Witney suffered a shock defeat as Highworth registered only their 3rd win of the season 1-0 on Saturday afternoon. The goal came deep into injury time from Clark and pushed Witney down to 6th place in the table - a massive 10 points off of leaders Marlow and Wantage could make that a 13 point gap if they win their games in hand.

Here is the match report from Highworth Town (thanks to them for the article)

On a sunny afternoon and with a well-groomed pitch, the conditions were perfect for a good game of football and so it proved for the home team at least! The Worthians have been playing well recently, but have given away early goals leaving a mountain to climb. The Blanketmen are the league’s top scorers by a long way and so this fixture hinged on the performance of the Worthian defensive strategy.

The first half belonged to the Worthians who worked hard and played some great football. When Darren Smart had to be replaced early with a hamstring pull, the Worthian heads could have gone down but Ryan Welland proved to be an able deputy.

The Worthian defence stifled the Witney forward line and their forwards created a number of goal-scoring opportunities. Witney seemed to rely on the quick counter-attack and the long ball which was easily defended by the well-organised Worthians. Witney’s best attacking moves of the half came from James Dobson who was able to utilise the left flank to great advantage.

Highworth’s best opportunities of the half came from Ryan Welland whose great strike was well saved by Alan Foster; Aaron Maximen who made space for himself in the Witney penalty area but pulled his shot wide and Ryan Welland again, who headed over from a good Chris Flanagan cross.

Witney’s came from Ryan Brooks, whose shot was cleared off the line by Liam Williams and James Dobson, whose solid strike was saved by Ryan Griggs.

The Blanketmen lost James Dobson early in the second period but they played in a more cohesive manner and put the Worthians under a lot of pressure. As the half wore on the game became more of an end-to end affair with Witney’s attacking moves breaking down and then Highworth creating their own counter-attacking moves.

In the final 20 minutes both sides had clear-cut chances; for the Blanketmen a through ball found Ryan Brooks who tamely shot into the arms of Ryan Griggs when a goal looked most likely and then Conor McDonagh had a penalty shout turned down followed by a shot from a narrow angle which went wide.

However, the Worthians should have scored when Brad Clark put Talif Hamza through and his crisp pass to Steve Robertson left the striker with the easiest of tap-ins from just over a yard out but somehow he missed the ball! Brad Clark himself went close when TJ Bohane put him through in the box but Alan Foster did well to keep the ball out of the net. Brad again was the provider with a ball to the back post but Steve Robertson could not quite reach the sharp cross.

The game looked likely to end in a stalemate but in added time, Ryan Welland played an absolutely sublime ball into the path of Brad Clark who controlled it well and shot hard and low to beat Alan Foster and the ball went in off the far post from a tight angle.

This may have been an unexpected result in some quarters but the boys have been playing some good football lately and because they concentrated on their defensive duties, they were able to stifle the best attacking unit in the league. They showed confidence and they worked together as a team.

Fish and Moey must be very pleased with the assembled side which looked solid in defence, creative in midfield and dangerous in attack. The question is can they string together a winning sequence? Watch this space!

Team - Foster Booker Abbassi Allaway Meade Dobson Morris (c) McIntosh Janes R Brooks McDonagh
Subs - Romeo for Janes (76) Thorne for Dobson (65) Carbon for Booker (45) - not used Allmond and Moses

Other matches this weekend

Abingdon Town 0-2 Oxford City Nomads
Ascot Utd 1-2 Ardley
Binfield 2-0 Holyport
Marlow 3-2 Flackwell Heath
Newbury 0-0 Thame
Reading Town 2-2 Kidlington
Slimbridge 4-0 Highmoor Ibis
Wantage 5-0 Cheltenham Saracens
Wokingham & Emmbrook 1-0 Shrivenham