10:48 am

Nomads, looking to extend an unbeaten run that stretched back to early December, included a number of players with 1st XI experience against a Launton Sports side that had conceded fifteen goals in their last three games.
Nomads started strongly, and in the first minute an in-swinging free-kick from Mark Jones, having a run-out after a lengthy injury, caused problems before finally being scrambled clear. It was not long before pressure built again though, and a forceful run from John Rixon on the City left produced a corner. The ball eventually reached Rixon via Ben Moses and he finished coolly from near the penalty spot after four minutes.
Would this early goal open the floodgates against a side that had conceded seven three days earlier? As often seems to be the case in such circumstances the visitors became more determined and tightened up noticeably, and that extra commitment, combined with some fairly lacklustre play from the home side, saw relatively few clear-cut chances in the subsequent forty minutes.
For Nomads Rixon produced a number of incisive runs on the left and looked the most likely source of problems for the visitors for much of the half, while Mark Janes on the other flank was showing how dangerous his extra pace can be.
Launton came more into the game around the half-hour mark, but were still, in the main, being restricted to long range shots. Their best chance of the half came when Gareth Tucker mistimed a run to the edge of the penalty area and was beaten to the loose ball by Danny Green, but he put his shot into the side-netting from a difficult angle.
As the half wound down, Janes crossed low for Alex Stewart to see his on-target flick smothered by Danny Clifford; Stewart headed wide from a Jones free-kick after Janes had been unceremoniously bundled over by Ellis; another Rixon run produced a chance for George Redknap to test Clifford; and the half ended with Mark Avery side-footing a low, driven Jones corner just wide.

HALF TIME: Nomads 1-0 Launton

Mark Jones was replaced by Mane McKenzie at the break and, with Ben Moses dropping deeper and wider, this seemed to produce more options and cause the visitors more problems.
Launton’s Christian Jones tested Tucker soon after the restart, but Nomads doubled their lead after 48 minutes. Lewis Colwell, pushing further forward this half, released McKenzie whose pace took him clear of defenders to the goal-line and his accurate pass was swept home by Stewart arriving at the near-post.
Nomads were finding more space now, though suffered a few moments concern when Jones chipped a good ball into the area and Joel Meade needed to be alert to clear the danger.
Paul Lisseter kept his team in the game twice within seconds as he headed a goal-bound shot from McKenzie off the line and then promptly repeated the performance as Rixon collected the loose ball and let fly.
Alex Stewart’s header was caught just beneath the bar by the keeper, and then McKenzie’s low cross-shot was pushed round the post by the increasingly busy Clifford.
At the other end Aaron Davies placed his free-kick wide of the target from a good position and Green, through on goal, shot straight at Smith.
A well-hit cross from Colwell found Ian Roper, just called into the action in place of Stewart, in acres of space, but, with the Launton defence calling for the customary relief of the offside flag, his shot was smothered by Clifford and McKenzie shot the rebound just high.
On 75 minutes, though, the steady pressure produced a third goal. A cross from the right by Moses was punched clear by Clifford from amongst a crowd of heads, but only as far as Redknap just outside the area who showed his experience and skill in gently lifting the bouncing ball over the heads of the defenders and under the bar.
Nomads continued in the attacking vein for the last quarter of an hour and McKenzie, Janes and Shaw might all have added to the tally before, with two minutes remaining, McKenzie slid home the fourth goal at the far post after neat work from Roper.

FULL TIME: Oxford City Nomads 4-0 Launton Sports

Nomads: Tucker, Janes, Colwell, Williams, Meade, Avery, Jones (McKenzie 45), Redknap, Moses, Stewart (Roper 70), Rixon (Shaw 77).