CFR Cluj 0-5 Tromso ( att : 6,729 ) – 2026/27 UEFA Conference League

 August 6, 2026

The draw from the UEFA Conference League Play-Off resulted in Brighton and Hove Albion being drawn against the winners of the Third Qualifying Round tie between CFR Cluj and Tromso. Fatbear decided it would be an opportunity to spy on Albion’s potentials opponents !

By finishing third in the Romania SuperLiga, CFR Cluj were exempt to the Second Qualifying Round of the Conference League where they were drawn against Armenian side Alashkert. A 1-1 draw was played out in the first leg in Yerevan, and Cluj cruised to a 3-0 home victory in the return, in front of a crowd of 5,465.

Tromso’s third place in the 2025 Eliteserien qualified them for the Second Qualifying Round of the Europa League, where they were perhaps surprisingly eliminated by Czech side Hradec Kralove. The Czechs grabbed a 1-0 away win in front of 5,082 spectators in Tromso, and although the Norwegian side scored first in the second leg with Larsen’s acrobatic close range finish after Innvaer’s strong run to level the tie, Hradec responded with three headed goals to progress 4-1 on aggregate. Tromso therefore dropped down to the Conference League.

Norway were 14^th in the UEFA coefficients used to determine the number of sides each country had this year in each UEFA club competitions, whereas Romania were 21^st.

Football In Romania

These diaries covered Universitatea Craiova’s first leg in their First Round Champions League tie against Levski Sofia last month, which they lost 0-1 in Bulgaria. This was these diaries 6^th match report on games involving Romanian sides, in addition to 6 match-day reviews/round-ups on the  Romania SuperLiga. However, CFR Cluj had not been featured in any match reports, although they had mentions in the 5 weekly round-ups.

The report on the Universitatea Craiova vs Levski game gave details on the format of the Romanian SuperLiga.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2026/07/levski-sofia-1-0-universitatea-craiova.html 

The 2026/27 season in Romania had already started, and after their 3^rd place finish last season, CFR Cluj had made a disappointing start, with one win and two losses in the three games played so far. Both defeats had come away from home, going down 1-2 at Otelul Galati, and 1-3 at Rapid Bucharest, although a 5-0 home win had been registered over FC Voluntari, who had been reduced to 10 men after just 12 minutes.

CFR Cluj

The club were founded in 1907 in the city of Cluj-Napoca, the second largest city in Romania, located in the north-west of the country in the province of Transylvania. Cluj-Napoca is located around 460km north-west of the capital, and similar distances to Belgrade to the south-west and Budapest to the north-west.

When the club was founded, Cluj-Napoca was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and only became part of Romania in 1920, and around 50,000 people, 14% of the population, today are ethnic Hungarian.

After becoming part of Romania, the club changed its name from Kolozsvári Vasutas Sport Club, which from Hungarian translates as Cluj Railway Sport Club, to Căile Ferate Române Cluj, or Romanian Railways. Although the state railway carrier was dissolved in 1998 into four autonomous privatised companies, the football club retained the CFR initials in its name.

CFR have won the Romanian title on 8 occasions, with the first being in 2007/08, and there were 5 consecutive successes between 2017/18 and 2021/22, which was the last title won. CFR were runners-up in 2023/24 and 2024/25, and the Romanian Cup has been won 5 times, the last time in 2024/25.

Home is the Dr. Constantin Rădulescu Stadium, named after a former player, coach and club doctor, but is commonly referred to as the CFR Cluj Stadium. It has a capacity of 17,408 and a grass pitch. CFR Cluj’s average home attendance last season was only 3,159, the third lowest in the SuperLiga, and down from 4,499 from the previous season.

 

There are two top flight sides in Cluj-Napoca, so CFR Cluj are not to be confused with Universitatea Cluj, with whom there is a long-standing rivalry !

CFR Cluj’s colours have traditionally been white and burgundy, leading to one of their nicknames being The White and Burgundies, with The Railwaymen being another popular nickname.

CFR Cluj have a decent record in Europe, with their best performance being in 2012/13 when they finished third in their Champions’ League Group with 10 points, after a win against Manchester United at Old Trafford, two wins over Braga, and a draw in Istanbul with Galatasaray. This remains the best performance by a Romanian team in the Champions League, although of course Steaua Bucharest won the European Cup in 1986 beating Barcelona on penalties in the final in Seville.

CFR have also won matches against Roma, Lazio, Celtic ( twice ) and Basel ( three times ), whilst draws were played against Chelsea, Roma, and Lazio.

In the 2025/26 UEFA Europe League, CFR eliminated Hungarian side Paks 3-0 on aggregate, then Lugano 1-0, before being eliminated 1-4 on aggregate by Braga. Dropping down the UEFA Conference League, Cluj lost 2-7 on aggregate to Swedish side Hacken.

CFR Cluj Squad

The CFR Cluj squad didn’t contain any players who had represented the national side within the past 12 months. Indeed, the only current internationals were Mauritanian defender Aly Abeid ( 76 caps ) and Kosovan winger Meriton Korenica ( 6 caps ), who was the joint highest valued player according to Transfermrkt at €3M.

Also rated at €3M was right-winger Andrei Cordea ( 5 caps ), who had returned to Romania after a short spell in Saudi Arabia.

Foreign players in the squad included ex-Jablonec and Rio Ave Croatian defender Renato Pantalon, who hopefully wouldn’t be caught with his pants down,  veteran German right-back Cristopher Braun had played for Botosani and Rapid Bucharest after moving from OFI Crete, Serbian striker Stefan Drazic had played in Belgium, China, Hungary and Cyprus before joining Cluj, Portuguese left-back Simao Rocha was ex-Pacos de Ferreira, Croatian midfielder Karlo Muhar had played for Lech Poznan, Kayserispor, CSKA Sofia and in Saudi Arabia, whilst veteran Damjan Djorkovic had played for Bologna, Cesena, Livorno, Ajaccio, Furth and sides in Turkey, Saudi Arabia in addition to FCSB and Rapid Bucharest, and doesn’t appear to be any relation to Novak !

Midfielder Alin Fica had been with CFR since 2020 whilst keeper Octovian Valceanu had played for several sides in Romania before joining CFR last season. Midfielder Adrian Paun ( 1 cap ) had played in Isreal, forward Andres Sfait had briefly been with Saleritarnia, whilst Portugal born midfielder Mario Camora had 10 caps for Romania.

The coach was Portuguese Antonio Folha ( 26 caps ), who had played for Porto, Standard Liege and AEK Athens as a player.

Football In Norway

These diaries have covered 5 matches from Norway’s Eliteserien, with the most recent being the Valerenga vs Molde game in June last year.

There are 16 sides in the Norway Eliteserien, who play each other twice for a 30-game season. The Champions qualify for the UEFA Champions League play-off round, with the runners-up entering the Third Qualifying Round of the Champions League. The Cup Winners go through to the Europa League play-off round whilst the third placed side enter the Europa League Second Qualifying Round. The team finishing in fourth place enter the Europa Conference League Second Qualifying Round. The bottom two sides are relegated to the Norway First League, known as the OBOS-ligaen, whilst the side finishing 14^th face a play-off against the winner of the First League promotion play-offs.

Norway is one of Europe’s 12 summer leagues and the 2026 season is half way through, with Bodo/Glimt leading the 2025 champions Viking Stavanger by one point but from one game more played. Tromso were in third place a further three points behind but 9 points clear of Lillestrom in 4^th place.

Tromso IL

Tromso is located inside the Arctic Circle on the island of Tromsoya and the municipality has a population of around 80,000, the 12^th largest in Norway. The journey by road is just under 1,750 km and would take nearly 22 hours, with the vast majority of the trip being through Sweden.  The flight takes 1 hour 50 minutes, which Fatbear has taken as flights to Svalbard needed to clear customs in Tromso before flying on to Longyearbyen. Therefore, Fatbear has been to Tromso Airport and seen the city from the air !

Tromso Idrettslag were founded in 1920 but clubs from northern Norway were only allowed to participate in the Norwegian Cub in 1963, and only in 1972 play in the top division. Tromso were promoted to play in the 1986 first division and played there until relegation in 2001. However, the stay in the second level was just for one season, as were the 2014 and 2020 seasons when they also played in the second tier.

Tromso have finished as runners-up on two occasions, in 1990 and 2011, but they won the Norwegian Cup in 1986 and 1996, which Wikipedia claims makes Tromso the most northerly team on the planet to win a national trophy !

Home is the 6,691 capacity Romssa Area, which has an artificial pitch, and the team’s nickname is Guten, which translates as The Boys. Tromso colours have traditionally been red and white shirts with white shorts and socks.

Tromso’s average home attendance this season was currently 5,164, the 10^th highest in the Eliteserien, and up from the 4,958 on 2025. In their last outing, Tromso won 6-2 at Aalesund.

Tromso have enjoyed some success in Europe, first coming to wider attention in the 1997/98 Cup-Winners Cup when they beat a Chelsea side including Vialli, Zola, Wise, Leboeuf, De Goey, Clarke, Petrescu and Hughes and coached by Ruud Gullit. However, the 3-2 win was played in a blizzard, and the Chelsea All-Stars avoided further embarrassment by winning the return 7-1 !

Tromso eliminated Galatasaray from the 2005/06 UEFA Cup, and beat Red Star Belgrade 3-1 in the Group Phase. A 1-1 home draw was played against Athletic Bilbao in the 2009/10 Europa League play-off round but they were eliminated 3-4 on aggregate.

The 2013/14 Europa League play-off round saw Tromso beat Besiktas 2-1 at home but lost the return 0-2 to lose the tie 2-3 on aggregate. However, Besiktas were kicked out of the competition due to the 2011 match-fixing scandals in Turkey, and Tromso were re-instated. Tromso though lost 5 of their 6 group matches, including home and away defeats to Tottenham Hotspur ( 0-2 & 0-3 ), with the only point coming from a 1-1 home draw with Sheriff Tiraspol.

In the 2024/25 Conference League, Tromso recorded home and away 1-0 victories over Finnish side KuPS but disappointingly exited the competition to Kilmarnock. Although the first leg was a 2-2 draw in Scotland, a 0-1 home reverse in the return saw the Scottish side progress.

Tromso Squad

The Tromso squad had two current internationals, Mauritanian keeper Abderrahame Sarr ( 8 caps ) and Cape Verde forward Ieltsin Cameos ( 1 cap ). Cameos was the top scorer last season with 13 goals.

Veteran midfielder and captain Ruben Janssen was an ex-international ( 39 caps ), and had played in Germany for Kaiserslautern and for Dutch side Groningen.

The highest valued player at €10M according to Transfermrkt was Under 21 international midfielder Jens Hjerto-Dahl, who was this season’s joint top scorer so far with 7 goals, alongside midfielder Heine Asen Larsen. Swedish Under 21 full-back-back Alexander Warneryd had found the net 5 times this season.

Other foreign players in the Tromso squad included Danish keeper Jakob Haugaard, who had played for Stoke City, Wigan Athletic and AIK Stockholm, ex-Varnamo Swedish midfielder David Edvardsson and ex-Orgryte Swedish midfielder Isak Dahlqvist.

Forward Troy Nyhammer and midfielder Sander Innvaer had both previously played for Haugesund and appeared in these diaries in the relegation/play-off game in December 2024 against Moss FK.

The coach was Jorgen Vik, a former Norway Futsal international.

Matchday Information

The distance between Tromso and Cluj-Napoca is around 3,400 kilometres by road and ferry. There are no direct flights between the two cities, so unless flying on a chartered aircraft, the journey could take anything from 7 to 12 hours depending on the stopovers. It looked like around 20 Tromso supporters had travelled.

The weather at the 19.30 local time kick-off ( 17.30 UK ) was sunny and 33 degrees.

Tickets for the match were between 40-45 Lei ( £6.50 - £7.35 ), with VIP tickets 140 Lei ( £23 ) and 310 Lei ( £50 ) for the Business Lounge.

Bet365, who live streamed the match, made Tromso 17/10 favourites, with Cluj at 27/20 and the draw 11/5.

CFR Cluj were playing in all burgundy but with a broad white band down the front of their shirts, whilst Tromso were wearing a change kit of all dark blue

Tromso made four changes to the side that started the defeat to Hradec Kralove with Mathias Tonnessen, Lars Larsen, Dahlqvist and Nyhammer coming into the starting XI. Cameos and Innvaer dropped to the bench whilst Hjerto-Dahl was rumoured to be about to sign for Premiership Hull City for €11.5M and Tobias Guddal had been sold to Sparta Prague for €4.5M

Cluj made three changes to the team that took to the field against Alashkert with ex-Grasshoppers and Aston Villa Portuguese keeper Andre Moreira replacing Valceanu, Camora replaced Rocha, and Bruno Costa was in for Djokovic.

The referee was Patrik Kolaric from Croatia

Match Report

Nearly three minutes had been played before the Bet365 live stream became available, and almost immediately after there was a goal to report ! 

Warneryd went on a mazy run into the Cluj area. His cross took a slight deflection, enough for Lars Larsen to only be able to head upwards, but when the ball was falling, Heine Larsen hooked the ball home from the 6-yard line ahead of Abeid and Camora. Frankly, the two defenders could have done a lot better and were not brave enough. 0-1 in the 5^th minute.

Tromso’s lead could have been doubled a minute later as Jenssen ran through the middle of the Cluj half and offloaded to Heine Larsen on his left, but the left-footed shot was sliced wide from 12 yards.

The first Cluj were seen as an attacking threat came in the 9^th minute when a long ball found Cordea, but Tonnessen defended well and won the ball. Fica then played a ball through the left-hand channel and Korenica kept the ball in play and laid the ball back to Camora, but the cross was hit too long and sailed harmlessly beyond the far post.

Muhar then ran onto a flick and into the Tromso area, but his low shot across goal went narrowly wide.

However, Tromso soon scored again. A short pass from Janssen put Heine Larsen in oceans of space as a huge gap in the heart of the Cluj defence opened, and Larsen’s left footed side-footed shot from just inside the D nestled into the keeper’s bottom right-hand corner. It was now 0-2 with 19 minutes played.

Cluj responded with an in-swinging left-footed free-kick from Cordea which Heine Larsen, back helping out in defence, headed off for a corner.

The Cluj defence was struggling to cope with the visitors’ slick attacking moves and a third goal was soon added. Edvardsson played a diagonal ball towards the far post which Dahlqvist controlled, and with Camora unable to close him down, drilled across goal into far corner from just outside the angle of the yard box . There was a VAR check to see if Jenssen had been offside in the build-up, but Abeid had played the Tromso midfielder onside so the goal stood. 0-3 after 28 minutes.

Jenssen tried his luck from distance but Moreira dived to hold the 25-yarder. For Cluj, Muhar ran down left-hand channel but his low cross was cut out.

A comedy moment arrived in the 32^nd minute when Isak Vadebu pushed Korenica in the chest and the Kosovan went down holding his head. The battle between these two players continued two minutes later as Korenica was tackled by Vadebu when about to shoot from 8 yards out. The ball trickled through to keeper Haugaard, and Korenica stayed on the ground for a couple of minutes with an apparent injury. However, a miraculous recovery occurred and he was good to continue, and was soon fouling Vadebu when the young Tromso defender made a headed clearance.

Four minutes before half-time Nyhammer was allowed to run down the right wing and then across the 18- yard line, and his left footed effort hit both posts before going into the net. It looked like a hammer blow to Cluj, but a VAR check showed Heine Larsen to be in an offside position, and although not in the direct eyeline of keeper, his jump to get out of the way of the ball was enough for the goal to be chalked off.

Haugaard’s leisurely evening was disturbed when he needed to leap and catch a long ball just inside his area ahead of Drazic

In first-half added time, Tromso centre-back Skjaervik was unexpectedly marauding in space on the right wing but his floated cross was headed away by Pantalon.

The half-time statistics showed Cluj had 57% of the possession but in truth they had been outplayed, and had managed just one shot, which was off target. Tromso had impressed with their short, quick passing, and a desire to swiftly break.

Cluj changed their keeper for the start of the second half although Moreira had not been at fault for any of the three goals, nor the disallowed one. Muhar was also hooked, with Uruguayan Francisco Barrios taking his place

Cluj were unable to get into the second half, with the only action in the opening 10 minutes being Nyhammer’s shot from the edge of the area which Valceanu comfortably saved.

Nyhammer was the recipient of the first yellow card of the game, taking a heavy first touch after being put clear by Heine Larsen and then slid into Valceanu as the Cluj keeper had bravely come off his line to dive on the ball. Bruno Costa soon levelled the yellow card score though, after a clumsy challenge on Edvardsson when trying to win a header on edge of the Tromso area

Matter got worse for Cluj. Lars Larsen’s cute chip gave Heine Larsen a one-on-one with the keeper but Valceanu was able to block the first attempt, and the follow-up from the rebound was blocked by Braun. Nyhammer then had an effort blocked by Abeid but the loose ball was lashed home in Carlos Alberto style by Dahlqvist to make it 0-4 with 61 minutes on the clock.

Cluj now couldn’t get near the ball as Tromso confidently pass it around, The Railwaymen had appeared to have run out of steam !

Substitute Cameos moved clear down the left and his low ball found Nyhammer unmarked 10 yards out, but the first-time shot hit Valceanu’s legs.

A drinks break was taken after 70 minutes, but the refreshments didn’t seem to have any benefit to Cluj as Cameos slipped a pass through for Dahlqvist to put the ball past the advancing keeper for his hat-trick. There was a lengthy VAR check for offside but goal stood. 0-5 after 73 minutes.

With the game and almost certainly the tie settled, Tromso took the foot off the gas a little and Cluj ended the match on the front foot. Substitute Lorenzo Biliboc sent a long range left-footed effort over the bar, then poor defending by Tromso allowed the ball to fall to Fica but the shot was deflected wide for a corner.

Substitute Paun had a shot deflected wide for corner, which after being cleared, Sfait’s 30 yarder bounced through to Haugaard for an easy save. Drazic then shot wide after a flick from Fica.

Three added minutes were played but Tromso were not unduly troubled. There was still time for Camora to be shown a yellow card for diving in on Mads Mikklesen.

The second leg now looks to be a formality barring a record-breaking comeback from Cluj, so Brighton fans should be able to sample the Paris Of The North and try to see the Northern Lights !

CFR Cluj : Moreira ( Valceanu ) – Braun, Abeid, Pantalon, Camora – Bruno Costa ( Paun ), Muhar ( Barrios ), Fica – Cordea ( Sfait ), Drazic, Korenica ( Biliboc )

Tromso IL : Haugaard – Vadebu, Tonnessen, Skjaervik, Warneryd ( Innvaer ) – Dahlqvist ( Mikklesen ), Edvardsson ( Grundt ), Jenssen, L. Larsen – Nyhammer ( Braut ), H. Larsen ( Cameos )

 

Risborough Rangers 2-2 Potton United ( att : 147 ) - 2026/27 Spartan South Midlands Premier Division

August 1, 2026

Some step 5 leagues started their season today, including the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division, so it was a good opportunity to make the almost annual visit to Risborough Rangers. Fatbear’s last visit to see the Rangers was on the opening day of last season, and this would be his 6^th visit to their stadium !

Princes Risborough Update

Following the 1-1 draw with Biggleswade United at the end of July last year, Risborough Rangers proceeded to finish in 3^rd place, but were beaten 0-1 at home in the promotion play-off semi-final by FA Vase finalists Cockfosters, in front of a crowd of 382.

Elliot Buchanon found the net on 22 occasions, with Andrei Chiriac scoring 14 times. However, Chiriac had been confirmed as leaving Risborough and had joined step 3 Basingstoke Town.

Although Rangers had not been active on social media confirming their close season signings, Transfermrkt had stated that ex-Hartlepool and Hampton & Richmond Borough striker Niko Muir had joined from Hendon, left-back Luke Neville had joined from Beaconsfield, and ex-Inverness Caledonian, Whitehawk and Yeovil midfielder Jordan Gibbons had signed from Harrow Borough.

Veteran midfielder Jo-Jo Bates numbered Northwood Town, Uxbridge, Beaconsfield and Chesham United amongst his former clubs, and had previously been joint manager of Northwood.  Veteran striker Bradley Bubb ( 10 caps for Grenada ) had a number of clubs on his CV including Royal Antwerp, Aldershot, Farnborough, Oxford City, Ebbsfleet and Wealdstone but was missing today.

The ground had now been renamed the Children’s Memorial Gardens Stadium ( or the CMG Stadium in short ), instead of the Kamtech Stadium, although old timers like Fatbear still refered to it as Windsors ! A brief, understated renaming ceremony was held prior to today’s kick-off.

 

Risborough Rangers Pre-season

Rangers’ pre-season had exclusively been played away from the CMG Stadium. Wins had been registered against step 4 MK Irish ( 4-2 ) and step 5 Shepherd Bush (  4-1 ), but games against other step 4 opposition had been lost, at Haringey Borough ( 0-3 ) &  Ascot United ( 0-2 ), whilst step 5 losses had been suffered at Haywards Heath ( 0-1 ) and FC Deportivo Galicia ( 3-4  ).

Potton United

Potton is a town in Bedfordshire with a population of around 6,000, located just north of Biggleswade and about 10 miles east of Bedford.

Their football side were formed in 1943 and play at The Hollow. Their nickname is The Royals and their first choice colours are all blue. A Llama is depicted in the club badge, which according to Wikipedia is due to the pitch being laid with a mixture of grass seed and llama wool to achieve its texture !

Potton United were promoted from the United Counties League Division One to step 5 for the 2018/19 season, since when they had been a solid step 5 side, with a 5^th place finish in 2020/21, and otherwise coming between 9^th or 13^th, until last season’s disappointing 18^th placed finish, four points clear of relegation. They only won 6 games all season, and had an average home attendance of 101, down from 120 form the previous season.

Potton had been transferred to the UCL from the Spartan South Midlands for 2020/21 for one season, then transferred back again for 2022/23. This would their 5^th consecutive season in the SSML.

Potton United Squad

Potton United had retained the core of the side that finished last season with the re-signing of ex-Histon centre-back Cameron Watson, ex-Harpenden Town, Dunstable Town, Biggleswade Town and Biggleswade United keeper Alex Desmond, ex-Arlesey wing-back Taylor Keeley, ex-Arlesey and Harpenden Town defender Matt Gilbert, plus Peter Murphy, Harvey Vegh, Dan Wappett, Ben Holmes, Lucas Titchmarch & Eddie Connolly

Potton had made a number of notable new signings, the most prominent being ex-Oxford City, Aylesbury United, Thame United, Arlesey and Kings Langley striker Ezra Forde, who featured in these diaries for Aylesbury United  in 2022/23. Midfielder Andrew Osei-Bonsu was ex-Dunstable Town, Arlesey and Northwood Town, whilst Terry Offeh had signed from Cockfosters.

Brothers Alie and Liam Bangura had also joined Potton. Striker Alie was ex-Northwood Town, Risborough Rangers, Arlesey, Berkhamsted and Enfield amongst others, whilst right-back Lamin Bangura had previously played for Arlesey Town.  

The day before today’s game, Potton announced the return to the club of ex-Baldock Town striker Harry Dollimore, and striker Ashraf Masumbuko, who had previously played for Milton Keynes Irish, Godmanchester Rovers and Crawley Green.

Potton United Pre-season

Details of Potton’s pre-season were had to discover apart from a 2-3 away loss at step 4 Haringey Borough. Friendlies had been played against step 6 Langford, step 4 Stotfold and step 7 Milton but now scores were posted on their Twitter account or their website.

Previous Meetings

Given Potton’s level transfers to/from the UCL and Risborough Rangers transfers to/from the Combined Counties League, the two sides had only spent two seasons in the same division, and Rangers were unbeaten in 4 games.

In 2022/23 Rangers had drawn 2-2 at home and won 1-0 away, and last season they had a 2-1 home victory but drew 0-0 away.

Matchday Information

According to AA Route Planner the journey from Potton to Princes Risborough is 63 miles and the journey via the A1M and the A41 should take just over one hour 20 minutes. It would be Potton’s longest away league journey of the season.

Entrance was £10 for adults ( up from £8 last season ), £5 for concessions and £2 for children under 18.

A cup of tea was £2, whilst cans/bottles of beer and lager were advertised at £4.00 and a small bottle of wine £4.50. Coffees were £3 and a bottle of water £1. Sausage Rolls were £3.50, Hot Dogs and Pies were £4.

Parking inside the ground was full, forcing Fatbear to park in the lane to the CMG Stadium close to the next-door cricket ground, where a game was in progress.

The pitch looked to be in perfect condition, and the hosepipe ban probably hasn’t been applicable to step 5 football !

An online programme had been produced for the game. 

The weather at the 15.00 kick-off was sunny and 23 degrees

Princes Risborough were playing in their usual all red kit, whilst Potton were in all blue.

Match Report

The game was a proverbial game of two halves, with Potton looking much the better side and deserving their 2-1 lead at the interval, but Risborough dominated most of the second half, and after being denied by some outstanding saves from Potton keeper Desmond, forced a deserved equaliser three minutes from time.

The home side were playing up the noticeable slope in the first half, but within 10 seconds Potton’s Alie Bangura had escaped down the left-wing but his low cross was claimed by the diving Rangers keeper. Immediately after, Risborough’s Josh Williams ran into the Potton area but saw his shot blocked, then in a breathless beginning, Alie Bangura played an inviting ball into the Risborough area but Forde’s control let him down, and the home side cleared.

Keeley then ran down the right-wing but his low ball was unconvincingly cleared by the Risborough defence.

The game’s comedy moment arrived in the 8^th minutes when a close range rebound struck Risborough’s Gibbons in the groin region, and he collapsed in agony. However, rather than put the ball out for treatment, his side choose to attack, and when the move came to nothing, Potton went on an attack of their own, before Rangers’ Exauce Kifwasima finally put the ball out of player to allow his team-mate some treatment !

After play resumed, Potton produced a slick move featuring Alie Bangura and Murphy but a good sliding tackle from Keano Robinson prevented Forde from being put clear at the expense of a throw-in.

The impressive Keeley then played an inviting through ball, but Brindle-Card was off his line to dive on the ball before Forde could get on the end of it.

The home side won the first corner of the game in the 12^th minute, which was played short, then backwards and when possession was lost, Potton attacked quickly, but Gibbons intercepted the final ball into the Risborough area to end the danger.

Potton right-back Lamin Bangura conceded a free-kick in the 13^th minute following a high foot which made contact with Rangers’ winger Rio Connell, who went down holding his face even though the contact appeared to be chest high. The free-kick was wasted, but shortly after Josh Williams played a ball intended for Connell, but a good sliding tackle by Holmes ended the danger.

The next Risborough attack saw Connell cross from the left-wing across the face of the goal-mouth, and after being missed by everyone, Buchanon had the simple task of poking home from a couple of yards. It was 1-0 after 16 minutes.

Potton nearly equalised within 60 seconds. Elliot Powell played a nice pass for Keeley to run into space on the right-wing and although his low cross went behind Forde, it fell inviting for the on-rushing Alie Bangura, who could only shoot over the bar from 10 yards. The move had started after Rangers’ left-back McMurray had surged forward but a loose pass was cut out and Keeley was played into the vacant space.

However, the visitors were not to be behind for too long, as Connolly released Alie Bangura down the left-hand channel, and his low cross was finished at close-range by Keeley. 1-1 with 19 minutes played.

The home side almost immediately regained the lead as Muir played an incisive ball to find Connell in space inside the Potton area, and the pull back was played to Buchanon, whose left-footed blast was pushed onto the crossbar by keeper Desmond and then hoofed clear. It was a top save from the Potton shot-stopper.

Following this narrow escape, the visitors grew into the game with Forde releasing Keeley down the right but the low ball intended for Connolly was cleared.

In the 24^th minute, a long-throw by Lamin Bangura was nodded on by Forde, but Connolly’s shot on the volley from 8 yards lacked power and Bridle-Card made a comfortable save.

Risborough then carelessly gave away possession inside the Potton half and Powell’s through ball looked to have released Keeley, until good defending from McMurray, who slid in to intercept and concede a throw-in.

Powell then spread play to Keeley, who cut inside McMurray on to his left-foot, only to slice wasteful high and wide.

With 34 minutes on the clock, the Risborough keeper came out of his area to attempt to play a long ball out of the Potton half, and then retreated to his area and gathered the ball. Several Potton players appealed for handball, but from Fatbear’s vantage point it looked like a good decision by the referee.

A few minutes later McMurray and Keeley challenged for a ball played deep into the Risborough half, and after McMurray hit the deck, the referee waved play on and Keely played a short pass for Forde to round the Risborough keeper, but his effort from a narrow angle was stopped on the goal-line by Folarin, who cleared.

In the 36^th minute, a Potton counter-attack saw Connolly break clear and cut inside past the covering Robinson, but rather than squaring to the unmarked Forde, Connolly went for glory but his shot was bravely saved by Bridle-Card and the ball flew over the bar for a corner.

Murphy then played a neat pass for Keeley to run into the Risborough area but his low shot across the face of the goal lacked power and the home keeper made a regulation save diving to his right.

A minute before the schedule break, Potton captain Gilbert committed a late tackle on Williams near to the corner flag, and was lucky to avoid seeing a yellow card.

Potton successfully defended the free-kick and Lamin Bangura sent a long ball down the right-hand touchline for Keeley to latch on to and beat McMurray. His low ball across the 6-yard box was expertly flicked into the far corner by Forde to give his side a deserved lead. It was 1-2 in the 45^th minute.

Two added minutes were to be played and Powell’s smart pass found Muir in space, but the ex-Hendon man took an unnecessary touch, and by the time he got his shot away, Osei-Bonsu was able to slide across and make an important block. Rangers were able to rework possession, and this time Muir’s left-footed drive from 20 yards drifted just wide of the near post.

The Royals deservedly headed to the dressing rooms with a 2-1 lead, having looked very dangerous on the counter-attack. Keeley had taken the eye with his strong running and looked to have the beating of McMurray, although to be fair to the Risborough left-back, he had received precious little support from his midfield, who looked keen going forward, but reluctant to track-back and do the hard yards.

Nevertheless, McMurray was hooked at half-time for Keiran Cathline coming on in defence and Kifwasima switching to left-back. Whether or not this tactical switch was the reason, Risborough dominated most of the second period, with Potton reduced to the occasional counter-attacks.

There was some unexpected half-time entertainment with a Youtuber, who had initially been required to move his illegally parked car, then drawing a crowd of a dozen or so teenagers in the home support who obviously recognised who he was. For some reason he carried an oversized spirit-level, presumably his trademark ? He was hilariously taught how to pronounce the name of the home side, Riz-bra not Rising-boro and did a couple of faintly amusing sketches on how to drink his pint. Perhaps more importantly he had rallied the young lads into cheering for the home side and created some atmosphere, and had some banter with the Potton defenders. Fatbear had no idea who he was, and neither did three old guys standing next to Fatbear. ( Edit : apparently the YouTuber was Jenson Not Button..... )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRC_n9sgjpk 

Rangers were immediately on the front-front but after working Muir into some space on the edge of the Potton area, the shot was partially blocked and rolled through to keeper Desmond.

Potton’s first attack of the second period saw Keeley play a low ball across the Risborough penalty area but Alie Bangura’s first-time effort was weak and was an easy save for Bridle-Card. Powell then carelessly gave away possession for Alie Bangura to run to the edge of the Risborough area, but his pass intended for Forde, saw the Potton forward challenged by Folarin, and the referee awarded a free-kick to the home side.

Forde then played a raking ball down the left-hand channel for Alie Bangura to win a corner, but that was the last contribution from Forde, who was promptly substituted with 54 minutes played.

The corner was headed away as far as Alie Bangura, but although his first-time effort from over 20 yards went through a crowd of players, Bridle-Card had it covered and made a comfortable save.

Rangers brought on substitute Jack Hutchinson and seem to immediately have control of the midfield. Connell did well to get past Lamin Bangura down the left-wing but then spoilt the good work by shooting at the legs of Holmes who had closed him down, rather than seeking better options.

Rangers were pressing but a quick counter-attack saw Potton’s centre-back Holmes break from his area into the Risborough half, but his intended pass for Titchmarsh was cut-off by an outstretched foot to prevent a one-on-one.

Shortly after Connell passed from the left to Hutchinson, who decided to turn and pass rather than shoot from just inside the Potton area, but the pass was cut-out.

Rangers were now totally dominant and Lamin Bangura hauled down Hutchinson for a free-kick wide on the left, but Connell’s free-kick failed to beat the first defender and was headed away. Potton broke quickly through Alie Bangura but his intended pass to Titchmarsh was intercepted by Folarin. Potton created another half-chance when Lamin Bangura’s long ball out of defence saw Robinson make a poor first touch to control, and Keeley robbed him to run clear with just Bridle-Card to beat but the Risborough keeper made a brave save, spreading himself for the shot to fly off his shoulder and wide for a corner.

Potton’s Powell challenged for the corner and the referee blew for a free-kick. For a couple of heart-stopping seconds, no-one was sure of what the decision was, but a free-kick was awarded to the home side rather than a penalty against them….

Risborough should have equalised in the 63^rd minute. Hutchinson played a lovely pass for Connell to get to the byline, and his pull-back found Muir 8 yards from goal, but the first time shot produced a great save from Desmond. It was a golden opportunity.

The move resulted in Potton centre-back Holmes and keeper Desmond having a blazing row over the goal-keeper’s positioning, staying rooted to his line rather than going to gather the ball before Connell could get to it, and although Fatbear used to be a keeper, he sided with the defender on this occasion.

Powell then played a threaded pass to enable Buchanon to get behind the Potton back-line, but the cross-cum-shot from a narrow angle was palmed away by Desmond for a corner to Rangers. The corner was played short and worked to Williams, who hesitated before sending a left-footed shot high and wide.

The game’s slightly controversial moment came in the 72^nd minute when good defending by Keeley against Kifwasima won a goal-kick for The Royals. Unfortunately, keeper Desmond unnecessarily charged from his goal to scream in the face of the Risborough defender in celebration of his team-mate’s good play. Rather than show the goalie a red or yellow card, the referee amazingly decided to speak strongly to Kifwasima ! Fatbear can think of some players who would have decked the Potton keeper for his disgusting behaviour.

A couple of minutes later, whilst two Potton substitutes were warming up, one of the spectator’s nearby commented that if Potton were to hold-out to win, then the keeper would be man-of-the-match for a number of top saves, to which one of the substitutes responded “For Christ sake don’t tell him, he has a big enough head as it is !” Certainly, his conduct in the second half left quite a lot to be desired……

In the 76^th minute William set up Connell but the shot cannoned into the legs of a Potton defender, shortly after which Lamin Bangura went down in agony with cramp. When the ball eventually went out of play, Potton captain Gilbert went up to the referee remonstrating as to why the referee had not stopped play for the injury ? Seeing as there wasn’t a foul, nor was there a head injury, the referee had no obligation to stop play !

Risborough substitute was David Appiah was invited to scamper down the right-hand and his low cross evaded two defenders, but went slightly behind Buchanon, who was crowded out as he tried to control.

At the other end a long-range shot by Potton substitute Vegh was a regulation save for Bridle-Card diving to his left, after which it seemed certain Risborough would equalise. A left-wing cross from Connell bounced across the 6-yard line and was missed by several players before falling to Buchanon at the far post, who seemed certain to score from close range, but Desmond produced an amazing save, pushing the ball over the bar !

With four minutes remaining, Kifwasima drew a foul from Keeley, but the free-kick from Connell again failed to beat the first man, and Potton swiftly took play into the Rangers half, but Bridle-Card raced outside of his away to prevent a 3 vs 1 counter-attack.

However, Risborough finally fashioned an equaliser. Buchanon ran onto a pass inside the Potton and played a pull-back before the ball went out of play. Hutchinson’s first-time shot was blocked, but the ball fell kindly to Appiah who shot into the roof of the net from about 10 yards. Desmond managed to get a hand to the ball, but falling off balance was unable to prevent the ball going into the net. 2-2 after 87 minutes.

The final few minutes were end to end, and Potton’s Keeley went on a mazy run into the Rangers’ area before a half-tackle saw him lose control. Just before, Potton substitute Dollimore had shot narrowly over from just over 20 yards. There was still time for the first yellow card of the game as Dollimore pulled back Kifwasima as the Rangers’ full-back ran away from him, but the home side were unable to take any advantage, and the referee blew for full-time shortly after.

Overall, a draw was a fair result, with Potton presumably the more pleased, and giving an indication that they should do a lot better than last season. Risborough’s performance suggested that any success would come from scoring more goals than the opposition, as they looked good going forward but not so keen on defending………

Risborough Rangers : Bridle-Card – Kifwasima, Folarin, Robinson, McMurray ( K. Cathline ) – Williams ( Appiah ), Powell, Gibbons ( Hutchinson ), Muir ( Bates ) – Buchanon, Connell

Potton United : Desmond – L. Bangura ( Musumboko ), Holmes, Osei-Bonsu, Gilbert – Keeley, Powell, Murphy ( Vegh ), A. Bangura – Forde ( Titchmarsh ), Connolly ( Dollimore )

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oxford United 3-1 Crawley Town ( att : 1,862 ) - 2026/27 Pre-Season Friendly

July 28, 2026

Tonight’s pre-season friendly was a slightly unusual one as League One Oxford United hosted League Two Crawley Town, when the usual convention is for the lower level side to be the home team.

This would be Fatbear’s first visit to the Kassam since the Covid Pandemic, when the 2-1 victory over Blackpool in February 2020 was reported on.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2020/02/oxford-united-2-1-blackpool-att-7525.html 

Oxford United Squad

Following their relegation from the Championship last season, Welsh legend Aaron Ramsay ( 86 caps ) had replaced Matt Bloomfield as the manager.

Oxford United were recently announced as failing to comply with the EFL Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP) regulations and had been placed on a temporary transfer embargo preventing the registration of any new players.

However, prior to the embargo, the U’s had been able to sign Hearts centre-back Frankie Kent on a free transfer although the player is expected to miss most of this season recovering from an ACL injury, and Huddersfield’s Dutch left-back Ruben Roosken was signed for an undisclosed fee having been on loan at the end of the 2025/26 season.

One of the key departures from last season was striker Will Lankshear, who scored 12 times on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, but had been sold by Spurs for £10M to Middlesborough following the end of his loan, which could add up to £20M with add-ons.

Slovenian Under 21 international Nik Prelec had been sold to Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok for an undisclosed fee whilst Indonesian forward Ole Romney ( 10 caps ) had been loaned out to Dutch side Fortuna Sittard.

Fourteen other players had been released or were out of contract, with centre-back Stuart Findlay joining Hearts on a permanent basis having been on loan last season, Polish winger Przemyslaw Placheta had signed for MSL side FC Austin, and Jamaican attacking midfielder Myles Peart-Harris signed for Middlesborough. The rest were either fringe/reserves or players who had been out or loan elsewhere, and had mostly signed for non-league clubs or were still unattached.

The Oxford United squad contained seven current internationals. Forward Mark Harris had 17 caps for Wales whilst centre-back Ciaran Brown ( 30 caps ), right-back Brodie Spencer ( 23 caps ) and defensive midfielder Jamie McDonnell ( 4 caps ) were Northern Ireland internationals. Left-back Greg Leigh had 31 caps for Jamaica, left winger Aidomo Emakhu had one cap for the Republic of Ireland, and winger Marcelino Ferdinan had played 38 times for Indonesia ( including a game covered by Fatbear against Australia in the 2023 Asian Cup Finals ) but just twice for the U’s, and had been sent on loan to Slovakian side AS Trencin last season.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2024/01/australia-4-0-indonesia-att-7863-2023.html 

Other experienced players in the Oxford United squad included midfielder and captain Cameron Brannigan, midfielder Will Vaulks ( 7 caps for Wales ), defender Michal Helik ( 7 caps for Poland ), defender Sam Long, ex-Suwon Bluewings and Jeonbuk South Korean forward Jeon-jin Woo ( 2 caps ), keepers Jamie Cumming, Belgian midfielder Brian de Keersmaecker, midfielder Stan Mills, and Congolese wing-back Peter Kioso ( 1 cap ).

Youngsters Tyler Goodrham and Gaitlin O’Donker, who made 4 appearances for Oxford City in 2022, should figure more prominently this season.

Oxford United Pre-season

Oxford United had announced pre-season friendlies against Aldershot, Barnet and Crawley, which some wag on their supporters’ forum had described as nostalgia for their Conference League days. A subsequent friendly at home to Ipswich was announced.

Oxford had actually started with a behind closed doors friendly at home to Wealdstone, which was won 7-1, before a 3-1 win at Aldershot and a 2-1 victory at Barnet. O’Donkor had scored in both the away wins.

Crawley Town Update

These diaries witnessed the last day drama as Crawley secured a 0-0 draw at home to Salford City, which preserved their league status by a single point with Harrogate and Barrow losing their final matches.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2026/05/crawley-town-0-0-salford-city-att-5191.html 

Colin Kazim-Richards had been brought in as manager following the sacking of Scott Lindsay with 7 games remaining, and CKR led the side to two wins and three draws to edge to safety.

The close season saw a clear-out of some deadwood plus some of the fans’ favourites as 13 players were released and 7 loan players returned to their parent clubs.

Nine new players had been signed, nearly all in the recent tradition of having an unusual name or double-barrelled surname, and/or being either inexperienced or not having played much recently due to injuries. Writing accurate Crawley match reports would continue to be a challenge to get all the spellings correct !

The one obvious exception to all this was Bromley midfielder and captain Jude Arthurs signing for Crawley after winning League Two last season with The Ravens. Centre-back Priestley Farquharson was ex-Newport County and Walsall and had European experience with Connah’s Quay Nomads, whilst Guyana winger Stephen Duke-McKenna ( 28 caps ) was ex-QPR, Harrogate and St Johnstone.

Another eye-raising signing was young forward Gianmarco Di Biase from Juventus, who had been loaned to sides in Serie C and D after Juve had paid a reported €350K for his services, ex-Arsenal, Sunderland, Reading, Monaco and Lille Italian keeper Vito Mannone had come out of retirement to be a back-up and goal-keeping coach, and centre-back Pele Arganese-McDermott had signed from Tottenham, have played over 50 games for their Premier League 2 side, but never for the First team.

Midfielder Klaudio Krasniqi was an interesting signing, joining from Gibraltar side Glacis United, whilst two other inexperienced players to join were winger Malcolm Ebiowei, who started his career at Derby County, then moved to Crystal Palace with loan spells at Hully City, Belgian side RWD Molenbeek and Oxford United before having an injury ravaged spell at Blackpool, and keeper Jackson Izqueirdo had played three matches in the EFL Trophy for Crystal Palace Under 21s.

Two players had joined Crawley on season long loans, striker Pemi Aderoju from Peterborough United and centre-back Ty-Ewens Findlay from Charlton Athletic.

The core of last season’s side still with the Red Devils included midfielder and captain Jay Williams, defender Charlie Barker, left-back Lewis Richards, defender Ben Radcliffe, Northern Irish left wing-back Jonny Russell, Antiguan winger Dion Pereira ( 9 caps ) and wing-back Kellan Gordon. Winger Ade Adeyemo looks light being converted into a full-back by CKR.

Hoping to make more appearances this season would be Irish midfielders Justin Ferizaj and Louie Watson, forward Danny Cashman, defender Akin Odimayo, whilst forward Danilo Orsi, the top scorer in the 2023/24 promotion season, had now recovered from injury after rejoining in last January’s transfer window.

Crawley Town Pre-season

Crawley came into tonight’s fixture having played just one official friendly, when they won last Saturday 1-0 at Eastleigh. They had also played a behind closed doors friendly with Chelsea, which was rumoured to have been a 1-3 defeat. After tonight, Crawley host Reading on Saturday in their only home pre-season friendly before heading to York City next Monday in the Preliminary Round of the EFL Cup.

Previous Meetings

Oxford United and Crawley had played 13 competition fixtures against each other, in the Conference League, League 2 and the EFL Cup, with Oxford having the edge with a 7-3-3 record.

Oxford United had been particularly effective at Crawley’s Broadfield Stadium with 5 wins and two losses, but with a modest 2-3-1 record at the Kassam.

Previous Meetings Seen

The first meeting between the two sides seen by Fatbear was in December 2006 at the Kassam. Oxford United were in their first season in non-league after a dramatic loss of form at the end of the previous season had seen the U’s get relegated after a bonkers 2-3 home defeat to Leyton Orient, which saw the O’s promoted. The 12,243 attendance that day remains the record crowd at the Kassam, and Mr & Mrs Fatbear were there !

Oxford United had looked like storming back to the Football League, winning 10 and drawing 2 of their opening 12 matches, including a 1-0 victory at Crawley, and only suffered their first defeat in their 19^th league match. However, they came into the rematch with Crawley on a poor run of just one win in 7 matches in all competitions, and had failed to score in their last 3 games. Nevertheless, they still led the Conference table by two points, ahead of Dagenham & Redbridge. Crawley on the other hand were 4^th from bottom, but their position was slightly mis-leading as they had a 10-point penalty for entering administration, otherwise they would have been mid-table.

Fatbear and Mrs Fatbear took their seats amongst the home support as part of a crowd of 6,368, and were taken aback by the condescending views of the U’s supporters around us, that they shouldn’t be in this league, who are this rubbish we’ll thrash today etc. Four seasons in the Conference League removed the arrogance of most U’s supporters though !

The game itself was a different kettle of fish, as Crawley played the home side off the park in the first half, with Irish winger Tony Scully beating defenders at will, and he gave the visitors a deserved half-time lead with a goal in stoppage time, going rounding a defender and then the keeper, for a classy finish.

However, Oxford United were physically stronger and their direct approach started to have an impact in the second half as Crawley were pinned back into their own half. Joint-managers Ben Judge and Dave Woozley were having impressive games in defence dealing with the bombardment, but eventually the pressure told and Rob Duffy equalised with around 10 minutes left to play with his 14^th league goal of the season.

The home side pressed in vain for the winner but Crawley were able to hold out for an important point. At the final whistle, news came through that Dagenham & Redbridge had won and were now top of the table on goal difference.

Dagenham went on to win the league, and Oxford United lost in the play-offs in a penalty shoot-out to Exeter City. Crawley finished in 18^th, five points clear of relegation.

 

The following season the game at the Kassam was on Boxing Day, with Oxford United in 12^th and Crawley 16^th, and 5,900 were in attendance. This time Fatbear sat in the away enclosure and the game was pretty forgettable as befitting two struggling mid-table sides. Oxford United won 1-0 thanks to a left footed strike from Phil Trainer a minute into the second half to bring an end to a run of 5 games without a goal. The sides met again on New Year’s Day, when Crawley got revenge with a 2-0 victory, with ex-Oxford United striker Jamie Cook scoring both goals.

The last meeting between the two sides witnessed by Fatbear was in August 2015, in the opening game of the new season at the Kassam. Crawley had just been relegated from League One and came into the game with a much-changed side under new manager Mark Yates. However, the performance by the Reds in an entertaining game was encouraging. Welsh winger Gwion Edwards gave Crawley the lead early in the second half with a far post header, but Danny Hylton equalised about 10 minutes later, beating the now Liverpool keeper Freddie Woodman. Both sides had chances to win the game but it remained 1-1. The crowd was 6,349 and Oxford went on to win automatic promotion. Crawley ended in 20^th place, but 14 points clear of the relegation places.

 

Matchday Information

According to AA Route Planner the journey from Crawley to the Kassam Stadium is 88 miles and the journey via the M23, M25 and M40 should take just under one hour 40 minutes. The journey from Fatbear Towers was 16 miles and around 30 minutes.

142 Crawley supporters were in the away enclosure but Fatbear was in the home stand.

Entrance was an eyewatering £20 plus a £2 online admin charge for an adult ticket for a practice match, in which there was a strong likelihood that both clubs would field entirely different XIs at some point, as Crawley had changed all 11 players at half-time against Eastleigh whilst Oxford United had twice changed their entire team after 60 minutes. However, to be fair, this was a reduction in comparison to the £32 being charged for the same seat in the Upper South Stand for the first home League One match against MK Dons.

Oxford United were clearly not expecting a big crowd as the entire East Stand was closed, three sections of the North Stand were cordoned off, whilst the Lower South East and Upper South North sections were closed. A home friendly against League Two opposition had hardly captured the imagination of the locals !

The pitch looked to be in perfect condition, and the hosepipe ban is clearly not applicable to a professional football club as the sprinklers were on during half-time.

No programme had been produced for the game as it was a friendly.  

The food and drink available inside the stadium was virtually the same as for my list visit over 6 years ago with only the prices being different ! The Prospect Real Ale and John Smiths are now £5, whilst the Somersby and Kopperberg ciders, Carlsberg and Guinness were now £5.50. All were in bottles rather than on tap.  A small bottle of wine was £5.40, whilst most soft drinks and coffee were £3.50, tea was £3.00 and a bottle of water was £2.50.

The weather at the 19.00 kick-off was sunny and 28 degrees

Oxford United were playing in their usual yellow shirts and black shorts, whilst Crawley were in all red.

The stadium announcers made the same mistake the Sky commentators regularly made last season, in calling Crawley’s centre-back Charlie Baker, rather than Barker. It is incredible how often this mistake keeps occurring !

Match Report

There was a fast start from the home side, with Crawley right-back Gordon having to chest the ball off for a corner with just 35 seconds on the clock. Leigh got a head to the in-swinging corner, which was headed off the line and put out for another corner, from which Barker conceded a third corner in succession.

The pressure continued as Di Biase fouled 18-year-old Leo Snowden, but Crawley were able to clear and launched their first attack as Ebiowei and Watson combined to put Watson in space inside the Oxford area, but the shot towards the far corner lacked power and Cumming managed to block, and the loose ball was hoofed to safety. A U’s supporter near to me said that would have been a goal in the Championship.

Former Everton youngster Mills was to give make-shift left-back Adeyemo a tough first half, starting by getting to the byline and his shot from a tight angle was pushed away, and when Mills went for the loose ball he hit the deck after a challenge from Adeyemo, and appealed for a penalty. However, the referee waved play on. It was in the category of “I have seen them given”….

A minute later the impressive Mills sent a cross into the danger zone, which Farquharson unconvincingly put off for a corner. Rooksen and Mills forced two more corners to take the total to 6, despite less than 10 minutes had been played.

Mannone punched the latest corner away but could have done a lot better when Leigh put the ball back into the 6-yard box, fumbling the ball away rather than making a routine gather, and the ball hit the unfortunate Barker and rolled into the net for an own goal. 1-0 after 10 minutes.

Despite falling behind, Crawley started to get into the game and it was their turn to force consecutive corners, first by Watson, and then Eboiwei’s delivery needed to be headed off by Helik. After partially being cleared, Duk-McKenna’s cross to the far post was headed away by Snowden.

In the 21^st minute, good play between Watson and Krasniqi released Duke-McKenna on the left, who cut back inside and shot from the edge of the area but just over the bar. A minute later Ebiowei and Watson exchanged short passes to put Ebiowei in space inside the Oxford area, but the winger fell over and the chance had gone.

At the other end, Mills again had the beating of Adeyemo, who had to bring him down for a free-kick just outside the Crawley 18-yard line. Brannigan’s effect struck the end of the defensive wall and went off for a corner.

Mills again skinned Adeyemo and this time Krasniqi was forced to make the foul just outside the area. Brannigan’s delivery flicked off the head of Krasniqi for yet another corner.

Ebiowei and Watson again combined in the Oxford United half, leading to Ebiowei being fouled just outside the Oxford area. Indeed, a couple of U’s fans sitting in front of me though the foul had been inside the area, but Ebiowei got up to take the free-kick, which was smashed past the wall and into the net with keeper Cumming reacting far too slowly. 1-1 with 31 minutes played.

Almost immediately, a long cross-field ball sailed over the head of Ademayo for Mills to latch onto, but Ademayo did well to recover and win a goal-kick for his side.   

Leigh then slipped a nice pass behind the Crawley back-line for O’Donkor to run onto inside the Crawley area, but the low left-footed shot was held onto by Mannone diving to his left.

A period of Crawley possession ended with Gordon’s cross going straight to keeper Cumming, then Brannigan played a superb defence splitting pass to put Rooksen clear, but his touch was heavy and Farquharson was able win a tackle and concede a throw in. However, Rooksen remained on the ground injured, and after a delay of around 5 minutes had to leave the pitch on a stretcher. Ex-Grimsby, Peterborough, Bournemouth and Birmingham City Ivorian winger Sirike Dembele was the replacement for the U’s.

When play resumed, Crawley had a good chance to take the lead. Gordon was found in acres of space on the right-wing and played a low ball across the goalmouth. Di Biase missed his kick under pressure but the ball found Duke McKenna beyond the far post, but his goal-bound effort was deflected away for a corner.

Barker then needed to produce a tremendous sliding tackle after another defence splitting pass from Brannigan threatened to put O’Donkor clear.

Shortly after Crawley were guilty of over-elaboration near the half-way line and O’Donkor looked to have broken clear. However, the referee belatedly awarded a free-kick for a foul on Watson, which appeared to be a fortunate break for the visitors.

Barker then produced another tremendous sliding tackle on O’Donkor, although this time it was to recover from his careless pass to give away possession.

Mills then looked to have been put clear, but the referee brought play back, deciding that the free-kick had been taken with a moving ball, which was perhaps another lucky escape for Crawley, and the home fans expressed their displeasure at the decision.

As the game moved into added on time, Mills robbed Duke-McKenna and got to the byline, but Farquharson was able to get his head to the cross. Dembele gathered the loose ball from close to the touchline and played a give and go, but his touch on the return was heavy and the ball rolled off for a goal-kick.

It was level at the interval which seemed to be a fair score as despite all the corners, and the impressive performance by Mills, keeper Mannone had not often been called upon. Crawley had played some nice football and had missed a couple of good chances themselves.

Crawley made four changes for the start of the second half, whilst Oxford United made two, which initially seemed to favour the visitors.

Immediately, Duke-McKenna sent substitute Russell scampering down the left, and although his cross was cut-out, Duke-McKenna pounced onto the loose ball and won a corner. A scramble ensued inside the Oxford United six-yard box from the corner, and the ball was cleared just before Crawley substitute Pele Arganese-McDermott could get a shot away.

Duke-McKenna and Russell then again combined but this time Russell’s left footed cross was headed away by Helik.

At the other end James Golding made a nice turn on the edge of the Crawley area, and his shot needed to be claimed by Mannone at the second attempt before three Oxford attackers could get to it.

Russell was making an impression for the visitors, robbing substitute Emakhu near the half-way line but Kioso managed to get back to make the tackle. Russell then put a good cross across the 6-yard line and after partially being cleared, Arthurs had his shot blocked. It was all Crawley at this point.

However, slack play between Adeyemo, now playing on the right after the half-time substitutions, and Arganese-McDermott, saw the home side work the ball to the right-hand channel where Emakhu shot straight at Mannone, who saved low at his near post.

Mannone was then nearly caught out dallying on the ball, but managed to avoid the danger with a nutmeg on Snowden.

With 58 minutes played, Adeyemo played a low ball from the byline across the face of the goal. Di Biase took a touch, turned but leaning back could only spoon the ball over the bar from 12 yards. It was a great chance to give Crawley the lead.

The game stopped after a bad foul on Russell by O’Donkor, at which point Crawley made 6 changes, and with the benefit of hindsight was the turning point in the match as Crawley lost their dominance of the game.

Almost immediately after coming on, substitute Ferizaj lost control of the ball and Sibley ran clear for a 1 on 1 with the Crawley substitute keeper, but Izquierdo saved with his legs. Izquierdo then impressed with a good catch to a cross from the left-wing. As Oxford took control, Russell chopped Snowden close to the byline but the free-kick came to nothing.

A goal was coming and Dembele found space on the left to deliver a low cross into the 6-yard box for O’Donkor to slide in and score from close range. It was now 2-1 with 70 minutes on the clock.

The goal was the cue for the home side to make 7 changes, further strengthening their side with the introduction of 4 internationals. Unsurprisingly, the U’s totally dominated the closing 20 minutes and it became a question of how many goals they would score.

Indeed, Harris could/should have scored a hat-track, with his first miss coming after Izquierdo had passed straight to him, but the Welshman could only weakly shoot straight back at the keeper.

The lively Goodrham shot from the angle of the penalty area with the ball bouncing narrowly wide of the far post with the keeper beaten.

Crawley were not helping themselves and after carelessly giving the ball away again after playing around in their own third, Emakhu was put clear but again Izquierdo rescued his side with another save with his legs from a one-on-one.

Emakhu then did well on the left-wing to play a ball in for Goodrham, who shot from 12 yards at the keeper, and Harris under pressure put the rebound wide.

Number 24 Odimayo was having a particularly shaky game at the back since the mass Oxford United changes, and his ambitious pass in the direction of Arganese-McDermott was intercepted by former Oxford City loanee Aidan Elliott-Wheeler, but the Crawley defenders manage to force him wide at the expense of a throw-in.

Harris should have scored in the 84^th minute when Elliott-Wheeler played in Goodrham, whose clever back-heel put Harris in space, but the shot from 12 yards went over the bar.

With the end of the game fast approaching a long ball out of the Oxford defence found Elliott-Wheeler in space on the right-wing and his inside pass reached Goodrham, who produced a fantastic first touch to nutmeg Adimayo and to move clear on goal, and then calmly finished past the keeper for a classy finish. It was now 3-1 with 88 minutes played.

There was still was time for another miss by Harris. Not for the first time Ferizaj lost possession, Emakhu ran down the left-wing and sent a low cross toward the back post, where Harris slid in but could only hit the post from close range. A wag near to me said Harris was hopefully saving all the goals up for the league season instead !

The referee blew for full-time bang on 90 minutes to bring an end to an entertaining evening. The result was probably a fair score, although Oxford United could have won by a wider margin in the final few minutes.

Crawley would take a lot of positives from the game, and were in control until the mass substitutions changed the dynamic of the game, both in weakening Crawley and strengthening the home side. Colin Kazim-Richards will hopefully have a clearer idea of the players in contention to be in the starting XI versus those who will be the back-ups……

Oxford United : Cumming -  Kioso ( Long ), Helik ( Spencer ), Golding ( Brown ), Leigh ( Currie ) -  Sibley ( McDonnell ), Brannagan ( Bradney ), Snowden ( Goodrham ), Roosken ( Dembele, Elliott-Wheeler ), Mills ( Emakhu ), O’Donkor ( Harris )

Crawley Town : Mannone ( Izquierdo ) -  Gordon ( Mrisho ), Barker ( Odimayo ), Farquharson ( Arganese-McDermott ), Adeyemo ( Aderoju ) – Ebiowei ( Russell ), Watson ( Ferizaj ), Arthurs ( Robertson ), Krasniqi, Duke-McKenna ( Cashman ) - Di Biase ( Orsi )