Oxted
produced another professional performance to see
off Oxford Hawks with quite some ease. It wasn’t
Oxted’s best performance of the season but
they did what was needed to ease past an Oxford
side who did very little to test Oxted throughout
the 70 minutes.
Although
Oxted were missing player coach Justin King, who
broke his finger in last week’s game against
Plymouth, they never had any problems from what
was a poor Oxford side. For Oxford, it was pleasing
to see Craig Larner, formerly of Oxted, making
his National bow. Oxted had nurtured Larner’s
development and so it was pleasing to see him
make the breakthrough.
Reece
Basson completed a fine hat trick in this game
to bring his season’s tally to 13 and further
goals from Adam Wilson, Dom Flannery and Mike
Adamson gave the healthy crowd something to keep
them warm in what was a damp and cold afternoon.
Other
pleasing aspects were another run out towards
the end of the game for talented schoolboy goalkeeper
Phil Carr, a good goal from Flannery to bring
back his confidence and no goals conceded. Oxted
have the best defensive record in the league.
Next
week sees Oxted come up against Old Georgians.
It is first versus second and Oxted need to avoid
defeat otherwise the old boys will be crowned
champions and secure the one automatic promotion
place. It promises to be an intriguing tussle.
Oxted
made the long journey west over the weekend
to take in two games against Exeter on the Saturday
and Plymouth on the Sunday.
Against
the students Oxted will be very disappointed
with their performance. Despite the preparation
being carefully thought out and planned for,
Oxted started really poorly and were two goals
down before they had drawn breath. Ben Dando
after 5 minutes and South African Ian Haley
with a deft chip shot after 7 minutes left Oxted
with a mountain to climb.
Oxted
did steady themselves and made a good game of
it but ultimately paid the price for allowing
a spirited student side the gift of their early
goals.
Adam
Wilson did give the O’s hope with a short
corner rebound on 39 minutes but again Oxted’s
fragile defence were caught out down the right
hand channel when Haley hit a reverse stick
shot from near the goal line that somehow squeezed
past Weber and two defenders on the line. Wilson
again gave Oxted hope with a goal on 60 minutes
not to dissimilar to his earlier strike. With
Oxted chasing for an equaliser there were going
to be gaps at the back and Haley completed his
hat trick with a minute to play to leave Oxted
7 points behind Old Georgians and now realistically
looking at a play off position for promotion
to Division One.
Sunday’s
performance against Plymouth was much more professional
and the 3-1 scoreline really flatters Plymouth.
Oxted should have won by a lot more but were
guilty of some very sloppy finishing from the
forwards. Justin King scored a trademark short
corner on 21 minutes and further strikes from
Miken Amin (49) and Reece Basson (57) gave Oxted
a good deal of breathing space. Plymouth did
pull a gaol back on 63 minutes but Oxted saw
the game out for a comfortable three points.
However,
the game with Plymouth may have come at a cost
as Justin King left the field before half time
with a suspected broken finger and captain Mark
Wallace pulled up before the end with a groin
strain. With the season entering its final straight
it is imperative that Oxted have a fully fit
squad to cope with the demanding finish.
Oxted
produced a comprehensive 4-1 win over the Cardiff
based Whitchurch outfit. Despite starting sluggishly
and going a goal behind to a Laith El-Khatib short
corner strike in the 5th minute, Oxted dominated
possession and the 4-1 scoreline really flatters
the Welsh side.
Oxted
will be annoyed with themselves at the number
of excellent opportunities they had. Reece Basson
was having an excellent game but his all round
play, which deserved a goal, just wasn’t
forthcoming.
Gary
Roberts and Mike Trim, who missed an open goal,
should both have equalised for Oxted before two
Justin King penalty corner strikes in the 20th
and 23rd minutes. Good combination work between
Forest Turk and Reece Basson created an excellent
opportunity for the South African international
but Whitchurch’s goalkeeper Chris Gierak
pulled off a tremendous save.
And
this was the pattern of the second half with Gierak
denying Oxted on a number of occasions through
good reaction saves against Basson, King and Wilson.
However, the pressure was going to tell at some
point and Gary Roberts made it 3-1 with a simple
tap in after good approach work from Wilson on
51 minutes.
Right
at the death Mike Trim scored from a short corner
variation to seal Oxted’s sixth straight
win. They remain four points adrift of Old Georgians
in second place but a healthy six points ahead
of Indian Gymkhana. Next week sees Oxted make
the long journey west for two games against Exeter
and Plymouth. Nothing less than six points is
required in order to keep up the pressure on the
leaders.
