Oxford City FC 1-2 Aldershot Town FC ( att : 1,109 ) – 2023/24 National League

March 2, 2024

Since these diaries covered Oxford City’s 0-0 home draw with Southend United, they slipped to heavy defeats at home to Eastleigh ( 2-5 ) and at Gateshead ( 0-4 ). The latter result was almost inevitable after defender Andre Burley was shown a first half red card after receiving two yellows. The first looked extremely harsh after a penalty was awarded for an apparent push inside the six-yard box, but the second was dumb, deliberately stopping a quick Gateshead free-kick just inside the Gateshead half only a couple of feet away from both the free-kick, and the referee.

Consequently, Oxford City were still bottom of the table, but 11 points from safety with just 10 games left to play, nearly all of which were against sides in the top half of the table. Even if they were to undergo a metamorphosis into the Brazilian 1970 World Cup team, they would still almost certainly be relegated.

Instead, Hoops fans were mostly focusing on enjoying the remaining matches, making the most of seeing some more famous names at Court Place Farm, and hoping for a decent result or two. 

 

Aldershot Background

Aldershot Town were formed in 1992 after Football League club Aldershot FC went bankrupt and folded. The new club started in the Third Division of The Isthmian League but took over the 7,100 capacity Recreation Ground ( for sponsorship reasons now named the EBB Stadium ). They steadily worked their way through the divisions and returned to the Football League after winning the Conference in 2007/08.

The Shots played 5 seasons in League Two before suffering financial problems and finished bottom in 2012/13 to be relegated back to the National League, where they have remained ever since.

Aldershot finished in a relegation position in 2018/19 but were reprieved after Gateshead were forcibly relegated for non-footballing reasons. Last season they finished 18^th, and 20^th the season before.

Games Seen

I have never seen Aldershot Town play but I have watched their previous incarnation on two occasions.

In September 1987 I went to the Recreation Ground to watch Brighton and Hove Albion win a Division Three encounter 4-1. I was an Albion season ticket holder that season as they secured immediate promotion back to Division Two, and make-shift striker Garry Nelson scored twice that day on his way to 32 league goals for the season. The Aldershot side included ex-West Ham winger Bobby Barnes, ex-Chelsea, QPR and Crystal Palace striker Tommy Langley and ex-Brighton midfielder Mike Ring.

 

The other occasion was a mid-week Milk Cup First Leg tie at the Goldstone Ground in September 1984. Division Two Brighton recorded a routine 3-1 over Division Four Aldershot, which should have been a much greater margin of victory as they squandered a host of chances, but Terry Connor scored twice and Frank Worthington scored the other goal. Martin Foyle scored a consolation for Aldershot, and most Albion fans went home that night expecting the second leg to be a formality. However, in a major shock, Aldershot romped to a 3-0 victory after extra time in the return to eliminate the Seagulls.

 

Aldershot This Season

Aldershot started the day in 7^th, the final play-off position, as just 5 points separated 4^th and 9^th. They possessed an overall 16-6-13 record, but their strength had been at home, and their 6-1-10 away from was the 7^th worst in the league. Their 66 goals conceded was the third worst after Oxford City and Eastleigh, so a high scoring match was potentially to be expected today.

Their last match ended in a 1-4 hammering at Southend United, but before that they beat second placed Barnet 1-0, and Altrincham 2-0, both at home. Prior to that though they had been embarrassed 0-5 at home to struggling AFC Fylde.

Aldershot’s FA Cup run hit the headlines when they had a record breaking 7-4 win at League Two Swindon, having incredibly led 7-0 with 15 minutes left to play. They then eliminated League Two Stockport County in the Second Round, winning 1-0 in a replay after a 2-2 home draw. However, West Bromwich Albion proved to be too strong in round three, comfortably winning 4-1.

The Shots’ FA Trophy campaign ended in an ignominious 1-6 thrashing at Bishop’s Stortford, who were well adrift at the bottom of National League North at the time, and still remain so. It seems that when Aldershot lose, they tend to do it in style, as in addition to the above mentioned games, they also conceded 4 at Kidderminster, 4 at Chesterfield, 5 at Oldham 5 at home to Eastleigh and 4 at home to Chesterfield.

Average attendances this season were 2,506, the 10^th best in the division

Dutch keeper Jordi van Stappershoef played for Volendam back home and had a spell at Bristol Rovers in England. Right-back Haji Mnoga was on loan from Portsmouth and had 8 caps for Tanzania, whilst Welsh defender Rollin Menayese was on loan from Walsall, having previously played for Bristol Rovers, Swindon, Mansfield and Grimsby.

Central midfielder Stuart O’Keefe started his career at Southend before moving onto Crystal Palace, Cardiff City, MK Dons, Portsmouth and Gillingham amongst others. Midfielder Tyler Frost had played for Crawley and Harrogate, whilst Swiss striker Lorent Tolaj played for Brighton Under 21s and Dundee.  Midfielder Dejan Tetek had played for Reading and won Under 21 caps for Serbia.

19-year old forward Josh Stokes was on loan from Bristol City, who paid a reported £250K for him from Aldershot in January before loaning him back for the rest of the season. James Daly is on loan from Harrogate having previously been at Bristol Rovers and Stevenage.

Tolaj was the top scorer in the league with 15 goals, followed by Stokes on 14.

Aldershot’s manager was ex-Southampton and Grimsby midfielder Tommy Widdrington, and his son Theo is in the Aldershot squad but didn’t feature today. His other son is Strictly Come Dancing dancer Kai Widdrington.

Previous Meetings

The two sides met on the opening day of the season and Oxford City had a harsh introduction to National League football, being taught the lesson that defensive mistakes get punished at this level, and went on to lose 2-5.

Prior to that the sides met in 1995/96 in the Isthmian League Division One, when both results were away wins. Oxford City were promoted that season, but were relegated in the year when Aldershot won promotion so their paths never crossed again until this season.

Matchday Information

The journey from Aldershot to Oxford is a shade under 60 miles, and should normally take 75 minutes along the M4 and up the A34.

Despite 593 Shots supporters coming to the game, the match was not segregated.

Bet365.com made Aldershot 3/5 odds on favourites, with Oxford City at 16/5 and the draw at 3/1.

On a dryish day, the temperature for the 15.00 kick-off time was 7 degrees. A short shower hit the ground 20 minutes before the start, and more were forecast for during the game.

Aldershot made one change to their side that lost at Southend with Rowe in place of Menayese, who was suspended after his red card against The Shrimpers

Oxford City made two changes from the side well beaten at Gateshead with Wolves loanee Harry Birtwhistle replacing the suspended Burley and Renny Smith taking the place of Harvey Greenslade, who dropped to the bench. City were still missing Canice Carroll, Zac McEachran, Nya Kirby,  Tafari Moore, Mitchell Roberts, and only 5 of today’s team played in the return fixture back in August.

Aldershot were in a change kit of all yellow, whilst Oxford City were in their usual blue and white hoops with blue shorts.

Match Report

Aldershot won an early corner, which was well defended, and on Oxford City’s first foray into the Aldershot half, a free-kick beyond the far post was headed clear.

With 5 minutes played, Aldershot midfielder Frost was released down the right channel and his low cross was put off for a corner by Roddy. The corner was played short, and when the ball was played into the area Kabongolo headed away.

Another short rain shower arrived as Aldershot were initially looking to play long down the left-hand side for Daly, but Birtwistle was proving to be up to the challenge.

After 8 minutes, Fleet’s careless pass was intercepted by Tolaj who was clear on goal, but Watson advanced off his line to make the block at the expense of a corner. Again, the corner was played short, but the cross to beyond the far post was headed onto the top of the net by Mnoga.

Two minutes later Kabongolo needed to produce a great tackle to halt Tolaj down the right. At this point against Eastleigh, The Hoops had been 3 down so to be all square was an improvement, but Aldershot were dominating, and the opening goal duly arrived in the 11^th minute.

A good passing move involving Harfield and Stokes saw O’Keefe play in Daly close to the left-hand by-line and his ball across the 6-yard line gave Tolaj a tap-in at the back post. 0-1 after 11 minutes.

In truth, the goal had been coming as Oxford City had looked short of confidence and had barely been in the game.

Three minutes later gigantic centre-back Coby Rowe saw Oxford City keeper Watson off his line and tried his luck from the half-way line but the keeper was able to back-track and make an easy catch.

The home side nearly shot themselves in the foot again in the 16^th minute as Watson’s pass out from the back went straight to Tolaj, but the striker’s left footed effort sailed narrowly over the bar with the keeper stranded.

In the 20^th minute Roddy was clearly pushed over by Stokes close to his corner flag but the referee allowed play to continue but the low cross was put out for a corner. When the ball was played into the area, a scramble ensued before Fleet was fouled and the referee awarded a free-kick to Oxford City.

In a rare incursion into the Aldershot half, keeper Van Stappershoef had to be alert to come off his line to prevent Coyle reaching a through ball. Shortly after, Kabongolo made a good carry out of defence and played to Smith to attack the Shots back-line. Smith fell to the floor looking for a free-kick, but the referee was having none of this and allowed play to continue, and Aldershot were quickly down the other end.

City put together a string of passes for the first time in the 26^th minute, but it was too laborious and ended in a throw-in. However, they managed to get the ball into the Aldershot area, and Glover had two attempts to head clear, but Fleet managed to acrobatically play the ball across goal for Coyle to run onto and volley into the roof of the net from close to the penalty spot. 1-1 after 27 minutes.

The goal was against the run of play and scarcely deserved, and Aldershot looked to hit back almost immediately. Stokes did well on the right and laid off to Tolaj, who took a step into the area and shot left-football, but again he was denied by Watson who pushed the effort away for a corner. The move had come from a quick free-kick taken by the Shots when one of their players was rolling around on the floor injured. Clearly they know when he is exaggerating !

The home side had a glimpse of an opening a minute later when a long ball saw Smith clear apart from one defender, and both went to ground as they challenged for the ball. The referee however saw nothing untoward and the game carried on. If he had seen a foul against Smith then it probably would have been a red card.

Oxford City though continued to be poor and passes consistently went astray, their normal passing game was absent, and very little pressure was being exerted on the Aldershot back three. City were also struggling to cope with the high press from the Shots’ front three, as the visitors seemed to have done their homework. Despite this, the scores were still level.

In the 36^th minute Harfield put Glover in space down the left but after cutting back inside the shot was straight at the keeper.

Parity didn’t last much longer, as City again gave the ball away trying to play out from the back and Tolaj played a through ball for Stokes to slide the ball past the advancing Watson to restore his side’s lead. 1-2 after 38^th minutes.

The home crowd gave some ironic cheers when after being manhandled by Rowe all game, the referee finally gave a foul on Parker. The first yellow card of the match though was shown to Fleet following a foul on Stokes.

As the game entered first-half added time, Phillips made a great sliding tackle to stop Glover before City again gave the ball away, and Mnoga’s low cross was cleared by Kanongolo on the stretch. It was the visitors who headed to the dressing rooms with a deserve half-time lead, having been much the sharper side and apart from the finish from Coyle, The Hoops had rarely produced anything of quality with the ball, and were clearly missing their usual outlet on the right-hand side. Williams-Bushell was being missed but stayed on the bench.

Oxford City did make one substitution for the second half, but it was Latrell Humphrey-Ewers coming onto replace Smith, who again failed to impress upfront and looks a much better player in midfield. Frankly though, any of the Oxford City midfielders could have been taken off instead of Smith.

The change seemed to have an impact as Oxford City started the second half well. Potter appeared to be fouled neat the corner flag after running onto a ball down the touchline from Birtwistle, but again the official seemed reluctant to award a free-kick to the home side. City were finally stringing some passes together, until Fleet’s optimistic cross-field pass was sent off for a goal-kick.

In response, Daly turned on the edge of the area only to shoot weakly at the keeper.

Oxford City seemed to have finally adapted to the Shots high press, and Watson kicked deep into the Aldershot half where Birtwistle won a corner. The set-piece was played short, and again possession was given away before it could be played into the area, but City won the ball back and produced a nice move leading to Humphrey-Ewers finding Ashby running into the Aldershot area but the chip across the 6 yard line was cleared.

On Aldershot’s next visit into the Oxford City half, Mnoga played forward to Stokes, but an ambitious back heel only ended up trickling to the Hoops keeper. The visitors had weathered the home side’s good spell and Glover went on a strong run, and after receiving a give and go and getting to the by-line his cross was headed away.

Another heavy shower arrived soon after, and Tolaj’s snap shot-shot went well wide after Birtwistle had stabbed the ball to the edge of the area.

Stokes then went on a good run and played in Glover on the left but the cross was cleared by Kabongolo. The Shots reworked the ball to Glover, who won a corner. Humphrey-Ewers could only partially hook clear and Stokes shot first time from the edge of area. The ball narrowly went wide of the post but the Aldershot supporters in the main stand initially thought it had crept into the corner of the goal !

Oxford City’s performance was perhaps encapsulated by a move in the 65^th minute. Good build up work took them to the edge of the Aldershot area but rather than try and create something, the ball was worked backwards via Fleet, Ashby, Roddy and Phillips to keeper Watson, who under pressure had to kick possession away.

With 73 minutes played Tolaj held the ball up well on the edge of the Oxford City area, but his lay back to Stokes was fired over.

Tolaj had been the first Aldershot to receive a yellow card after a late tackle on Humphrey-Ewers and Rowe followed him shortly after. Again, Rowe manhandled Parker, and was so astonished that the referee had the temerity to award a free-kick against him he said something to the official, who clearly wasn’t impressed by it.

In the 79^th minute, Humphrey-Ewers crossed from the right wing and although Kabongolo was being held back by Rowe, the ball reached Roddy beyond the back post, but under pressure the Charlton loanee could only direct the ball a foot wide.

Aldershot hit back and although there was some comedy defending as Oxford City spurned four chances to clear, The Shots were unable to take advantage.

Play returned to the other end and a threaded pass intend for Lumeka was cut-off, but City quickly won the ball back, and Lumeka ran across goal and then sent a left-footed effort curling just wide of the post.

Aldershot nearly added a third goal in the 84^th minute. Again, the home defending was unconvincing to a ball into their area, and the ball fell kindly to Frost 12 yards out, but his right-foot shot across goal hit the post and rebounded away to safety.

Three minutes later the Shots came close again. Frost made a strong run and his cross found Thomas in the centre of the goal but his header from about 10 yards went wide. Substitute Barratt then managed to shoot out of the ground from long range.

Four minutes of added time were to be played, and there was still time for one last chance for Oxford City. Parker did well to control, and played a perfect pass forward for Phillips to run onto, but the centre-back, who had just returned to the field after having to go off for treatment, shot left footed but keeper Van Stappershoef dived to make the save and preserve his side’s lead.

At the final whistle, Aldershot were deserved winners and stayed in 7^th place, but were now 4 points clear of Halifax in 8^th place. Oxford City remained rooted to the bottom, now 13 points from safety with only 9 games still to play.

Highlights :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rad6P9ktL8

Oxford City : Watson – Birtwistle, Kabongolo, Phillips, Roddy – Fleet, Ashby, Potter ( Lumeka ), Coyle ( Greenslade ), – Smith ( Humphrey-Ewers ), Parker

Aldershot Town : Van Stappershoef – Mnoga, Rowe, Harfield – Frost, Tetek, O’Keefe ( Thomas ), Glover, – Stokes, Tolaj ( Barrett ), Daly ( Ghandour )