Oadby v Ampthill

OADBY TOWN 2-1 AMPTHILL TOWN
Saturday 21st January 2012
FA Vase 4th Round
Greene King Park

After what feels like a long time since I saw Oadby in action this is to be the first of two consecutive  Saturday home games for the Poachers. The last time I was down here for a games was on December 3rd when they hosted Tipton Town in the last round of this competition. A combination of the following has seen me miss all home games since - a postponement (10th Dec); midweek matches and two weeks ago I was down in London for the Spurs - Cheltenham FA Cup tie.

This tie pits two sides that compete at Step 6 of the non-league pyramid, with Ampthill playing their football in division 1 of the Spartan South Midlands League. Like Oadby they are having a good season as well and currently sit in second place in their division and have won their last four matches. Also like Oadby they have only lost two out of their twenty five league games played and currently sit in second place though are eleven points behind leaders London Colney. Oadby meanwhile are on a decent run of form themselves having only lost once in the last twelve matches in all competitions, which was against Barwell recently in the Leicestershire Challenge Cup.

On paper this should be a cracking cup tie between two in form sides. 

Both sides also have similar records in this seasons FA Vase so far with them both starting out at the second qualifying round and also they have had one tie that went to a replay. The record for both teams is as follows:

Oadby Town

2nd Qualifying: Huntingdon Town (H) Won 3-2

1st round: Lutterworth Athletic (A) Won 2-1

2nd round: St. Andrews (H) Won 1-0

3rd round: Tipton Town (H) Drew 1-1 aet

replay: Tipton Town (A) Won 2-1 

Ampthill Town

2nd Qualifying: Barkingside (A) Drew 1-1 aet

replay: Barkingside (H) Won 1-0

1st round: Basildon United (A) Won 4-0

2nd round: Haringey & Waltham Development (H) Won 3-2

3rd round: Lancing (A) Won 3-1

The club shop

Oadby progressed to the last 16 of the FA Vase with a victory that should have been more comfortable that it was. After a bout of sparing Oadby settled down and  took the lead on eleven minutes. A Matt Moore shot from twenty five yards out took a slight deflection on its way into the top corner.  The hosts doubled their advantage ten minutes later when Matt Piper converted a Steve Fenton cross to put some daylight between the two sides. A few minutes at it should have been three nil but Piper failed to connect with a cross from the right flank. Ampthill's ploy was to play long balls down the channels and these on the main were dealt with comfortably by Joe Latham and Declan Towers. The visitors best chance of the opening period came around the twenty six minute when a Jake Duffy cleared an effort off the line.   Oadby themselves had an effort cleared off the line and then Matt Moore was unable to beat Tom Kennard in the Ampthill goal. 


The second half saw Oadby take their foot off the gas and allowed the visitors  to come into the game more, though their efforts were on the whole easily dealt with by Oadby keeper Elliot Shilliam. Oadby had three notable chances to put their supporters at ease with both Moore and Jermaine Gordon being a whisker away from converting crosses from Piper, while a Latham header was tipped over by Kennard. With six minutes remaining Ampthill got a lifeline as Chris Lester scrambled the ball home via the post from a couple of yards out. A nervy finish for the home supporters but in the end Oadby deservedly progressed to the next round and as the final whistle blew a chorus of "we're all going to Wembley" rang out.


Admission: £5 / £3 concessions
Programme: £1
Attendance: 417


Other 4th Round Results
Whitley Bay 5-0 South Park
Tunbridge Wells 0-1 St. Ives Town
Willand Rovers 1-3 Staveley Miners Welfare
Shortwood United 1-0 Enfield 1893
Newcastle Benfield 1-2 Herne Bay
Bournemouth 2-1 Royston Town
Old Woodstock Town 0-2 Bethnal Green United
Newport Pagnell Town 2-3 Ashington
Norton United 1-2 Peterborough Northern Star
Wisbech Town 2-2 Dunston UTS (after extra time)
Bitton 1-3 West Auckland Town
Tividale 7-1 Binfield
Gresley 1-1 Three Bridges (after extra time)
Billingham Synthonia 0-0 Runcorn Town (after extra time)
Reading Town 2-3 Larkhall Athletic

Withdrawal symptoms over...

New Bradwell St. Peter 3-1 Ampthill Town

Spartan South Midlands League Division 1

Bradwell Recreation Ground

Tuesday 12th August 2008

My first game of the season saw me and my dad end up in Milton Keynes, and more specifically New Bradwell St Peter Football Club. This is one club that I has been on my hit list as it were for a few years, especially as Milton Keynes is within easy reach of Leicester. I have only previously visited five clubs in the Spartan South Midlands League, three of the clubs currently ply their trade in the same division as New Bradwell and two clubs in the MK area - Newport Pagnell and Stony Stratford. The day started out with a trip to the Northamptonshire Records Office on the edge of Northampton to do some family research with the intention of trying to take the "Campion" name beyond the mid / late 1700's by looking at old parish records. Having spent around 2 and a half hours in the records office we did not manage to take the name further back but found out that the surname changed from "Camping" to "Campion" in the late 18th century. After leaving the records office the plan was to grab some lunch and then look at some of the villages and towns in Northamptonshire where our relatives came from. First up was Rushden, and more specifically Duck Street. Duck Street in 2008 is pretty non-descript, an average street on the edge of Rushden town centre. From there is was to Finedon and more specifically the church where a Campion was married in 1814. The final stop of the day was the village of Stanwick near Raunds. A lot of Campions / Campings in the late 18th century were christened here but strangely the father, an Edward Camping was neither born or buried in the village. Brick wall time!

After leaving Stanwick we decided to head to Milton Keynes itself and made the relatively short journey down the A509 and pulled into Willen Lake for a drink before heading to New Bradwell. Note - there are two Bradwell Roads. The one with the football ground on is in the postcode district of MK13. A phone call was made to the club to confirm location and we arrived with around 15 minutes before kick-off. No admission was taken, programmes had to be collected from a club official's house and I managed to get hold of one during the first half for £1. The club also had badges for sale from their centenary year six years ago which were sold for a bargain £1 each.


Despite arriving at the ground before kick-off we managed to miss the first ten minutes (and first goal for the home side) due to us talking in the bar and losing track of time. Shit happens I suppose!!! A couple of minutes after arriving at pitch side the home side were awarded a free-kick. Lee White stepped up and scored direct from the kick from fully 35 yards to make it 2-0 against a side that won 4-1 at the weekend. I'm not sure if it was intentional but the keeper was expecting a cross and was caught out position wise, added to the fact that the ball seemed to catch the wind. The home side continued to play the better football during the first half and should have been further ahead at the interval. The visitors came out with more intent and purpose in the second half (probably after a rollocking from their manager), but did not cause the home side too many problems. Both sides continued to create chances until Ampthill got a goal back on 77 minutes through Needleman. A free kick was spilled by the home keeper and the afore mentioned player reacted first to stab the ball home from a few yards out. The old saying in football that you are at your most vulnerable after you've just scored couldn't have rang truer, as just a minute later the home side restored their two goal cushion when the ball was diverted into his home net by a visiting defender from a right wing cross. No further scoring ensued and the home side were deserved winners. An enjoyable game hosted by a nice friendly club.

Trying to recall what happened without taking notes is difficult, even after less than 24 hours after the game ended. Hopefully the next time I attend a game I will remember to take my note book!

Distance / time (according to Google maps UK): 52.1 miles / 1 hour 7 minutes

Websites:

www.newbradwellstpeter.co.uk
www.ampthilltownfc.co.uk