Oxford City 0-1 King’s Lynn Town ( att : 518 ) – 2025/26 National League North

November 29, 2025

After these diaries report on their FA Trophy exit at the hands of Peterborough Sports, Oxford City had played three away league games. A 520 mile round trip on a Tuesday night trip to leaders South Shields produced a 1-4 defeat, then a 0-0 draw was achieved at Marine thanks to a brilliant display from keeper Jamie Pardington, signed on loan from Lincoln City. Last Tuesday, the Hoops fell to a lame 0-4 loss at AFC Telford, which left them second from bottom in the table.

Today’s visitors, King’s Lynn, were 15^th and despite it still being November, it felt like a must win game for The Hoops.

King’s Lynn Town FC

King’s Lynn is a port and market town in Norfolk located 5 miles from The Wash estuary on the Great Ouse River, and 44 miles west of Norwich. The 2021 census recorded a population of 47,610. Amongst the famous people to have been born in King’s Lynn are Queen drummer Roger Taylor, Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle, Welsh rugby player George North and fictional comedy character Alan Partridge, who is more commonly associated with Norwich !

King’s Lynn Town FC were founded in 2010 after their predecessors King’s Lynn FC were wound up in 2009 when members of the step 3 Northern Premier League. The phoenix club started life in the step 5 Premier Division of the United Counties League and gradually worked their way up the pyramid to be promoted to the National League for the 2020/21 season, where they finished fourth from bottom but were reprieved from relegation due to Covid causing the termination of the National League North and South seasons.

The 2021/22 season saw King’s Lynn finish third from bottom resulting in relegation back to National League North, where they subsequently finished second but lost at home to Kidderminster Harriers in the promotion play-offs. After that they finished 18^th, and last season they were 6^th and lost 0-1 at Chorley in the play-offs.

Home is the 8,200 capacity The Walks and the home colours are blue and yellow stripes with blue shorts and socks. Their nickname is The Linnets.

King’s Lynn Squad

The manager of King’s Lynn is Ian Culverhouse, who played as a centre-back for Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City, Swindon Town and Brighton and Hove Albion. Culverhouse is in his third spell in the hot seat at King’s Lynn, being appointed this time at the end of October following the resignation of James Rowe, who had been head-butted in a training ground bust-up front of his own players. Two days later Rowe was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault in two incidents which had apparently happened at the club earlier in the week.

Veteran keeper Paul Jones numbers Exeter City, Peterborough United, Crawley Town & Portsmouth amongst his previous clubs, right-back Reece Hall-Johnson had represented Grimsby Town, Northampton Town, Wrexham and Barnet, and midfielder Morgan Williams was a Welsh Under 19 international and had played for AFC Wimbledon, Eastbourne Borough and Dorking Wanderers.

Swiss striker Gold Omatoyo had played for a number of clubs in the UK, most of them for not very long apart from King’s Lynn ! Midfielder Rio Oudnie-Morgan was a current Northern Ireland Under 19 international and was on loan from Ipswich, and Welsh midfielder Sam Collins had joined after being released by Nottingham Forest in the summer. Left-back/left-sided midfielder Bailey Clements had played for Ipswich, Stevenage, Chesterfield and Eastleigh.

Central midfielder and captain Michael Clunan was in the Scunthorpe United side that drew 0-0 at Oxford City last season and forward Adam Marriott had played for Cambridge United, Lincoln, Stevenage, Bromley and Barnet amongst others. Attacker La’Sean Seeley had recently joined on loan from Norwich.

King’s Lynn This Season

King’s Lynn came into today’s game in the NLN with a 5-7-6 record and were 2-5-2 away from home. The two away wins came in their first two away games, beating Hereford 1-0 and Spennymoor Town 5-0. The away defeats came at Chorley, 0-4 after having two players sent-off in the opening 51 minutes, and Curzon Ashton 0-3.

Last time out The Linnets beat Buxton 3-2 at home after falling 0-2 behind. Prior to this they were on a run of just one win in 10 games in all competitions.

King’s Lynn reached the 4^th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, bowing out of the competition 2-4 at National League Scunthorpe United. They had earlier eliminated step 2 Chesham United 4-1 and step 3 Royston 5-1, both away from home.

Last weekend, King’s Lynn exited the FA Trophy to step 3 Harrow Borough, losing on penalties after a 2-2 home draw

The average attendance so far this season was 1,178, with the highest being 1,402 for the visit of Darlington.

Ex-Peterborough Sports striker Michael Gyasi was the top scorer with 7 goals but had gone on loan to Kidderminster Harriers. Hall-Johnston was next on 5 goals and Williams had 6 assists to his name.

Previous Meetings

Last season was the first time the two sides had met, with the Linnets doing the double, winning 2-1 at home and 3-1 at Court Place Farm.

Matchday Information

According to AA Route Planner, the journey from King’s Lynn to Oxford is 159 miles via the M11, M25 and M40 and should normally take 3 hours.

A supporters’ coach was being run, leaving King’s Lynn at 10am, with a cost of £25. It looked like around 40-50 Linnets fans had made the journey.

Tickets for today’s game were £13 for adults online and £16 at the turnstile. There were a whole range of reductions depending on ages, from seniors to children. Oxford United supporters could get in for £1 if they showed their ticket for last night’s game against Ipswich Town.

An online programme was available and a cup of tea cost £2.50.

After a wet morning, there were blue skies at the 15.00 kick-off but it was a chilly 7 degrees.

Bet365 made King’s Lynn 10/11 favourites, with Oxford City at 23/10 and the draw 12/5.

King’s Lynn were playing in a kit of dark pink whilst Oxford City were in their traditional blue and white hoops.

King’s Lynn made three changes from the side that started in the win against Buxton in mid-week with Clunan, Marriott and Sealey replacing Omatayo, Oudnie-Morgan and Collins, all of whom were amongst the substitutes.

Oxford City made four changes to the side that crashed heavily at AFC Telford with the return of Zac McEachran, Alfie Potter, Tom Scott and Darnell Johnson.

Matchday Report

The home side started strongly and should have opened the scoring inside the opening two minutes. Ewan Clark cut inside from the right-hand touchline and his curling left-footed shot was heading for the top corner until pushed away by the diving Jones. Jacob Roddy, following up, looked certain to bury the rebound but Jones made a fantastic double save.

A minute later McEachran was scythed down by Wilson for an Oxford City free-kick 25 yards out. Josh Ashby took the kick and sent it over the defensive wall but straight at Jones who had a regulation save to make this time.

The game entered a quiet phase, with King’s Lynn having the majority of the possession but doing very little with it. Oxford City then had a period of possession but the default option appeared to pass the ball backwards at every possible opportunity. Almost inevitably, a short pass from keeper Pardington to Ashby on the edge of the home 18 yard line resulted in the Hoops captain losing the ball under pressure from Marriott, but Pardington held on to the low left-footed shot.

The visitors put the ball into the net in the 14^th minute as Williams released Hall-Johnson, whose low ball across the goalmouth was met by the sliding Marriott. However, a raised flag from the linesman chalked off the goal.

When King’s Lynn launched a long-throw into the Oxford City area, the home side had everyone back defending, so when Clark made the clearance, it went straight back to King’s Lynn to keep the pressure on.

With 19 minutes on the clock, Hall-Johnson appeared to hurt himself when whipping in a cross from the right, and the visitors were forced into making an early substitution.

Roddy was forced to concede a corner, which The Hoops defence failed to deal with, but the shot from a tight angle was held by Pardington.

The referee then awarded The Linnets a soft free-kick for a foul on Ross Crane just outside the 18-yard line. Williams bent his kick around the wall but a couple of feet wide.

Scott and Roddy did well to win a corner for the home side, but for the second time in the match the delivery from Clark was poor and easily headed away. King’s Lynn broke quickly and Williams slipped a through pass for Marriott to run clear, but again The Hoops were saved but the linesman’s flag.

Perhaps Oxford City’s first half was summed up when the ball was at the feet of Pardington for at least 15 seconds, but with no-one making runs to receive the ball or wanting responsibility, he eventually had no option but to launch it long in the direction of Josh Parker, who as usual appeared to be fouled when trying to control the ball, but with play allowed to continue King’s Lynn regained possession.

Two minutes later Oxford City won possession on the half-way line and initially looked to press forward against a stretched defence, but 10 passes later the ball was on the edge of their own penalty area.

With 36 minutes played, Clark did well to keep the ball in play, and with the visitors appealing for a throw-in, he attempted a backward pass to Johnson, who missed the ball, and Pardington was forced into a diving save to prevent a goal. After a little deliberation, the referee determined this was a back pass and awarded an indirect free-kick just outside the 6-yard line. Well, it was certainly a backwards pass………

Williams touched the ball to Marriott to take the shot, which was blocked on the line by Johnson. The Linnets gathered the loose ball and sent the ball across the goalmouth which Pardington missed, but Roddy managed to put the ball off for a corner at the far post with an attacker sliding in behind him. The corner was overhit and went off for a goal-kick.

One of these days I would like to see the attacking side with an indirect free-kick take a long run up and simply blast it at all the players on the line and hope it hits one and goes in for an own goal. The sidewards tap allows defenders to charge at the ball to either make a block of reduce the angle !

The home side then had a brief spell of attacking. McEachran’s cross was blocked by an outstretched leg and fell to Ashby, but the shot was weak, and partially blocked, and the ball rolled gently through to Jones.

Roddy ran onto a long-ball down the left-hand touchline from Francis but the cross on the run went high and Jones made an easy catch under no pressure.

Clark then won a corner, from which Jones flapped as two players fell to the floor, and the referee opted for the safe decision to awarded a free-kick to the keeper.

With first-half added time being played, Sealey ran onto a pass from Clements behind Johnson, but his shot from a narrow angle glanced off the bar and off for a throw-in.

It was goal-less at the interval which seemed to be a fair scoreline. Oxford City could have taken an early lead but had shown little thereafter, whereas the visitors were denied by the crossbar and twice by the linesman’s flag.

King’s Lynn came out for the second half as if they had received a dressing down in the changing rooms at half-time and two headed flick-ons looked to have put Dickens clear but again the flag was raised for offside. It must have been close as it looked fine to me !

Ashby was then caught dithering inside the Oxford City area. Declining the opportunity to hoof clear, he turned backwards looking for a team-mate and was tackled. His blushes were spared as first Pardington made a fantastic close range save from Marriott, and then recovered to make another top save to deny Williams. The Hoops were fortunate to still be level as King’s Lynn should have converted at least one of these chances.

Marriott then outmuscled Francis and put Crane clear on goal, but again Partington was up to the task and made his third great save in less than two minutes.

The response from the home side was for McEachran and Parker to combine to send Roddy on a gallop down the left, but again the cross was comfortable for Jones for claim.

A poor pass from Johnson was intercepted on half-way and The Linnets were swiftly on the attack. Francis was able to head the cross away, then Potter then showed good skill to flick the loose ball over a King’s Lynn attacker, who then cynically fouled Potter to prevent him breaking away.

The first yellow card of the game was produced in the 60^th minute, after Clunan had elbowed Potter in the face close to the half-way line. Another referee might have produced a red card……

The game was calling out for Oxford City to bring on striker Isaac Westendorf if they were indeed serious about winning this game.

As City pressed, Ashby’s pass aimed for Parker was poor and King’s Lynn cleared but only as far Clark. However. The Hoops midfielder’s first touch was far too heavy and the visitors counter-attacked, and Crane’s cross was blocked by Charlie Wiggett for a corner.

Pardington caught the corner and whilst he was contemplating his clearance there was an off-the-ball incident, which resulted in a yellow card for The Linnets Tom Wilson. City sent the free-kick long and Parker committed a blatant foul on Wilson, presumably retribution for the off-the-ball incident, but Parker escaped a card !

Oxford City created their best chance since the second minute when McEachran put Ashby in space in the left-hand channel, and a low ball across the area reached Potter, but his low drive was saved by the legs of Jones.

There didn’t seem to be much danger when Fleming brought the ball out of the King’s Lynn defence, but he was allowed to continue his run into the Oxford City half, and then threaded the ball for Marriott to run onto.  This time Pardington was unable to perform a miracle, and although almost making the save, the ball bounced into the back of the net. 0-1 with 66 minutes played.

After falling behind, Oxford City belatedly introduced Westendorf, and immediately looked a more dangerous side. Clark did splendidly to slide and intercept a pass down the left-hand touchline and got up to run down to the edge of the King’s Lynn area. His low cross was blocked but Ashby was tripped as he went to latch onto the loose ball. However, Ashby could only send a tame free-kick several feet over the bar.

Roddy needless headed off to concede a corner when Pardington could easily have come and claimed, but the keeper made amends by catching the corner.

Oxford City attempted a grandstand finish in the final 10 minutes. Westendorf did well to turn and fire the ball across the goalmouth, but no-one was on hand to finish. Substitute DJ Campton-Sturridge did well to control and cut inside to have a cross put-out for a corner. Ashby’s delivery bounced across the 6-yard line but again no-one was able to make contact.

Westendorf was making himself a handful, and Campton-Sturridge won a free-kick in a good position, which was put out for a corner. Again, Oxford City sent a ball across the King’s Lynn goalmouth and again no-one was able to take advantage, and the ball went off for a goal-kick.

Campton-Sturridge continued to look lively, and who knows what impact he might have made had he been brought on earlier. Parker and Scott both headed forwards but Westendorf was unable to take advantage as Wilson shielded the ball through to his keeper.

City’s attitude was perhaps again illustrated in the 5^th minute of 6 added minutes. Rather than launch forward a thrown-in on the half-way line, it went backwards and then under pressure played back to the keeper.

There was still time for Westendorf to win a corner, which produced a goalmouth scramble until Johnson, off balance, could only send the ball high into the air and Jones gathered. The referee blew for full-time.

King’s Lynn deserved the three points as for most of the game they appeared to be the only side attempting to win the game, and would have won by a greater margin but for the brilliance of Pardington in the Oxford City goal.

Oxford City only tried to attack in the opening couple of minutes and the final 10. It was a performance lacking in confidence and ambition, and their poor passing at the back only served to put them in more trouble. Rather than a must win game, they played as if it was a must not lose game, and seemed reluctant to take any risks. On this evidence they are going down, which will at least avoid a few six hour plus midweek return trips up North……..

Oxford City : Pardington – Johnson, Wiggett, Francis ( Wilson ), Roddy - Clark, Potter ( Westendorf ), Scott, Ashby, McEachran ( Campton-Sturridge ) – Parker

King’s Lynn Town :  Jones - Fleming, Wilson, Dickens, Clements - Hall-Johnson ( Troso ), Clunan, Crane, Williams – Sealey ( Omatayo ), Marriott ( Oudnie-Morgan )

 

 

 

Pafos FC 2-2 AS Monaco ( att : 8,347 ) – 2025/25 UEFA Champions League

November 26, 2025

With the Champions League matches being broadcast on TNT Sports and Discovery Plus in the UK, today was an opportunity to finally add Cyprus to the number of countries covered by Fatbear !

This was the second time Monaco had featured in these diaries, after their 1-1 draw at Paris St Germain in August 2022.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2022/08/paris-st-germain-1-1-as-monaco-att.html?zx=ecb1cb33b059a40d 

Pafos FC

Fatbear had been to the town of Pafos and driven past their stadium whilst staying in Pissouri on holiday in Cyprus, but unfortunately no match was scheduled during that stay.

Pafos FC were founded in 2014 to represent the wider Pafos region following the merger of two local clubs, and started life in the Cypriot Second Division. Although promotion was achieved in their first season as runners-up, they were promptly relegated after their first season at the top level. However, they immediately bounced back at the first attempt, and have remained in the Cyprus First Division ever since.

Pafos won their first trophy by beating Omonia Nicosia 3-0 in the 2023/24 Cypriot Cup Final to play in Europe for the first time. After a 2-8 aggregate defeat in the Europa League to Swedish side Elfsborg, Pafos dropped down to the Europa Conference, where they got past Lithuanian side Zalgiris, Bulgarians CSKA 1948, and Romanian side CFR Cluj to reach the group stages.

Victories over Moldovan side Petrocub ( A 4-1 ), Astana from Kazakhstan ( H 1-0 ) and Slovenians Celje ( H 2-0 ) plus a 2-2 draw in Switzerland against Lugano saw Pafos finish 12^th in the Group stage despite losses to Heidenheim ( H 0-1 ) and Fiorentina ( A 2-3 ).

In the knock stages, Pafos eliminated fellow Cypriot side Omonia 3-2 on aggregate before exiting at the Round of 16, 1-3 on aggregate to Swedish side Djurgardens.

Pafos won their first Cyprus League title last season, finishing ahead of Aris Limassol by seven points at the end of the Championship Round. Their average attendance in the regular season was 4,519, and 7,300 over their 5 final round matches.

Home is the 9,300 capacity Stelios Kyriakides Stadium, but due to the limitations of the ground, Champions League matches are being played 50 miles away in Limassol.

Pafos This Season

Pafos had made a strong defence of their title, leading the First Division with an 8-1-2 record to be two points ahead of Omonia, AEK Larnaca and Aris Limassol. The two defeats were a 1-2 loss to Omonia in Nicosia, and a 0-1 reverse at home to Apollon Limassol. Last time out Pafos beat Aris Limassol 2-1 at home. Their average home attendance so far was 4,260.

Pafos had an impressive run in the UEFA Champions league qualifiers, eliminating Maccabi Tel Aviv ( 2-1 on aggregate ), Dynamo Kiev ( 3-0 ) and Red Star Belgrade ( 3-2 ) to reach the Champions League Group Stages.

Although they were thrashed 1-5 at home to Bayern Munich, their two away matches had been 0-0 draws at Olympiakos and Kairat Almaty. However, they caused a major surprise in their last match, beating a star-studded Villareal side 1-0 at home, thanks to a goal from Dutch centre-back Derrick Lukassen.

Pafos started this round of matches in 20^th place in the Champions League Table, which would take them to the knock-out stages if they could remain in the top 24. After tonight, they had games against Juventus ( A ), Chelsea ( A ) and Slavia Prague ( H ) to complete the group stage.

Pafos Squad

There are no restriction on the number of foreigners in the Cypriot league and the Pafos squad for this season contains only two locals, keeper Neoftyos Michail ( 16 caps ) and full-back Kostas Pileas ( 14 caps ), both of whom played extensively in Greece before returning to Cyprus.

There were several famous names in the Pafos squad, including ex-Chelsea, Arsenal, Paris St Germain and Benfica Brazilian centre back David Luiz ( 57 caps ), and Croatian midfield play-maker Mislav Orsic ( 27 caps ), who famously scored a hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur and a winning goal against Chelsea for Dinamo in Zagreb in European games.

Portuguese midfielder Domingos Quina had played in England for Watford, Fulham, Barnsley and Rotherham, Romanian midfielder Vlad Dragomir ( 3 caps ) had played in Italy for Perugia, and Bosnian midfielder Ivan Sunjic ( 6 caps ) had played for Birmingham City and Hertha Berlin.

Cape Verde defender Joao Correia ( 4 caps ) had played in Portugal for Chaves, Portuguese midfielder Pepe Rodrigues had played for Vitoria Guimares and Familicao in his home country as well as for Olympakos, midfielder Ken Sema ( 31 caps ) played 160 times for Watford, and Brazilian right-back Bruno Felipe had played for Olympiakos, Sheriff Tiraspol and Aris Salonica.

Brazilian striker Anderson Silva had played in China, Turkey, Portugal, in addition to Cyprus and his homeland, and Dutch centre-back Derrick Lukassen had played for AZ Alkmaar, PSV, Hertha Berlin, Anderlecht and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Dragomir and Quina were the top scorers this season with 4 goals, followed by Anderson Silva with 3 goals.

AS Monaco

Although the Principality of Monaco is a separate country, its football side play in the French League structure, and play as a French side when they qualify for Europe.

Monaco has a population of just under 40,000 and with an area of barely 2 sq km, is the second smallest country in the world after The Vatican. It is a tax haven and it is estimated that 30% of its residents are millionaires. There is no border with France, and on previous holidays to Nice we drove into Monte Carlo, drove around the Grand Prix circuit and out again !

Its football team were founded in 1924 and play at the 16,360 capacity Stade Louis II. Their home colours are red and white diagonal halved shirts with white shorts and red socks, and their nicknames include The Monagasques and the Red and Whites.

Monaco have won the French title on 8 occasions, the most recent being in 2016, and were runners-up in the 2003/04 Champions League, losing 0-3 to Porto after eliminating Chelsea and Real Madrid. They were also runners-up in the 1991/92 European Cup Winners Cup, losing 0-2 to Werder Bremen, having earlier knocked out Feyenoord, Roma and Swansea City.

In recent years Monaco had finished 6^th, 2^nd and 3^rd in Ligue 1 and last season had an average attendance of 9,355.

Monaco This Season

Monaco came in to the game in 8th place in Ligue 1, with a 6-2-5, record but had lost their last three games, going down 0-1 at home to Paris FC, 1-4 at home to Lens and 1-4 at Rennes.

Monaco had started the season with four wins and a 0-1 loss at Lille, before losing 1-3 at Lorient. Two draws and then two wins followed before the current run of three losses. Swiss coach Adi Hutter was sacked early in October and replace by Belgian Sebastien Pocognoli, who led Union St Gilloise to an historic Belgian title last season. As a player, Pocognoli represented West Bromwich Albion, Brighton and Hove Albion, Genk, Standard Liege and Hannover.

Monaco’s average attendance so far this season was 8,900, the lowest in the division.

Monaco’s Champions League campaign got off to a disastrous start, losing 1-4 at Club Brugge, after which they needed a 90^th minute penalty from Eric Dier to grab a 2-2 home draw with Manchester City, and were then held 0-0 at home by Tottenham Hotspur. A much need victory was finally achieved by a 1-0 win against Bodo/Glimt in Norway to take Monaco level on points with Pafos but one place above them on goal difference.

After tonight, Monaco still had to play Galatasaray ( H ), Real Madrid ( A ) and Juventus ( H ).

Monaco Squad

Of the team that played PSG in August 2020 Malian midfielder Mohamed Camara ( 35 caps ) is now with Qatar side Al Sadd, defenders Axel Disasi ( 5 caps ) and Benoit Badiashile ( 2 caps ) are Chelsea players although Disasi is on loan to Aston Villa, keeper Alexander Nubel is with VFB Stuttgart, forward Kevin Volland is now with German third tier side 1860 Munich after a spell with Union Berlin.

Midfielder Youssef Fofana ( 25 caps ) has joined AC Milan, Swiss striker Breel Embolo ( 83 caps ) is now playing for Rennes and striker Wissam Ben Yeddar ( 19 caps ) now plies his trade in Turkey with Sakaryaspor.

Only Russian midfielder Alexsandr Golovin ( 50 caps ), ex-Liverpool and Southampton Japanese midfielder Takumi Minamino ( 91 caps ), Brazilian left-back Caio Henrique ( 5 caps ) and winger Maghnes Akliouche ( 5 caps ) were still with the club.

In addition to Minamino, the current Monaco squad contained many players who had played in England. Ex-Sporting, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich centre-back/defensive midfielder Eric Dier had won 49 caps for England but is out at the moment with a calf injury, ex-Manchester United and Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba was a World Cup winner for France and won 91 caps, whilst Spanish winger Ansu Fati ( 10 caps ) is on loan from Barcelona after having a loan spell at Brighton and Hove Albion.

Ghanaian centre-back Mohammed Salisu ( 22 caps ) had played for Southampton and Valladolid, German defender Thilo Kehrer ( 28 caps ) had played for West Ham United, Schalke and Paris St Germain, Swiss defensive midfielder Denis Lakaria ( 61 caps ) had a short loan at Chelsea and also played for Borussia Moenchengladbach and Juventus. USA striker Florian Balogun ( 2 caps ) started his career at Arsenal and had a loan spell at Middlesborough

Finnish keeper Lukas Hradecky ( 102 caps ) had played for Brondby, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen, and PSV Eindhoven Dutch defender Jordan Teze had 4 caps. Senegalese winger Krepin Diatta ( 52 caps ) was previously with Club Brugge and Nigerian forward George Ilenikhena joined from Antwerp.

Fati was the top scorer with 5 goals followed by Balogun on 4 and Akliouche with 3 goals.

Watching Monaco

Fatbear has seen Monaco in action in the flesh on one occasion, when they drew 2-2 with Valencia in Arsenal’s pre-season Emirates Cup competition in August 2014.  

The Monaco squad that day was packed with well-known names, including ex-Chelsea and Real Madrid Portuguese centre-back Ricardo Carvalho ( 89 caps ), ex-Manchester United, Tottenham, Fulham and Bayer Leverkusen Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov ( 78 caps, 48 goals ). Ex-Porto and Atletico Madrid Colombian striker Radamel Falcao ( 104 caps, 36 goals) went on to play for Manchester United and Chelsea, Portuguese midfielder Joao Moutinho ( 146 caps ) who later played for Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Argentinian winger Lucas Ocampos, who later made his name at Sevilla.

Monaco opened the scoring with an own goal but Carvalho levelled things up by half-time with a goal of his own. Paco Alcacer gave Valencia the lead mid-way through the second-half, but Ocampos equalised 10 minutes from the end.

The following game saw Arsenal beat Benfica 5-1 with Yaya Sanogo scoring four times. Sanogo went on to play for Crystal Palace, Ajax, Charlton Athletic, Huddersfield Town, Toulouse and appeared in these diaries with Armenian side Urartu. Costa Rican Joel Campbell got the other goal, and went on to win 150 caps for his country, but was loaned out by Arsenal on 7 occasions, including two spells each at Real Betis and Lorient, as well as Olympiakos, Villareal and Sporting in Lisbon.

The Emirates Cup was very popular with Arsenal fans, the two matches cost just £39 in the Club Level with a limited level of Corporate Hospitality extra but reasonably priced !

 

Matchday Information

The weather at the 19.45 local kick-off time ( 17.45 UK ) was dry and 19 degrees.

Bet365 made Monaco 9/20 favourites to win the match, with Pafos at 11/2 and the draw at 15/4.

Monaco made six changes from the side that was hammered at Rennes with the return of Caio Henrique, Brazilian defender Vanderson ( 5 caps ), Senegelese midfielder Lamine Camara ( 34 caps ) Balogun, Golovin and Minamino. Dropping out were Ilenikhena, Fati, Kehrer Diatta, Manadou Coulibaly and Kassoum Ouattata, all of whom except Diatta were on the bench, along with Pogba.

Pafos made two changes to the side that started at the weekend with Spanish centre-back David Goldar and Anderson Silva replacing Correia and ex-Anderlecht, VFL Wolfsburg, Espanyol, NEC Nijmegen and Samsunspor Belgian forward Landry Dimata. Correia, who scored both goals in the win at the weekend was suspended following a red card against Kairat Almaty, whilst Dimata was amongst the substitutes.

Pafos were playing in blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks whilst Monaco were in their usual red and white diagonal shirts.

The referee and his assistants were from Slovakia.

Match Report

Monaco made a fast start with Akliouche twice in the action in the first minute, first making a break down the right wing but no-one was on the end of his low cross. When Monaco reworked possession, Akliouche’s fierce 20-yard drive was pushed away by the diving Pafos keeper.

Minamino was also looking lively and was free on right hand side of area but he steered a bouncing ball a couple of yards wide of the far post. However, we didn’t have to wait for the first goal, and Akliouche played a neat pass for Minamino to run onto, and the Japanese midfielder toe-poked the ball across the goal and into far corner. 0-1 after 5 minutes.

Pafos nearly immediately struck back but after a lay-off by Dragomir, Anderson Silvas’ left-footed effort from edge of area looped over the keeper and crashed back from the crossbar. A minute later, an Orsic free-kick was swung to beyond far post and turned back by Anderson Silva, but it hit Luckasson and rolled off for a goal kick with the Monaco defence scrambling.

Bruno released Luckassen for a run down the right-wing and after his cross was partially cleared, Bruno’s shot from the 18 yard line was deflected wide for a corner for Pafos. Orsic’s delivery was met by David Luiz, who made a good run to evade his marker, and his bullet header flew into the top corner. 1-1 with 18 minutes played.

Three minutes later, Bruno fell theatrically to the floor when trying to stop Camara taking a quick free-kick. The replay showed his was pushed in face, and Camara was perhaps fortunate to see only a yellow card.

Disaster struck shortly after for Pafos. Keeper Michail played a terrible pass straight to Balogun, who took a touch and then fired into the net left-footed from 16 yards. Perhaps the face mask Michail was wearing obscured his vision ? Anyway it was 1-2 with 26 minutes on the clock.

Golovin then saw yellow for a kick on Felip and was very lucky not to see a second card a minute later when he leapt to block a cross from Orsic and the ball struck his outstretched arm. Orsic sent the free-kick to the centre of the goalmouth where Goldar made contact. It looked like the ball may have hit an arm of a Monaco defender, and Lukassen was unable to bundle the ball over the line, but the linesman’s flag was raised for offside.

Pafos were being sloppy with their passing in defence but Monaco couldn’t take advantage. The home fans must have been having kittens every time the ball was at the feet of Michail.

Monaco were looking more likely to score the next goal. Balogun was found on edge of area, turned, but shot well over the bar, then Minamino went on a strong run but his shot was high and wide, with the corner flag in more danger than the goal !

Michail made another ropey clearance but David Luiz and Lukassen were able to crowd out the Monaco attackers.

Balogun got past Orsic close to left-hand corner flag, but his dangerous looking ball was cleared by David Luiz at the near post ahead of Golovin. A diagonal ball then found Vanderson free unmarked on the right-hand side of the Pafos areas, but the shot from a tightish angle was saved by legs of Michail, and after some difficulty Pafos eventually cleared the loose ball.

As the first half headed into added on time, a good run Camara by saw him find Minamino on right wing, but low ball into the area was too far ahead of Balogun.

The last action of the half saw a yellow card shown to Goldar for a foul on Akliouche, which was  probably for an accumulation of offences.

Monaco were good value for their lead at the interval and looked good going forward, and the Pafos defence looked shaky. However, the home side had had their moments when they attacked.

Pafos made one change at the break, with Mozambique left-back Bruno Langa ( 38 caps ) replacing Goldar.

The Monagasques came close to extending their lead three minutes in to the second period. Minamino puts Balogun clear but the angle was tight, and the shot was too close to the keeper, who blocked with his legs.

Zakaria made a powerful run down the left-hand channel but his ball across goalmouth went ahead of Minamino.

It was now Monaco’s turn to be sloppy in possession in defence as they started to repeatedly give the ball away.

In the 52^nd minute the ball was slipped through for Anderson Silva, but his shot across the goal was pushed away one handed by Hradecky.

The game went through a spell when neither side was able to create any clear-cut changes. Dragomir’s header was comfortably saved by Hradecky and at the other end Zakaria’s header was an easy save for Michail. Balogun turned just inside the Pafos area but shot over the bar.

The Pafos keeper again gave the ball straight to a Monaco player, but the Monagasques over-elaborated and lost possession.

With 18 minutes left to play, Orsic went on a good run and saw his shot blocked. Sunjic’ shot from rebound was blocked, and the follow-up blocked for a corner. Pafos substitute Jaja then won a corner off Minamino, but Orsic’s corner was punched away under pressure by Hradecky.

At the other end, a Monaco free-kick hit Sunjic and bounced through to Michail.

As the game entered its final ten minutes, Jaja cut in from left and shot left-footed, but his effort was bravely blocked by Salisu.

Orisc then played a through pass to Bassouamina, who made a great turn and laid off to Dimata, who crashed to the floor when trying to run into the Monaco area, but it was no foul.

Pafos were piling on the pressure as they searched for the equaliser. Orsic’s cross was headed by Salisu only as far as Jaja, whose shot was blocked for a corner by Caio Henriques. A long throw bounced across the Monaco area to Orsic, who tried to carefully place his shot low into the far corner, but Hradecky produced a great save to push away for a corner.

Orsic’s corner was cleared straight back to him, enabling him to cross into the 6-yard box. Sunjic’s header hit the bar and struck the unfortunately Salisu at close range, who had no chance of getting out of the way, and the ball bobbled into the net. 2-2 after 88 minutes

As the game moved into added time, Orsic hooked the ball forward and Bassouamina ran after it, only to be cynically brought down by Salisu, who received a yellow card for hit efforts. Orsic’s free-kick was headed away, but Orsic collected the loose ball to cross again, but Hradecky confidently claimed the cross.

It was end-to-end as both sides push forward to try and win the game, and for Monaco, Teze’s teasing cross was punched away by Michail, which had come after Orsic had tracked back to make an important tackle to stop a Monaco counter attack.

The last action of the match saw Zakaria slide in to intercept a Pafos cross from the left, and the ball struck him on the arm as he lay on the floor. The final whistle was blown to end the game, but although VAR can award penalties after the match has finished, there was no VAR review and it remained 2-2.

On balance a draw was probably a fair result, which left the two sides in the last two qualifying places.

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USUnV4BvjJA 

Pafos FC : Michail – Luckassen, David Luiz, Goldar ( Langa ) - Bruno, Sunjic, Pepe, Dragonmir ( Dimata ) – Quina ( Jaja ), Orsic, Anderson Silva ( Bassouamina )

AS Monaco : Hradecky – Caio Henrique, Vanderson ( Kehrer ), Salisu -– Teze, Camara ( Michal ), Zakaria, Minamino ( Fati ) -– Akliouche, Balogun ( Biereth ), Golovin ( Caulibaly )

 

 

 

 

Oxford City 1-2 Peterborough Sports ( att : 412 ) – 2025/26 FA Trophy

November 15, 2025

This weekend, two sides at the wrong end of National League North table could take their minds off their struggles in the league, as Oxford City and Peterborough Sports met in the FA Trophy.

These diaries reported on Oxford City last Saturday, when a 2-0 home victory over Worksop Town took The Hoops up to 22^nd in the table, leapfrogging Sports, who fell to 23^rd place.

Oxford City would be hoping to go on a similar run to last year in the FA Trophy, when they reached the quarter-finals, equalling their best ever performance in the competition. Wins were registered over Sporting Khalsa ( H 5-0 ), Hadley ( H 2-1 ), Biggleswade Town ( A 3-0 ), Forest Green Rovers ( H 1-0 ), who were top of the National League at the time, before being eliminated by National League Woking. The game was a 2-2 draw, with Woking equalising in added on time, after which a comically bizarre penalty shoot-out ensued, with at one point seven consecutive attempts missed. Unfortunately for Oxford City, they missed four of them, and lost the shoot-out 1-2.

Last year Peterborough Sports got past National League South Chelmsford City ( H 2-0 ) but then went out 1-2 at National League North Southport.

Peterborough Sports FC

Peterborough Sports were founded in 1908 as Brotherhoods Engineering Works, the works team of the company of the same name, who designed and manufactured steam turbine engines, from which the club still has the nickname The Turbines.

The name Peterborough Sports was adopted in 2001 when the club were still playing in the Peterborough and District League. Promotion to the United Counties League was achieved following the 2012/13 season, and they became Champions of Division One in 2015/16 to go up to the UCL Premier Division.

Another promotion followed in the next season as Sports won the Premier Division to move up to the step 4 Northern Premier League Division One South. After one season Sports were levelled transferred to the Southern League Division One Central and immediately won the title to rise to the step 3 Southern League Premier Division.

Sports finished runners-up in 2021/22 and won the play-off by beating Alvechurch and Coalville Town to be promoted to step 2 and the National League North.

In their three seasons at step 2, Sports had finished 14^th, 15^th, and 12^th.

Home is the 2,300 capacity Lincoln Road and the home colours are orange shirts with black shorts and socks

Peterborough Sports Squad

Probably the most well-known member of the Sports squad was ex-Western United and Adelaide United Australian left-back Josh Cavallo, who came out in 2021 to become one of the few openly gay professional footballers. I’ve no idea how he ended up in Peterborough !

There were three Internationals in the Sports squad. Gambian winger Mustapha Carayol ( 7 caps ) had a long career with Crawley Town, Lincoln City, Bristol Rovers, Leeds United, Middlesborough, Brighton and Hove Albion, Ipswich Town, Gillingham and Burton Albion to name just a few !

Ex-Barnsley striker Josiah Dyer had 5 caps for Montserrat, whilst ex-Swansea City and Kidderminster winger Maliq Cadogan had 3 caps for Guyana.

Midfielder Luca Miller was previously with Kettering, midfielder Sam Straughan-Brown was on loan from Doncaster Rovers, midfielder Elliot Whitehouse was on loan from Macclesfield, and ex-Fleetwood Town striker Theo Williams was on loan from King’s Lynn.

Journeyman striker Shaq Coulthirst appeared in these diaries for Braintree Town at Oxford City in January 2022 and numbers Leyton Orient, Torquay United, Peterborough United, Mansfield Town, Barnet and Ebbsfleet United to name but a few amongst his former clubs.

Forward Ben Beresford signed from Alfreton Town, having earlier played for Gloucester City, Banbury United and Kidderminster, and midfielder Dan Jarvis had a loan spell at Bedford Town as a youngster. Left-back/winger Connor Wood had played over 100 times for Bradford City, as well as playing for Leyton Orient, Colchester and Tranmere Rovers.

Defender Marcel Oakley stared at Birmingham City with loans to Arbroath and Queens Park before joining Solihull Moors, and keeper Peter Crook was previously with Harrogate Town and Boston United.

Peterborough Sports This Season

Peterborough Sports came into today’s game second from bottom in the NLN with a 4-2-10 record, and were 2-0-6 away from home.

The Turbines lost four of first five league games, with just one point coming from a 0-0 home draw with Leamington. The first victory came with a 1-0 win at Marine, but the next two games were lost before Kidderminster Harriers were then beaten 2-1 and Alfreton held 1-1, both at home.

Their last 6 games had followed a pattern of two defeats, two wins, then two defeats. The wins came at Southport ( 2-1 ) and Chorley ( 2-1 at home ). Last time out, Sports were beaten 0-1 at Spennymoor Town.

Only two sides had scored fewer than Sports’ 16 goals, and only two had conceded more than the 30 goals they had let in.

Peterborough Sports progressed through one round of the FA Cup, eliminating step 2 Hornchurch from NLS 2-1, but were then embarrassed with a 1-4 exit at step 3 Harborough Town.

The consequence of the Cup exit was the sacking of joint managers Luke Steele and Colin Gash, and the appointment of Phil Brown, who ironically recorded his first victory against Kidderminster, who had sacked him in the summer after failing to winning promotion by finishing second on the last day of last season, and then losing in the promotion play-offs.

Brown famously took Hull City into the Premier League, and were joint top after 9 games following victories at Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. However, reality soon set in and Hull were in a relegation battle, but finally finished 17^th. However, relegation and sacking followed in the following season. Brown subsequently managed Preston North End, Southend ( twice ), Swindon, had a spell in India, then Barrow, before pitching up at Kidderminster.

The average attendance so far this season was 343, the lowest in the division, with the highest being 423 for the visit of Kidderminster.

Miller was the top scorer with 3 goals, followed by Dyer, Jarvis and Beresford on 2.

Previous Meetings

Peterborough Sports did the double over Oxford City last season, winning 2-1 at home and 3-1 at Court Place Farm.

If Hoops fans were looking for an omen, their side had won the only meeting in the FA Trophy, winning 2-0 in February 2021.

Matchday Information

According to AA Route Planner, the journey from Peterborough to Oxford is 88 miles down the A45 and M40 and should normally take around 2 hours. It looked like around 25 Turbines fans had made the journey.

Tickets for today’s game were at a reduced price of £10 for adults online and £14 at the turnstile. For Over 65s it was £6 online and £10 on the gate. An online programme was available and a cup of tea cost £2.50.

It was a grey winters day at the 15.00 kick-off but with a damp feeling in the air, and there was a chance of some light rain during the game. The temperature was around 10 degrees.

Bet365 made Oxford City 6/5 favourites, with Peterborough Sports at 13/8 and the draw 13/5.

Sports were playing in their usual kit of orange shirts, with black shorts and socks. Oxford City were in their traditional blue and white hoops.

Peterborough Sports made eight changes from the side that lost as Spennymoor as manager Brown decided to give his fringe players a chance. Irish/Nigerian centre-back Kevin Joshua was making his debut after signing in midweek as a free agent having previously played for Peterhead, Macclesfield and York City and keeper Sam Edwards, who had 10 caps for the England Deaf team was also making his first start after signing in the summer.

Only Aaron Powell, Straughan-Brown and Whitehouse kept their places, although Crook, Oakley, Carayol, Miller and Beresford were on the substitutes’ bench. There was no place in the squad for Cavallo

Oxford City made four changes to the side that beat Worksop last Saturday. Keeper Sam Lewis was injured during the mid-week Town vs Gown fixture so Max Treml came for his debut, whilst Josh Parker, Darnell Johnson and Ewan Clark returned to the side.

Matchday Report

Peterborough Sports made a fast start with a long throw being headed off for a corner, which then may have struck a post before being partially cleared. When the ball was crossed back into the area by Straughan-Brown, Joshua’s mis-kicked volley from 10 yards looped up for Treml to take an easy catch.

Oxford City’s response was swift. Firstly, a ball in from the left wing was headed on by Parker for Edwards to make a comfortable save, then Ashby ran onto a long ball as Sports looked for an offside flag, but a poor first touch took him wide but as the keeper approached, Ashby blasted the ball across the goalmouth but the unmarked Parker at the back post could only react and head over the bar. Any half decent cross would have given Parker a simple chance into the empty net, so it was a golden opportunity squandered.

Sports then won two corners but the home defence stood firm, after which Tom Scott showed a good touch to control a pass from Jacob Roddy and ran past two static defenders, but his low cross into the area was put out for a corner by Joshua. Ashby’s delivery struck Chris Francis at the back post and rolled through to the keeper.

With 13 minutes played Alfie Potter beat Powell on the left but as he shaped to shoot after running into the Sports area, Powell recovered to make an excellent sliding tackle.

Clark then sent an optimistic 25 yarder harmlessly over the bar after which ex-Brackley and Darlington right winger Kaine Felix showed good speed but his cross was poor.

Wood then played a nice ball down the left-hand channel for Max Booth to latch onto but his low ball towards the 6-yard line was cut-out by Charlie Wiggett. Sports reworked possession and when a cross came in from the right, Treml’s punch was weak, but City were spared by the referee’s whistle. It wasn’t clear what the offence was as it didn’t look like a foul on the keeper, so maybe there was an offside. It was to be the first in a series of puzzling decisions from the man in black ( who actually was in black today ! ).

Oxford City should have opened the scoring in the 19^th minute. Parker dummied a through ball which left Potter with a 1 vs 1 with the keeper, but Potter’s shot was too close to the keeper, who dived to his right to push the ball away.

Sports were quickly down the other end but Francis made an excellent tackle to dispossess Coulthirst but not longer afterwards, Sports had taken the lead. Wood picked up a loose ball and with no home defender closing his down, the wing-back took a couple of steps forward and shot left-footed from 25 yards and the ball found the top corner. Keeper Treml though would have been disappointed by his effort to make the save, with his attempted push not being strong enough. It was 0-1 after 23 minute.

Two minutes later keeper Edwards tried to grab a long ball but as he slid the ball slipped through his hands. Scott managed to keep the ball in play and passed to Roddy, who crossed towards the far post where Potter’s pass was to no-one and Sports cleared the danger.

Treml’s nervy start continued as he fumbled a low ball in from the right but recovered to gather, but he did much better in the 32^nd minute when Coulthirst shot left-footed from the edge of the area and Treml saved at his near post.

Parker thumped a 20-yard effort a couple of feet over the Sports crossbar then Phil Brown was irate with the officials when they failed to award a couple of free-kicks in favour of the Peterborough side. Ashby was then bundled over by a Sports played and fell on the ball, and when he picked the ball up expecting the obvious free-kick to be given, the decision was handball !

Two Sports players were left rolling around on the (astro)turf and the referee showed a yellow card to Clark for a wild challenge on Straughan-Brown. Chants of “You’re ******* useless” rang around the ground at the referee, and probably from both benches as well.

Powell then went down as if badly hurt after an innocuous challenge from Potter and the referee awarded a very soft free-kick. Brown’s comments to the official could be heard very clearly from the other side of the pitch to the dug-outs, and “calm and measured” were not the words that sprang to mind.

City then fashioned a nice looking move which was butchered by a terrible pass by Johnson, kicking the ball off for a goal-kick rather than to Roddy in space on the right

Italian Benjamin Mensah played a ball over The Hoops backline which Coulthirst ran on to but his left-footed shot was blocked, and an offside flag was belatedly raised.

Coulthirst’s elbow then struck Roddy in the face but no free-kick was awarded. Instead, play was eventually stopped, and after treatment play resumed with a drop ball to the home side.

Ashby drilled a 20-yard effort a couple of feet wide after a good chest trap by Parker, and the final action of the half saw Powell winning a free-kick decision from the referee after slipping as Potter closed him down. At the interval, Peterborough Sports led 1-0 having taking their chance and City missing theirs.

The second half started in a similar fashion to the end of the first half, with Whitehouse throwing himself to the ground and appealing for a foul as Parker came to challenge him but this time the referee wasn’t conned and allowed play to continue. Remarkably, Whitehouse got to his feet very quickly !

The first chance of the second period fell to Sports, as Booth picked up a loose ball and ran into the Oxford City area, but he blasted over from a reasonably tight angle. Clark then won a corner for The Hoops on the left, but Wiggett’s header was cleared off the line by Mensah standing at his back post.

Wiggett was called into action at the other end, producing an important slide to prevent a pass putting Booth clear. The subsequent throw-in was played short, and after a cross from Powell was partially cleared, Whitehouse sent a shot out of the stadium.

With 53 minutes on the clock, Felix went on another rapid run down the right-wing but again there was no end product, this time sending the ball high over the heads of his attackers.

The home side missed another great chance two minutes later. Cadogan’s air-kick midway inside the Oxford City half enabled Ashby to take possession and play a splendid ball to put Parker clear. However, the touch from the veteran Antiguan took him a little wide and with an angle tighter than it could have been, the blasted shot struck the body of the keeper as he spread himself

Scott was then fouled as he played a forward pass close to the half-way and Parker grappled with Joshua before eventually breaking free to bare down on goal. The referee decided to bring back play for the foul on Scott as the Oxford City players screamed that an advantage should be played, but the referee took the view that Parker had fouled Joshua. The referee probably got that one right.

In the 58^th minute Coulthirst wriggled his way into the Oxford City area, but his effort was blocked by Francis, and the ball rolled through for Treml to pick up.

A minute later Lattrell Humphrey-Ewers shot from distance after being teed up by Parker, by Edwards made the catch above his head.

The officials then gave a throw, then a corner to Sports, which led to an embarrassing petulant display of amateur theatrics from City’s Clark in protest at two very good decisions. Clearly, the youngster needs to grow up.

City defender Johnson was the next player to be shown a yellow card, after a bad foul on Coulthirst. The free-kick was 25 yards out on the left but Whitehouse sent the kick straight into the arms of Treml.

Humphrey-Ewers again tried his luck from distance and this time Edwards failed to hold on. Roddy was the quickest to react but could only blast again the prone body of Edwards from close range. It was another good chance missed by the home side but also a brave save by the keeper.

Whitehouse was the next to see yellow, after a late tackle on Ashby, who got up to take the free-kick to the edge of the Sports area, where a City head made contact to direct towards the far post but Isaac Westendorf’s header lacked power and Edwards made a routine catch above his head.

Two City players stopped and appealed for a handball against Oakley and Straughan-Brown took advantage to play on and send a curling effort narrowly wide of the far post. Just because the ball strikes an arm doesn’t automatically mean it is handball. Again, I thought the referee got this one right, and City were guilty of not abiding to the old adage of “play to the whistle”.

With 15 minutes remaining, Scott sent a left-footed shot just over the bar after a chip into the Sports area had been headed out. Two minutes later Westendorf was wrestled to the floor by Wood but surprisingly the referee didn’t see it as a penalty.

Sports were now showing their expertise in game management, slowing the game down at every opportunity, and ignoring the referee’s efforts to make them play without any sanction.

Straughan-Brown was the next to be shown a yellow card after a high foot made contact with the head of Ashby, although it didn’t look malicious. When the ball was played forward, a great defensive block denied Scott, and the ball flew over the bar for a corner.

The set-piece was glanced on at the near post by Parker, and Westendorf was on hand to bundle the ball over the line for the equaliser. 1-1 after 85 minutes.

With their tails up and roared on by the home crowd, Westendorf made a surging run down the left and into the Sports area and looked up to pass to Scott. As the City midfielder lined up a shot, his legs were taken away from under him by Carayol. The referee took a long, hard look and after some time awarded the penalty. City had the chance to turn the tie around with two goals in two minutes.

Oxford City have had a terrible record from the spot in recent years, but Ashby, who was the one player to score in the shoot-out fiasco against Woking, stepped up to take responsibility. Unfortunately for the home side, he sent the ball wide of the keeper’s left-hand post to add to the catalogue of missed chances.

Almost immediately after, Sports raided down the left and Carayol delivered an in-perfect left-footed cross where substitute Beresford was unmarked and powered home a header from 6 yards giving the keeper no chance. 1-2 with 88 minutes played.

Four added minutes were to be played and it was The Turbines who nearly added a third goal, but Cadogan’s effort across goal heading for the far corner was pushed away by the diving Treml.

City forced a corner, but Edwards, with a crowd of players around him, was able to punch away. The final whistle blew shortly after and Peterborough Sports progressed to the next round. They had taken two of their chances, whereas Oxford City had wasted several good chances, and on that basis had only themselves to blame.

Highlights :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCBtzw9nb4U

Oxford City : Treml – Johnson ( Wilson ), Wiggett, Francis - Roddy, Ashby, Humphrey-Ewers ( Westendorf ), Scott, Potter, Clark – Parker, Potter

Peterborough Sports :  Edwards – Powell, Joshua ( Oakley ), Wood – Felix, Straughan-Brown, Whitehouse, Cadogan, Mensah ( Carayol ) – Coulthirst ( Miller ), Booth ( Beresford )