July 10, 2021
It is fair to say I am not a big fan of pre-season friendlies, but having only been able to watch three football matches since the pandemic first hit in March 2020, the opportunity to watch a real game in a stadium rather than via the internet or TV proved too much to resist.
That said, looking back through my records I was a little shocked to discover I had attended more pre-season matches than I thought, particularly if the definition of “pre-season friendly” extends to the Emirates Cup, which was a great opportunity to sample match-day hospitality at Arsenal at prices significantly lower than during the regular season. My wife and I attended in 2014 where we saw Arsenal beat Benfica 5-1 and Monaco draw with Valencia 2-2, and in 2015 Arsenal beat Lyon 6-0 and Villareal beat Wolfsburg 2-1.
Prior to that I had turned up to watch Oxford City beat Oxford United 2-1 in 2009 in front of over 2,000 spectators, and in 2008 I saw Premier League Reading beat Isthmian League Didcot 9-0, where the sheer size of the Reading players compared to the Didcot players was so conspicuous, and Reading gave 10 minutes to a supporter who had won a charity competition to play for the Royals. He even scored ! The Reading squad that day included the then current England international Nicky Shorey, as well as Dave Kitson, Simon Church, Graeme Murty, Marcus Hahnemann, Liam Rosenior, Ivar Ingamarsson, Shane Long, Kevin Doyle, Michael Duberry and a very young Hal Kanu-Robson. Their manager was Steve Coppell.
The only other pre-season friendly I can trace since I left school was in the Netherlands, when I watched Sheffield Wednesday beat a Leiden XI 4-1, in very relaxed circumstances where I was able to chat with Peter Shreeves, then assistant manager, for a period in the second half, and Wednesday’s Dutch players Regi Blinker and Orlando Trustfull were treated to a hero’s welcome by the small but enthusiastic local crowd. The warehouse manager of the company I was working for at the time played for the Leiden XI !
In 2020/21, Oxford City had their best ever season in their history, sitting in 5th place in National League South when the season was terminated in February. This surpassed the 6th place they achieved in 2014/15 when they were members of Conference North. Manager David Oldfield had assembled a solid squad supplemented with two astute signings of youngsters on loan from Football League clubs.
Full-back Aaron Drewe has returned to QPR after an outstanding season in which he made national headlines for his off-the-line clearance in the FA Cup victory over Northampton, and centre-back Luis Fernandez has returned to Stevenage. Top scorer James Roberts and long serving defender Joe Oastler have also left the club to join fellow National League Side Havant and Waterlooville
On the positive side for City, the core of last season’s side, including Zac McEachran, Josh Ashby, Reece Fleet, Alfie Potter, Elliot Benyon, Nana Owosu, Harvey Bradbury, Dan Matsuzaka and Lewis |Coyle have all re-signed for another season, whilst prolific striker Joe Iaciofano has signed from St Albans, youngster Zico Asare has signed after being released by Fulham, ex-QPR and Accrington Stanley centre-back Charlie Rowan has joined from Ebbsfleet and striker Jacob Bancroft has re-joined the club after leaving Stevenage. This probably represents the most stable carry-over from a previous season in the 15 years or so I have been watching Oxford City.
In contrast Thame United only played 7 league matches in the Southern League Division One Central 2020/21, which is two levels below Oxford City. Their season ended in December with a 2-5 FA Trophy cup defeat to Bognor Regis, which was their first game since the end of October. With Dan West, Lynton Goss and Ryan Blake in their side they were capable of scoring plenty of goals but in the limited season played they failed to win away from home. Thame had been very active on social media in the past couple of seasons, but posts of players signing or resigning have been conspicuous by their absence in this close season !
Whilst the two sides competed against other regularly in the early 2000s, their paths diverged as Oxford City steadily worked their way up the pyramid, whereas Thame moved in the other direction, until turning around their fortunes to get back to just two levels below The Hoops. Their last competitive meeting was in the FA Cup in 2011, when Hellenic League Thame had ambushed Southern League leaders Brackley 2-0, to earn another tie against Southern League opposition. Another shock looked possible as despite being totally outplayed, Thame lead 1-0 at half-time thanks to a needlessly given away penalty. Oxford City finally asserted their superiority in the second half, and eventually eased to a 3-1 victory.
The league fixtures for Oxford City have been published, and their season starts on August 14th with a trip to Braintree. Thame are waiting for their league fixtures to be published, but they have been drawn against Isthmian League One side Thatcham Town in the FA Cup on August 21st.
The weather at kick-off was 18 degrees and cloudy. Just about the only person in the ground wearing a face covering was Thame Chairman Jake Collinge, who was on gate duty. Entrance was cash pay on the gate, £5 for adults, £3 for concessions and £1 for Under 16s. I handed over a £10 note and received £7 change, but I honestly owned up that I was not yet entitled to the concession price !
The NHS Track and Trace app was operating, with a manual piece of paper for those without the app. There were no team-sheets, programmes, or tannoy announcements, so the identity of the team line-ups was partly guesswork. City were in green shirts and shorts, with white socks, whilst Thame were in their usual red shirts and black shorts.
There was one significant alteration to the ASM Stadium since my last visit in December, with a small covered terrace installed behind one goal. Chatting to one local supporter he said he had been told it cost £25K, probably another pointless ground grading requirement to further reduce club’s finances.
The visitors threatened to overwhelm Thame in the early stages, with Bancroft looking too quick for the Thame back four. McEachran, who was the outstanding player in the first half, sent a curling shot against the base of the post, Thame keeper Craig Hill made a good tip-over the bar before the opening goal arrived in the 13th minute. A mis-hit shot fell kindly to Bancroft, and as the Thame defence appealed in vain for off-side, the City striker struck home from 12 yards.
Two minutes later Bancroft was given time and space to turn 10 yards out, but Hill again made a splendid save to turn the ball past the post for a corner. In the 25th minute McEachran ran onto a delicate chip over the square Thame defence but from a tight angle his effort across goal just evaded Oxford’s number 22, and went inches wide of the post.
Thame slowly got into the game with their number 9, who I believe was Ryan Blake causing a lot of problems for the Oxford City defence, and was fouled a number of times. With 38 minutes on the clock, a rarity in a pre-season friendly occurred when Oxford’s number 17 received a yellow card for a bad challenge on Lynton Goss.
Thame’s best chance came three minutes before half-time when their number 5 had a free header from a corner, but unfortunately for the hosts headed just over the bar. Oxford City nearly extended their lead in added on time, but Bancroft’s low ball from the by-line went begging, with Matsuzaka getting the closest to making contact.
Oxford City made 8 changes at half-time, including the first appearance in a City shirt of striker Joe Iaciofano, who made a favourable impression with some lively off the ball running, some near misses, and a cool finish to make it 2-0 when a Thame defender was robbed of possession when trying to play out from the back and Iaciofano was put clear. He also does like a good whinge at the referee !
Hill made another fine block after Iaciofano had played in Owusu. Thame also received a yellow card after Oxford City’s No 22 was brought down on the edge of the area after a surging run from the half-way line, but Owusu sent the free-kick harmlessly over the bar.
The second half was nowhere near as good a spectacle, with substitutions continually being made, and at times it resembled National League Rugby’s rolling substitutes, as players who had been taken off returned to the field of play. Both goal-keepers were replaced mid-way through the second half, and a drinks break was taken after 60 minutes.
No doubt both sides were pleased with the early-season run out, and Oxford City at times looked very good and certainly looked fitter than Thame, several of whose players were blowing for air during the second half. Thame though will be pleased with the way they played in the 20 minutes before the interval.
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