Hard fought derby in the Vase

OADBY TOWN 1-0 ST. ANDREWS
Saturday 19th November 2011
FA Vase 2nd Round
Greene King Park

After a five week break I am back at GKP for what on paper should be a cracking tie in the FA Vase. Both teams currently sit in the top six in the East Midlands Counties League (EMCL), and they played each other at the end of August with Oadby running out 3-1 winners.

Since I was last here Oadby have had mixed fortunes in three competitions - two wins (v Radford 1-0 and Radcliffe Olympic 5-1) and one defeat (v 2-0 @ Borrowash Victoria) in the EMCL, a 2-1 victory at Lutterworth Athletic in the last round of the Vase and finally a 3-2 defeat at home to Holbrook Sports in the ECML Cup 2nd Round. 

On a personal note before the draw was made I was hoping for an away tie at a ground that I had not previously visited. The options were limited to five due to visiting quite a number of grounds in the Midlands over the years. They five were Bloxwich United AFC, Brocton, Ellesmere Rangers, Norton United and Wisbech Town. Alas it was not to be and this is as good as tie as any. Hopefully with Leicester City not playing until tomorrow this tie might catch the attention of some of their fans looking for their Saturday football fix. Looking at the Vase draw at the start of play there is only one other Leicestershire side still involved in the competition, and they are Bardon Hill who have a tough away tie at Midland Alliance side Tipton Town. One other tie did catch my attention and that was Leverstock Green v Enfield 1893. Why you may ask? Well these two teams played in the 1st round of last years competition and Leverstock won a nine goal thriller with the winning goal coming in the last minute. It was a game that yours truly attended and was the best game I saw last season. Click on the Leverstock Green link on the right hand side of the page for more details.

Since I was last down here Oadby have set up their club shop which is located adjacent to the entrance on the clubhouse side of the ground. They currently have a small range of merchandise for sale which include badges (£3), mugs (£5) and key rings (£2.50) plus several boxes of old programmes. 

The game was like the heading says a hard fought victory for their hosts against their local rivals. Clear cut chances were at a premium but the visitors should have opened the scoring early on, but their #9 shot straight at Oadby keeper Elliot Shilliam's legs. Oadby then felt they should have had a penalty when Michael Reeve went down but the referee waved away their calls. The only goal of the game was came midway through the half and was to be honest the only real bright spark in the game. Jon Stevenson connected sweetly on the volley and it flew past Warren Butlin in the Andrews goal. Matt Piper nearly doubled Oadby's advantage but his free kick was saved by Butlin. At the other end the afore mentioned St. Andrews number 9 headed a corner wide. Just before half time the floodlights went out and the start of the second half was delayed ten minutes while the problem was rectified. Only five of the six sets came back to life but the referee was happy for the game to go on, despite a second of the pitch being in darkness. The second half was again similar to the first with few clear cut chances being created by either side. There were two that fell to Oadby that I can recall - the first from Matt Piper who turned his marker inside out, cut inside but his shot was saved at his near post by Butlin. The second came in stoppage time but having created space for himself in the penalty area Michael Reeve dragged his shot wide. 


Joy and relief at the final whistle and now all eyes will be on the draw for the 3rd round on Monday. These two sides will be sick of the sight of each other shortly as they were paired together in the 2nd round of the Leicestershire Senior Cup, which will be played @ Oadby on Tuesday 29th November with a 7.30pm kick-off.

Admission: Free for me 

Programme: £1

Attendance: 158 (official) - nearer 250

Match rating: 4 out of 10


A final note is that the game was attended by members of the Oadby Owls Under-9's who were mascots for the day. 

Oadby v St. Andrews

OADBY TOWN 3–1 ST. ANDREWS

Saturday 27^th August 2011

East Midlands Counties League

Greene King Park

A visit to Oadby Town Football Club was not on my agenda this afternoon at all, actually in fact six weeks ago it was not on my agenda all season!!!! Not because I have no interest in the club but because I was planning to spend the season, like previous ones ground hopping. A couple of weeks ago when driving up to Derby I lost a lot of interest in this hobby of mine and missed the buzz of supporting a club week in week out. This is when I offered my services to run a club shop that Oadby are planning to set up, but would only be on a Saturday due to work commitments.

My interest in Oadby goes back to January 1997 when I first went down to watch them for an FA Vase tie against Tooting & Mitcham United. This game ended in a 2-2 draw after extra time and following this I went to watch them a couple more times during the season. In the summer I wrote to them offering to edit their match day programme and spent three years doing this around the turn of the century. I have always kept in an interest in the team despite not going down much over the past few years, in fact it is just over two years since I last saw a game here, though I did see them twice away from home last season @ Tividale in the FA Cup and Tipton Town for a Midland Alliance encounter.

Last season was probably the worst ever for Oadby on the field as they were relegated for the first time in their seventy four year history and this season find themselves in the East Midlands Counties League. Lee Harriman took over as manager in the summer with Jeff Stocking as his assistant. Oadby have started well this season picking up four points from their opening two league games (5-0 @ Holwell and 1-1@ Ibstock) plus a 6-1 thumping of United Counties League side Northampton Spencer in the FA Cup last Saturday. The reward for the Cup victory is a trip to local rivals Quorn next Saturday in the next round – and yes I will be there.

Today’s game against St. Andrews will be the first time that they have played each other in a competitive match since the 21^st January 2003 when Oadby recorded a 5-3 victory after extra-time in the 2^nd round of the Leicestershire “Westerby” Challenge Cup. The last league games between the two sides were in the 1998/99 season when they were both members of the Leicestershire Senior League (LSL). A 3-3 draw @ St. Andrews on the 3^rd October 1998 was followed by a 2-1 victory for Oadby in the reverse fixture on the 3^rd April 1999. Oadby went on to win the LSL title and gain promotion to the Midland Alliance. Oadby spent twelve years in the Alliance, winning the title at the first attempt finishing ten points ahead of runners-up Stratford Town. The nearest they came to winning a second title came in the 2000/01 and 2002/03 seasons when fourth place finishes was achieved.

Oadby’s ground is located on the B582 Wigston Road and is opposite the Leicester Tigers training ground and in front of Parklands Leisure Centre. Car parking is available inside the ground behind the goal at the Oadby end, while the clubhouse, changing rooms and burger bar all at the other end of the ground. There is only one section of cover at Greene King Park – a 200 seater stand that straddles the half way line on the Wigston Road side of the ground. The ground has gone through various names due to sponsorship over the years. When I first went down in 1998 it was called Invicta Park and this was followed by Events & Leisure Park and Topps Park (named after Topps Tiles) before Bury St. Edmunds brewers Greene King.

Oadby had to work hard for this victory against the early pacesetters and came through with a 3-1 victory. They should have made the perfect start as Michael Reeves was clean through after only twenty odd seconds but the ball ran away from him as he tried to control it. The opening ten minutes saw both sides evenly matched in the middle of the park as either side struggled to gain the upper hand. Following successive corners Oadby took the lead on twelve minutes when the ball was headed back into the penalty area and Reeves finished from close range. Former Leicester City and Sunderland midfielder Matt Piper was a constant threat all afternoon for Oadby and was he who created their second goal on fifteen minutes. Excellent work and cross on the left saw John Stevenson control the ball before finishing into the roof of the net. To be fair the visitors did not let their heads drop and were the better side for a short period leading up to their goal. A free kick on the left found Kris Stevenson unmarked in the penalty area and he headed home from a few yards out. The remainder of the half and the opening exchanges of the second half saw either keeper rarely tested as both sides were well organised in defence, in particular Joe Latham for Oadby giving the Andrews forward line very little all afternoon. The referee did not help matters as he seemed very quick to dish out yellow cards for what appeared to be for very little. I don’t think he took into account the conditions as the game was played in either heavy showers or bright sunshine. Just after the hour mark Oadby put the game to bed by making it 3-1. Stevenson smashed the ball home from fifteen yards out that gave Warren Butlin in the Andrews goal no chance. The final twenty minutes saw Oadby come close to adding to their goal tally on several occasions. The closest the visitors came to scoring in the latter stages came in stoppage time when a free kick was deflected wide.

Man of the match: Matt Piper (Oadby Town)

Overall a good performance from Oadby who remain unbeaten in the early stages of their 2011/12 campaign, and on a personal level I really enjoyed being back seeing old faces and meeting new ones.

Admission: £5

Programme: £1

Attendance: 120

Match rating: 3 out of 5

Greene King IPA: £2.70

Large Hot Dog: £1.80

Some photos of the ground and game taken inbetween the heavy showers can be viewed below: 

Websites:

Oadby Town: official - forum - twitter - facebook

East Midlands Counties League: official - mitoo
Greene King