March 22, 2025
Today's entertainment saw a crucial relegation encounter between Oxford City and Warrington Town. A midweek 2-1 victory at South Shields saw Oxford City move out of the bottom four, three points clear of Needham Market with two fewer games played. After being on the wrong end of some poor refereeing decisions in the past few weeks, the Hoops benefited from a harsh red card to a Shields defender when there looked to be a covering defender when Josh Parker was brought down attempting to break clear. They say it all evens up over the season !
City’s penalty woes this season continued in added on time when Parker’s weak spot kick was easily saved, but when City won another penalty in the 96th minute, captain Josh Ashby sent the keeper the wrong way to secure three vital points.
Assuming Oxford City had made it back from the north-east in time for today’s game, Warrington came into today’s encounter third from bottom and 9 points behind Oxford City, and having played one game more. For them this was a proverbial relegation 6-pointer, a loss or draw today would leave them in just about an impossible position to avoid relegation.
The Hoops still had to play each of the bottom three, and three wins in all of these fixtures would take them to 48 points and virtually out of reach of Needham Market. However, there was no cause for complacency, and the points still needed to be won, starting today !
Warrington Town
Warrington is an industrial town in Cheshire located midway between Liverpool and Manchester and has an estimated population of 211,000
It is probably most known for its Rugby League team, now branded the Warrington Wolves, but those of us that grew up with The Mike Yarwood show in the 1970s can only pronounce the town’s name in an Eddie Waring accent !
The town’s football team were founded in 1949 and play at the 3,050 capacity Cantilever Park. Their nickname is either The Yellows or The Wire.
Promotion in 2016/17 saw Warrington achieve step 3 status for the first time, but in 2018/19 they had to play off for promotion, but after beating Nantwich Town and South Shields, they lost out to Kings Lynn 2-3 after extra time. However, a runners-up position in 2022/23 led to Warrington beating Bamber Bridge 1-0 in the play-off final to reach National League North for the first time ever.
After their first season at Step 2, Warrington finished in 12th place.
Warrington This Season
At the start of the day Warrington had a 6-12-20 record, and 1-8-9 away from home. Their 31 goals scored was the second fewest in the league, just one more than back markers Farsley Celtic.
Warrington were on a run of just two wins in their last 25 league games, with the two victories coming against Rushall Olympic ( 2-0 ) and Buxton ( 1-0 ). The one away win this season was at Radcliffe Borough ( 2-1 ) back in October, with their other victories coming against Hereford ( 2-0 ), Kidderminster Harriers ( 2-1 ) and Peterborough Sports ( 1-0 ). Warrington had gone 12 away games since winning but had drawn 6 times.
In the FA Cup Warrington fell at the first hurdle, losing 1-2 at home to Radcliffe Borough, and they also exited the FA Trophy in their first game, going down 0-3 at Southport. In midweek, Warrington beat Crewe Alexandra 1-0 to progress to the semi-finals of the Cheshire Senior Cup, where they will face Stalybridge Celtic.
Warrington’s average home attendance this season was 999, the 13th best in the division, which compared to 594 for Oxford City.
Warrington Squad
Ex-Stockport, Altrincham and Marine centre-forward Josh Amis was the Yellows’ top goal scorer with 7 goals whilst ex-Preston North End and Grimsby Town winger Mikey O’Neill had three goals and 5 assists to his name. Both would be missing from the Wire starting XI today.
Ex-Preston forward Joe Rodwell-Grant had scored twice this season, and centre-forward Connor Woods had found the net 5 times before transferring to Chester City for a reported £15K in January.
Keeper Daniel Atherton was at Liverpool as a youth player and was also on the books of Welsh side The New Saints. Centre-back Peter Clarke had played 9 games for Everton in the Premier League as a youngster, full-back Aaron James was on loan from Wrexham and defender Hamish Douglas was on loan from Rotherham.
Ex-Cardiff City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Plymouth Argyle, Melbourne Victory and Macarthur winger Craig Noone was listed in the programme but didn’t feature today.
Manager Paul Carbon had been a player for Chester and Cambridge United and been interim manager at Tranmere Rovers, as well as a spell in charge of Southport. He was in his second spell at Warrington.
Previous Meetings
The side had met only once before, with The Hoops winning 2-0 back in October, when Tom Scott and Zac McEachran scored in the opening 15 minutes.
Matchday Information
According to AA Route Planner, the journey from Warrington to Oxford is 150 miles and should take just over 2 and half hours down the M6 and M40. There was no segregation for the game and around 30 Yellows fans had gathered behind the goal, and there were plenty more dotted around the ground.
As part of non-League Day, tickets for today’s match were only £5 for adults and £1 for Under 16s if purchased online before kick-off. However, normal prices applied at the turnstile. The programme was £3.50, free team-sheets were handed out, and large cup of tea was £2.20.
The weather at the 15.00 kick-off was cloudy and dry and 15 degrees, but thankfully the threat of the forecasted thunder and lightning, and rain later in the day stayed away.
Bet365 made Oxford City 3/4 favourites, with Warrington at 12/5 and the draw at 29/10
Warrington made three changes from last week’s 0-1 home lost to Radcliffe Borough with Ben Hatton, Hamish Douglas and Matthew McDonald coming in for Oliver Southern, O’Neill and Amis Oxford City made one change from the side that started against South Shields, with Canice Carroll returning after suspension and Jacob Roddy dropping to the bench
Warrington were wearing a nice kit of claret and light blue quarters, with light blue shorts and socks. Oxford City were in their usual blue and white hoops.
Match Report
Warrington start the game in a lively manner and McDonald was put in space down the left-hand channel and his ball into the near post was met by Devarn Green, but he failed to make a decent contact, and Oxford City keeper Laurie Walker was able to make a low save.
Almost immediately at the other end, Aaron Drewe played in Tom Scott, whose shot was too hot for the Wire keeper Atherton to hold, but Jaydon Carbon committed a foul in his effort to get to the loose ball.
In the 6th minute a long ball out of the Warrington defence attempted to put Rodwell-Grant clear, but Carroll was covering and headed back to his keeper. A minute later McEachran won the ball in midfield and released Carbon on the right, who stepped inside onto his left-foot, but his shot from just inside the Warrington area was blocked by Clarke.
The first corner of the game arrived in the 9th minute when James made a hash of trying to clear a cross from Andre Burley and was forced to head off behind his goal-line. However, from Ashby’s in-swinging delivery, a foul was spotted on Wire keeper Atherton.
Hatton then went on a strong run down the right wing for the visitors, but his bullet cross was ahead of Rodwell-Grant and the ball went off for a goal kick.
The opening ten minutes had been end-to-end, and there had been no sign of relegation jitters, and both sides were clearly playing to win the game.
With 12 minutes played, Josh Parker was rugby tackled by Douglas 35 yards out from the Warrington goal. Ashby floated the free kick to the edge of the penalty area where Carroll won the header and Burley’s fierce drive went narrowly wide.
Three minutes later Scott and Ashby went for the same ball and collided, giving Rodwell-Grant the opportunity to stride forward, but his 25-yard effort bounced comfortably for Walker to make a regulation save. Parker then robbed James Harris of possession, leading to McEachran being fouled. The free kick was taken quickly but Parker, in space down the left wing, could only send his cross out of the stadium.
At the other end, McDonald laid the ball off to Hatton, whose 20-yard drive across the goalmouth went narrowly wide.
After 19 minutes a flowing Hoops move featuring McEachran, Carbon, Drewe and Scott was thwarted by an offside flag with the ball inside the visitors' 6-yard box. Drewe then played a shrewd ball to find McEachran in space inside the Warrington area, but the Hoops midfielder could only poke weakly to the Wire keeper.
A long ball out of the Warrington defence saw Rodwell-Grant pull back Carroll in order to run clear on the Oxford City goal, but the referee had spotted the blatant offence and blew for the free kick.
With 24 minutes played a neat backheel from McEachran found Parker in space on the left-hand touchline, and the veteran Antiguan international chipped forward to Scott. With a 3 on 1, the midfielder opted to go for goal and his shot across the face of the goal went narrowly wide, much to the frustration of his two unmarked colleagues.
Shortly after, Rodwell-Grant ran into the Oxford City area, but a tremendous sliding tackle from Carroll ended the danger at the expense of a throw-in. James threw the ball into the Oxford City danger zone, where Douglas headed the ball on, but Green was unable to keep the ball in play.
McDonald then went on a cross field run for the Wire and laid off to James, who cross to the far post was partially headed away by Drewe, and Coyle finished off the defending by heading off for a corner. The set-piece was headed clear, but the referee held up play for an injury to Clarke. The visitors were given possession from the drop ball and quickly won a free kick. Hatton’s low delivery towards the near post was post out for another corner to Warrington, which was headed away by McEachran.
Warrington were enjoying a good spell, and another long throw needed to be headed away by Parker, back helping out his defence, and when the ball was returned to the mixer, the header from Clarke went high over the bar.
McDonald again caught the eye with another penetrating run and spread play wide to Green on the left-hand touchline, whose dangerous ball went across the goalmouth and off for a goal kick.
Douglas, under pressure from Parker, then played a really poor back pass to his keeper, but with Carbon bearing down on him, Atherton’s attempted clearance was blocked, Parker played the loose ball back to Carbon, who on the stretch was able to put the ball past Clarke on the line to give the home side the lead. 1-0 with 37 minutes played.
The home side started to look a lot more confident as Burley played a cross-field ball to Drewe on the right, and the ball into the Warrington area needed to be put out of play by Jack Hont under pressure form Parker. A short corner routine featuring McEachran, Coyle and Ashby saw a ball played toward the near post, where Carbon’s flick went a yard wide.
McEachran then put Parker clear but the left footed drive from 14 yards was met by a top diving save by Atherton, diving to his left to push the ball away for a corner. Coyle’s in-swinging delivery saw Atherton go to punch the ball away, but the Yellows’ keeper completely missed the ball, and the unsighted Clarke could only prod the ball into the empty net. 2-0 with 43 minutes played.
With Oxford City being the beneficiary of two pieces of poor defending, keeper Walker nearly partially levelled thing up, but McDonald was unable to latch onto a poor pass out of the area and could only help the ball into touch.
Half-time came with Oxford City leading by two goals, but after an even opening 35 minutes they deserved to be in front, aided by the poor defending from Warrington.
Warrington made a change at the break, making a like for like change at left back as Southern replaced Hont. However, it was Oxford City who started on the front foot, as a quick throw in from Drewe put Parker in space down the right but the cross was blocked for a corner. Although the corner was well defended, persistence from Ezennolim forced another corner, but this time on the left.
The corner was headed clear, and Hatton ran into the Oxford City half, but Scott’s cynical foul stopped the move, and resulted in the first yellow card of the match. Warrington were unable to make anything from their free kick and McEachran embarked on a great run and played a reverse pass to put Carbon clear with just the keeper to beat, but Atherton made a brave close-range block, and Coyle put the rebound over the bar from the edge of the area,
Another promising Oxford City attack was halted by the referee who stopped play for an injury to Southern, but from where I sat it didn’t look like a head injury and play probably shouldn’t have been stopped.
The Hoops were given the drop ball and some head tennis in the Warrington area followed, until Scott was brought down just outside the 18-yard line. Ashby lined up the free kick, and his effort looked to be heading straight at the keeper until it struck Harris and deflected to the opposite corner with the keeper wrong-footed. It was now 3-0 after 56 minutes.
The Hoops were looking for more goals, but Parker’s 35-yard free kick sailed over the clubhouse. However, they were not to be denied for long and after a shot from Carbon was blocked by Clarke the ball fell invitingly to Coyle who lashed left footed from 12 yards across the goal, and the ball went in off the far post. The score moved to 4-0 with 61 minutes on the clock.
The final 30 minutes were a bit of an anti-climax. Warrington strived to claim a consolation goal without really ever threatening. Carroll put a dangerous cross from Hatton out for a corner, and Ashby was twice on hand to clear crosses from Hatton. O’Neill looked lively after his introduction but again the cross from Hatton was gathered by keeper Walker. Substitute Bohan Dixon volleyed a corner out of the ground.
O’Neill saw a goalward attempt deflect high into the air, and Hoops keeper Walker was grateful to see it drift narrowly over the bar. The resulting set-piece saw a collision between Walker and Williams as the ball was directed towards the back post, where Vaughan opted for safety first to put the ball out of play, but the referee deemed it to be a foul on the Oxford City custodian. In added on time Dixon had a shot blocked after Walker had punched a corner away. Shortly after, the City keeper was called upon to push away a long range attempt from Williams but then claimed the corner.
City had chances to increase their lead. Drewe sent a good low cross from the right, Carbon dummied and the on-rushing McEachran struck the ball first time left-footed, but Atherton made another good save to keep the score down. Carroll won the header from the resulting corner, but it was an easy save for the Wire keeper. Parker’s glancing header from an Ashby free kick bounced narrowly wide.
McEachran then played a pass across the Warrington area which saw Drewe’s blaze from 10 yards strike Southern and go off for a corner.
A throw-in from Ezennolim was so bad the referee gave a foul throw, something which is rarely awarded these days. Coyle’s marauding run then played in Andrews, whose ball across the face of the goal saw substitute Rohan Vaughan slide in only to put the ball well wide.
With 8 minutes remaining, McEachran made a trademark run at a retreating defence and fed Vaughan, who went to ground under a challenge. McEachran latched onto the loose ball, and under a challenge from Douglas also crashed to the floor, but the referee was unimpressed and play continued.
Scott then saw a shot deflected for a corner after a good move involving Coyle, Andrews, Vaughan and Drewe.
As Warrington’s frustrations built up, so did the yellow cards. Substitute Lee Williams had a foot up challenge on Coyle, but it was James who received the card. Clarke was booked for an off the ball incident with Andrews, then Williams was perhaps lucky to stay on the pitch after seeing yellow for a card on Carroll, which by rights, ought to have been his second.
The stadium announcer announced 1 minute of added time, which would have been appropriate with the result a foregone conclusion but then corrected himself to announce 7 minutes, of mostly meaningless play. Warrington played out the final couple of minutes with 10 men after the impressive Hatton had to be helped from the field with what looked to be an injured ankle. Wire keeper Atherton was nearly embarrassed in in added time after dwelling on a back pass as Andrews disposed him, but luckily for the keeper the referee somehow saw a foul.
At the final whistle, Oxford City claimed the vital three points, which took them a long way towards safety, now being 6 points clear of the relegation zone with two games in hand. Ultimately, Oxford City were convincing winners and could easily have won by more. However, football is a game of fine margins, and needed a defensive error, an own goal and a deflection to build a commending lead. As they say, luck evens out over the course of a season……….
It is looking grim for Warrington, being 12 points from safety with just 7 games to play and had slipped to second from bottom.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR6cr46_diw&t=14s
Oxford City : Walker – Burley, Carroll, Ezennolim – Drewe, Ashby ( Croker ), McEachran, Scott, Coyle – Carbon ( Andrews ), Parker ( Vaughan )
Warrington Town : Atherton – James, Douglas, Clarke, Hont ( Southern ) – Hatton, Harris ( Doro ), Ackroyd ( Dixon ), McDonald, Green ( O’Neill ) - Rodwell-Grant ( Williams )
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