Ossett Town

OSSETT TOWN 0-1 WITTON ALBION

Saturday 17th March 2012

Northern Premier League Division 1 North

Ingfield, Prospect Road, WF5 9HA

Today sees a rare trip up to the Peoples Republic of Yorkshire for a visit to Ossett Town Football Club. This was not my original plan as I had penciled a game in the more local Northants Combination, but this suggestion from good friend Kevin Zupp who wanted to visit the ground before the bulldozers cometh. It was also agreed the double up with an FA Premier Academy game at Sheffield United which kicked off at 11.30am. I picked Kev up from Oadby Town FC in the morning and we set off, with the weather being drizzly and the forecast of sunshine and showers for the rest of the day. In fact the only rain we encountered was on the way home

Ossett itself is a market town in West Yorkshire and lies within the City of Wakefield Metropolitan Borough. The town is located roughly half way between Dewsbury (3 miles to the west) and Wakefield (3 1/2 miles to the east) and sits just off junction 40 of the M1 motorway. The population of the town is around 21,500.

The football club were formed  in 1936 and joined the Leeds League (later West Yorkshire League) until the outbreak of World War 2. During the war they played in the Heavy Woollen League, when after the cessation of hostilities in 1945 they became members of the Yorkshire League. Ossett remained members of the Yorkshire League until 1982 when it merged with the Midland Counties League to form the Northern Counties East League (NCEL). For the inaugural season they were placed in Division 1 North and finished in 6th place. Following league reorganisation a few years later they won the division 2 title and were promoted to division 1. A year later and Town were promoted for a second successive season after a 3rd place finish. After a number of years which can be described as consolidation in the premier division Town were promoted again in 1999 after a runners-up position secured their place in the Northern Premier League (NPL) Division 1. Just three years later and another runners-up position saw them promoted again to the premier division of the NPL. In the nine seasons spent in the premier division Ossett's highest finish came in the 2006/07 season when they ended the season in 10th place. Following relegation in the summer to division 1 north they currently sit in 16th place recording nine wins in their thirty two league games played. Current form though is very poor as there has been only one victory in the last ten games. This came on the 18th February when Clitheroe were dispatched 2-0. Last time out Salford City came away from Ossett with a 2-0 victory on Tuesday night.

Their opponents today have made the trek across from Northwich and sit in 3rd place in the league table, finding themselves eight points behind leaders Curzon Ashton. Their form since the turn of the year has been mixed but have won their last two league matches - 6-0 @ Bamber Bridge and 1-0 @ Clitheroe respectively.

The ground is easy to find being just five minutes from junction 40 of the M1 motorway. There is no parking for spectators at the ground but there is a (very) cheap public car park opposite which cost us 80p for four hours. The turnstile entrance is on Prospect Road itself and we were charged £7 for admission and a further £2 for a 32 page programme. The admission charge is what I was expecting but the programme was certainly not worth the money. On entering the ground the social club is front of you to the right with the pitch to the left. There is three sets of cover - 1) a large seated stand on the Prospect Road side of the the ground; 2) a section of covered standing on the far side next to the dugouts and 3) a small section of cover on the near side in front of the changing rooms. It is easy to understand why the land is earmarked for retail development with it being in a prime location in the town. When the club will move though is another matter as they will only relocate when the offer is right for the club, not the developer.

The game was one to forget with it being one of the worst I have seen at any level all season. Very few chances were created and very little football played. The only goal of the game came around the twenty minute mark. Ossett keeper Ashley Connor took a goal kick which was intended for Mark Ryan, though Ryan had decided to run upfield at the precise moment the kick was taken. Albion's Ashley Stott was the first to react and he calmly placed the ball past Connor. Cue chants of dodgy keeper from the visiting supporters behind the goal. In the second half, which was worse than the first Ossett resorted to hitting hopeful balls with the visitors easily containing their efforts. I was bored watching this long before the final whistle ended the afternoons proceedings, and was glad to get back in the car to make the ninety mile drive home.

  

Admission: £7

Programme: £2

Team sheet: free

Badge: £3 - on order

Attendance: 113

websites / sources:

Evo-Stik Northern Premier League - official

Ossett Town FC - official

A final note should be that of our first game of the day at the Sheffield United Academy. United welcome spectators to attend their academy games and there were around 65 people watching the under-18 game. Both games were on adjacent pitches and there is a "snack shack" serving drinks and hot food. There was no admission charge or programme / team sheet issued.

A slideshow of photos taken of the ground and game can be viewed below:

IQRA

I.Q.R.A. 1-5 Syston Midland Railway

Sunday 11th March 2012

Leicester Sunday League Premier Cup Group C

Evington Park [pitch 1], Leicester, LE5 6DE

With the wife being given another Sunday shift at her work and also with the weather being favourable unlike last Sunday, I decided to take in another Leicester Sunday League game for the second time in three weeks, which like the previous one is at a venue that is not used by a Saturday side.

This fixture pits Division 1 side IQRA against Premier Division Syston Midland Railway, whom happened to be the visiting team at Goscote Spartans two weeks ago. The Premier Cup is one of five cup competitions that the Leicester Sunday League organise. The others are the League Cup, Presidents Cup, Chairman's Cup and Senior Cup. The Premier Cup is organised on a round robin group basis with four groups of four. The other teams in Group C are FC Shoemakers 09 and Fairfield United. There have been three matches played so far in this group:

19/02: Syston Midland Railway 4-3 IQRA

19/02: FC Shoemakers 09 6-1 Fairfield United

04/03: Fairfield United 2-4 IQRA

Evington Park like the name suggests is a public park and is located in the eastern suburbs of Leicester. It is home to two football pitches, cricket, 2 bowling greens and 6 tennis courts. A location of the park can be found here: map link

The game was played in glorious sunshine and was one that kicked off twenty minutes late due to the arrival time of Syston. They also only turned up with ten players. The hosts made the perfect start when they took the lead on four minutes with a superb lob over the visiting keeper. Parity should have been restored shortly afterwards but a Syston goal was wrongly ruled out for offside. There were two Syston players in the box when the ball was played across - one was offside, one not and it was the player who was not that finished the move off. The home side then nearly made it 2-0 but a sweetly struck volley hit one of the uprights. With around fifteen minutes played Syston did get a deserved equaliser when the ball was lobbed over the hesitant IQRA keeper. Two goals in the space of three minutes for the visitors put them in control of proceedings. Firstly on thirty five minutes, following a couple of powerful shots that were saved by the keeper the ball rebounded to their #9 and he finished from a couple of yards out. Then just three minutes later and a through ball was finished coolly past the keeper. Right on the stroke of half time and the visitors had their fourth of the morning and this came from an own goal as a defender turned in a cross at the near post. 


The second half saw only one further goal and this came on the hour mark when Jamie Wood found himself one on one with the IQRA keeper and finished with ease. This is not to say the half was without any incident as the home keeper produced a few superb saves to keep the score down. A flashpoint did occur when an IQRA completely lost the plot. There was a foul in the middle of the mark and the referee blew for a free kick to the home side. A player who was nowhere near the incident started giving the referee a lot of verbals which was completely unjust. When he was calmed down the referee booked him on the condition that he was substituted immediately. A sensible decision in my book. The player then gave his manager a mouthful as well which was undeserved.

websites / sources:

IQRA page (Leicester Sunday League website)

Syston Midland Railway page (Leicester Sunday League website)

A slideshow of photos taken during the game can be viewed below:

Belper United

BELPER UNITED 3-1 NEWARK TOWN

Saturday 10th March 2012

Central Midlands League Division - South

Alton Manor, Nailers Way, DE56 0UT

To be honest I had no plans to anywhere this today but by midweek I was trawling through the fixtures of league websites that cover the East Midlands. When I came across this one it became plan A. There are two reasons for this - 1) It will mean that I have seen a game of football at all the grounds currently used in this division, and 2) There are reports that United's ground will be covered by the ever expanding housing estate in the not to distant future.

United's ground from my home is around forty miles away and took around an hour to make the journey. It is located on the north-eastern edge of the town and is a basic affair. There is a small car park and octagonal changing room block, while the pitch is fully railed and has dugouts on the right hand side. Finally there is a small structure on the far side which would at a guess keep no more than ten people sheltered from the elements. Catering at present is in the form of a mobile van which was selling the usual stuff - burgers, hot dogs, tea, coffee etc etc. The reports regarding United's ground are a case of yes and no. Yes - the ground will be covered by the adjacent housing estate, and no - it will not be anytime soon, as according to a club official it will more a good four to five years away from happening. 

This is Belpers' first season in the CML having transferred from the Midlands Regional Alliance in the summer. There was a divided opinion whether the move had been a good one. They currently sit in mid table with thirty five points from their twenty four games played. Last time out a week ago they record a 4-1 victory @ Nottingham United. Opponents Newark Town have been members of the CML since 2004 when they transferred from the now defunct Notts Alliance.  They find themselves five points and three places better off than Belper at the start of play. The two teams met back in October when United recorded a 2-1 victory at Towns' Station Road ground in Collingham.

The first half was to put it bluntly as dull as the grey clouds in the sky. I can only recall both keepers making one save between them and that was when the Newark keeper turned a goal bound effort round the post. With around five minutes remaining of the first period Kyle Wadsworth found himself alone on the edge of the penalty area and hit a speculative shot across Garry Attwood that found its way into the bottom corner. A couple of minutes later and the hosts were down to ten men when Eddie Bridges was sent off for kicking out at Ian Hillier in front of the referee. At the start of the second half Newark were caught napping by Belper, as the hosts doubled their lead within three minutes of the restart. The ball was played down the inside left channel and Jordan McRobie hit a superb volley that flew past Attwood. Despite being a man down Belper comfortably dealt with the Newark attack with Adam Jablonski in the home goal being rarely troubled. On the hour mark and it was pretty much game over as Belper got their third goal of the afternoon. Tony Hemmings flicked the ball onto McRobie and he hit another volley past Attwood. With ten minutes remaining Newark got a consolation goal as Ginelly headed in a Mark Ellison cross at the far post from a tight angle. In truth I believe it was Newark's only effort that was on target during the whole of the second half. Then again they had very few that were off target as well and Belper ran out deserved winners in this mid table battle.

Admission: none
Programme: £1
Attendance: around 40
Badge: £3



Websites / sources:


Belper United (official)  


A slideshow of photos taken of the ground and game can be viewed below:

Saints v Swifts

SILEBY SAINTS 3-0 LUTTERWORTH TOWN

Saturday 3rd March 2012

Leicestershire Senior League Division 1

Platts Lane Sports Ground, Cossington

The choice of game for the Rambler today is a local one and more specifically a visit to one of the three remaining grounds left to re-complete the Leicestershire Senior League. The other two (Linwood Playing Fields and Coventry Road Recreation Ground) are new venues of Aylestone Park and Lutterworth Town respectively. 

It had been arranged to meet up with my Dad for this game - with this being the first time since January 14th. As we both live in different parts of Leicester it was agreed to meet up at the Gate Hangs Well pub on the north side of Syston - a mere five minute drive to the nearby village of Cossington. We arrived at the sports ground with around ten minutes to the kick off and it is a tidy affair. It is home not only to football but rugby and cricket as well. The football pitch is on the left hand side and it has wooden fencing around three sides of the pitch, with the other being roped off. Along the near side are some permanent dugouts and finally there is a modern looking changing room block in the left hand corner of the ground which served hot and cold drinks, filled soft cobs and snacks.

I don't know when Sileby were formed but were competing in division one of the North Leicestershire League (NLL) in 1997. The next four seasons were spent in division 1 before the Saints suffered relegation to division 2. Promotion back to division 1 came in the 2003/04 season when they were crowned division 2 champions, recording forty eight points from their twenty league games. The following season they achieved back-to-back promotions as they won the division 1 title, losing only one league game in the process. Their first season in the premier division saw them finish in the runners-up position, and just one year laters were crowned NLL champions. Last season they won the NLL again and with it achieved promotion to the Leicestershire Senior League (LSL). The LSL has been to their liking as they are on course for another promotion, with them sitting in second place behind Caterpillar (who have a 100% record) and ten points ahead of third placed Melton Mowbray. Opponents Lutterworth Town meanwhile sit at the wrong end of the table with only Asfordby Amateurs below them.

The game, especially during the first half did not go according to the script for the home side as the visitors belied their lowly position and made a game of it. In fact it was hard to tell which side was which on the basis of play and the first half ended goalless. The second half saw Sileby run out comfortable winners, helped by two goal keeping errors. The first came a minute into the second half when a free kick from Jake Rimington should have been saved easily but found its way into the net. The second goal of the afternoon came a few minutes after the hour mark when a good cross from the right was turned in at the far post by Lee Dawson. The Lutterworth team did not let their heads drop but their play in the final third of the pitch let them down all to often. The killer third goal for the Saints came with eight minutes remaining when a tame cross from the right was missed by the keeper and the clearance by a defender struck Dawson in the midriff. This resulted in the ball ending the back of the net for a somewhat comical goal. Lutterworth's best two chances came in the final five minutes - the first was a well struck shot that clattered the woodwork and the second was a tame effort in which the home keeper saved.

Admission / programme: none

Attendance: 10

A slideshow of photos taken during the game can be viewed below:

Sunday League

GOSCOTE SPARTANS 1-2 SYSTON MIDLAND RAILWAY
Sunday 26th February 2012
Leicester Sunday League Senior Cup
Jubilee Playing Fields, Long Furrow, East Goscote

With the better half working this morning between 10am and 1pm this gave me the opportunity to take in my third Sunday League game this season. The other two were back in 2011 when I saw a cracking Alliance Football League encounter between Sparta Moshdock and Premier Sports Travel. The visitors coming from 2-0 down after just ten minutes to win 3-2 @ Horsewell Lane in Wigston. The second was an FA Cup Sunday 2nd round match between Advance Couriers (Alliance Football League) and Birstall Stamford (Charnwood Sunday League). The match was played at Oadby Town FC and Stamford won 2-1 after extra time.

This game was chosen primarily because it gave me a chance to visit a venue that is not used by a Saturday side. Both sides currently ply their trade in the leagues' Premier Division with the Spartans sitting in seventh place in the eight team table with six points. Their opponents from nearby Syston sit two places and nine points better off. The two sides have already met twice in league action with Syston coming out on top in both of them. The first was a 5-1 victory on the opening day of the season and the second came just four weeks ago when they won by the odd goal in seven. 

Some photos taken at the game can be viewed in the slideshow below:

Websites:

Leicester Sunday League (official)

Birthday footy

DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE 0-5 CHELTENHAM TOWN
Saturday 18th February 2012
Football League 2
The London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Stadium

Today is the 35th birthday of the editor / big chief of All Roads Lead Somewhere and this was spent in east London. It had been suggested around Christmas time about going out for the day with my wife (Angela), mum (Christine) and her partner Dave but the question was where? I came up with the idea of dropping Angela and my mum off at the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Thurrock, Essex and me and Dave could go and watch some football nearby. All agreed. Originally I did think about Tilbury FC but then I did wonder where Cheltenham would be playing that day. Well of all the away fixtures they could have it turned out they were playing a mere twenty minutes away @ Dagenham & Redbridge FC. This could not have been planned any better. Following a phone call to good friend Colin Buchanan who lives in Cheltenham to see if he fancied meeting us there and the trip was confirmed. 

The history of Dagenham & Redbridge (D&R) is an interesting one to say the least, with the club that we know today having its roots in four amateur non-league clubs from east London. The four are Ilford (formed in 1881), Leytonstone (1886), Walthamstow Avenue (1900) and Dagenham in 1949. Firstly Ilford and Leytonstone merged in 1979 to become Leytonstone / Ilford. They in turn then absorbed Walthamstow Avenue in 1988 and became Redbridge Forest a year later in 1989. In 1992 Redbridge Forest who were groundsharing at Dagenham at the time merged with their landlords to become D&R.

The clubs first season saw them finish in 3rd place in the Football Conference (now commonly known as the Blue Square Premier) with sixty seven points. This was followed by 6th and 15th place finishes before ending the 1995/96 season bottom of the table and relegation to the Isthmian League. Four season were spent in the Isthmian League with final placings of 4th, 4th, 3rd and then in 2000 were crowned champions and promotion back to the Conference. Promotion to the Football League came in the 2006/07 season but at one stage they were ten points behind favourites Oxford United. The Daggers took over at the summit of the table on December 31st 2006 and it was a position they never relinquished. They were crowned Conference champions on the 7th April 2007 following a 2-1 victory over Aldershot Town. Along with this was promotion to the Football League (FL).

The clubs first game in the FL saw the Daggers lose 1-0 @ Stockport County on August 11th 2007, with the first victory coming three weeks later against Lincoln City. At the seasons end the club finished in 20th place and avoided relegation back to the Conference. Things improved the following season as they just missed out on a place in the play-offs following a last day defeat against Shrewsbury Town. The 2009/10 campaign got even better as the club were promoted to the third tier of English football following a 3-2 victory over Rotherham United in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium. Just one season was spent in League 1 as the Daggers were relegated back to League 2 at the first time of asking. This season the Daggers have struggled and at the time of writing find themselves in the bottom two. They have recorded seven league victories this season, of which five have been at home and have amassed twenty four points. Meanwhile opponents Cheltenham Town are having their best season for a few years and sit at the other end of the table. Currently they sit in second place in the table with fifty six points, though only goal difference seperates the top three.  

Top and bottom three (upto & including Tuesday 14th February)

		Pl	W	D	L	Pts
1	Southend United	30	17	5	8	56
2	CHELTENHAM TOWN	30	17	5	8	56
3	Torquay United	30	16	8	6	56
22	Plymouth Argyle	30	5	9	11	24
23	DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE	29	7	3	19	24
24	Northampton Town	29	6	6	11	24

Club Honours & Records:

Football Conference champions: 2006/07

Isthmian League champions: 1999/00

Isthmian League One-to-One Shield winners: 2000/01

Essex Senior Cup winners: 1998, 2001

Record victory: 8-1 v Woking 1993/94

Record defeat: 0-9 v Hereford United 2003/04

Record attendance: 5,949 v Ipswich Town (FA Cup 3rd Round) 05/01/2002

The ground

Victoria Road or The London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Stadium as it is currently known due to sponsorship purposes has a capacity of 6,078. It has been a football ground since 1917 when it was used by the Sterling Works side whose factory was situated along side it. It was not fully enclosed until 1955 when Briggs Sports moved out to Rush Green Road and Dagenham FC moved from the Arena.

The following piece on the ground is taken from footballgroundguide.com

"The stadium has been improved recently with the constuction of the new Traditional Builders Stand (aka Pondfield End) at one end of the ground, which replaced a small open terrace. This new all seated stand which was opened during the 2009/10 season, is a sizeable affair, housing 1,200 spectators. The stand is covered, raised above pitch level and has windshields to either side. Although only eleven rows high, it is free from supporting pillars and is quite steep, meaning that fans are kept close to the playing action. 

On one side is the relatively modern Main Stand, which was opened in 2001. Sponsored by Carling, this 800 capacity stand, is covered and all seated, with the team dugouts situated at the front of it. The stand comprises of six rows of seating and has a small executive area at the back of it. The stand, which is free of supporting pillars, is elevated above pitch level which means that supporters have to climb small sets of steps at the front of it, to gain access. The stand though, only runs for three quarters of the length of the pitch and at one end towards the Traditional Builders Stand, another separate stand exists. This stand which is called the Barking College Family Stand, is a small covered, seated stand. It is smaller in height that the Main Stand and contains around 200 seats, with some supporting pillars running along the front of it. Again it is raised above pitch level and is accessed via a small staircase.

The rest of the ground is terracing, with a small open terrace behind one goal and a covered terrace along one side. The home end, the Bury Road End (aka the Clock End), has a small basic electric scoreboard situated above it. This area also contains the club shop and Police control box. The North Terrace, which runs along one side of the pitch, is known affectionately by the Dagenham fans as 'The Sieve' as apparently at one time it was famed for its leaking roof. This old fashioned looking terrace, is partly covered to the rear and has a number of supporting pillars. It also has a television gantry perched upon its roof. Unusually the teams emerge from not from the main stand, but from a tunnel located in the new Marcus James Stand at one end of the ground. The stadium is completed with a set of four modern looking floodlights."

Having left Leicester at just after 10am the motorways one and twenty five were primarily clear and it was a trouble free journey. The first port of call was the Lakeside to drop off the two female of the species, and as we had enough time before having to make our way to the ground we had a snack and a coffee. It took around twenty minutes to get to the ground and was easy to find. Due to arriving about ninety minutes before kick off we managed to park for free on Victoria Road itself, some forty yards from the ground entrance. Having met Colin outside the club shop we then went to where the away supporters would be housed on the far side of the ground. The stand is the newest part of the ground and had an excellent view of proceedings as well as plenty of leg room. The tea bar, toilets and bar area are found underneath the stand itself. 


This was a game in which the stats and the scoreline do not match up. Cheltenham took their chances Dagenham didn't. Simple. After an even twenty minutes the visitors opening goal was finished in some style as Luke Somefield rifled in a first time shot from the edge of the area. Two minutes later and it became 0-2 when a corner was not cleared properly and Steve Elliott took advantage. The third and killer goal of the afternoon came a few minutes from the end of the half. Daggers keeper Chris Lewington was judged to have handled outside the penalty area and was given a straight red card. Dave Hogan came on from Medy Elito and his first touch of the ball saw him parry Luke Garbutt's free kick into the path of Kaid Mohammed, who duly made it 0-3.


The second half was a pretty much non even with damage limitation the game plan for the home side. Cheltenham added two futher goals which delighted their visiting supporters. Firstly on the hour mark James Spencer took advantage of  a mistake by Oluwafemi Ilesanmi and hit a powerful shot past Hogan. The final goal of the afternoon came with around twenty minutes remaining as a Mohammed cross took a wicked deflection off Michael Spillane  that ended in the back of the net via the woodwork.


This win puts Cheltenham's promotion push back on track while Daggers are in serious danger of a second successive relegation. This was summed up by chants / taunts of "you're going to Forest Green" from the visiting fans.  Following the game we made our way back to the Lakeside and had a meal at one of the restaurants there before the boring driving back up to Leicester, and arrived home at around 9.30pm.

Admission: £19
Attendance: 1,516 (158 away)

Programme: £3

Badge: £3.50
Coffee: £1.20

Websites / sources:


Dagenham & Redbridge FC - official - wikipedia


Some ground photos can be viewed in the slideshow below:

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