Oxford City 1-2 Spennymoor Town ( att : 620 ) - 2024/25 National League North

August 23, 2025

Today saw a meeting of 11^th vs 8^th in round 4 of National League North, with both sides in search of a victory that would put them up into the promotion play-off positions at this early stage of the season.

Oxford City Update

After these diaries reported on the 5-2 pre-season victory over a Charlton Athletic XI, Oxford City had a pretty ordinary rest of their pre-season, drawing 1-1 at Gloucester City, and losing 0-1 at Chesham United, and by the same score at home to Maidenhead United.

Since that game, winger Jaydon Carbon had signed for Middlesborough for an undisclosed fee, and teenage centre-back Lewis Croker had joined Crewe Alexandra. The departure of Andre Burley had also been confirmed, joining Dagenham and Redbridge.

Trialists made up three of the back four and the goalkeeper in the Charlton match, and The Hoops had subsequently signed Sam Lewis on a season long loan from Aston Villa to be the number 1 keeper. The defence had been strengthened with the signings of centre-back Charlie Wiggett, who had last been seen playing for Sligo Rovers in the League of Ireland, ex-Hibernian, Wigan, AFC Wimbledon and Forest Green Rovers centre-back Darnell Johnson, and right-back George Burroughs, who most recently had played for Redditch, AFC Telford and Altrincham.

City had also signed German born striker Isaac Westendorf, who had played in Northern Ireland for Larne and Ballymena United, and last season played in Malta for Balzan. The Oxford City squad though still looked light on numbers and so more signings could be expected, either permanently or on loan, especially when injuries start to mount up.

Oxford City started the season with a 2-3 defeat at AFC Fylde, after having led 2-0 early in the second half, but followed up with a 2-1 home victory over much fancied Macclesfield Town. In mid-week City travelled to another of the teams expected to be challenging for promotion, and came away with a 1-1 draw at Kidderminster Harriers. Five goals had been scored, by five different players.

Spennymoor Town

Spennymoor are located in County Durham, seven miles south of Durham, with an estimated population of around 20,000. The club are a descendent of Spennymoor United, who reached the semi-final of the FA Trophy in 1977/78, before a merger of the clubs in 2005.

Home is the 4,300 capacity Brewery Field and the club have a nickname of The Moors. Their traditional kit is black and white stripes with black shorts and socks.

The Moors were winners of the FA Vase in 2012/13, beating Tunbridge Wells 2-1 in the final, after beating Guernsey 4-1 on aggregate in the semi-final.

Against all odds, Spennymoor reached the 2024/25 FA Trophy final as a National League North side, but lost 0-3 at Wembley to Aldershot. They had previously eliminated National League sides Rochdale, Sutton United, Boston United, as well as Hampton and Richmond Borough, Alfreton Town and South Shields in the early rounds of the competition.

Spennymoor have played in National League North since 2017/18, with a best placed finish of 4^th in 2018/19, when they lost on penalties in the play-off final to Chorley. Last season they finished in 9^th place and had an average league attendance of 1,278.

Spennymoor Town Squad

The obvious star player in the Spennymoor squad is veteran forward Glen Taylor, who as at the end of last season had scored 210 goals in 394 appearances for the club, and had been their leading goal scorer in eight of the past nine seasons.

As a Crawley Town supporter, it was interesting to see that ex-Reds left-back Mitch Hancox was now playing for Spennymoor. Hancox had played 15 games on loan in 2015/16 on loan from Birmingham City, and had gone on to play for Macclesfield, Solihull Moors, York City and Chester amongst others.

Another familiar name to these diaries was ex-Morton, Clyde and Ayr United midfielder Cameron Salkeld who played for Darlington against Oxford City last August.

Centre-forward Austin Samuels signed this week after playing for Rushall Olympic last season, having previously been with Bradford City, Aberdeen, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Greenock Morton, and was an England Under 16 international when at Wolves.

Defensive midfielder/centre-back Dan Rowe played in the Football League for Wycombe Wanderers, defender Ben Pollock was ex-Hereford, Boston and Chester, whilst keeper Brad James was at Middlesborough as a youngster and had a loan spell at Hartlepool before being released and joining Spennymoor. Defender Ben Beals also joined Spennymoor after being released by Middlesborough.

Midfielder Rob Ramshaw had made over 300 appearances for The Moors, and prior to joining Spennymoor played nearly 100 games for Gateshead, whilst Michael Dolan had played over 200 matches for Newport County in League Two as well as playing in the EFL for Yeovil, Hartlepool, and Bradford City. Left -back Dan Jones was with Port Vale last season, and had also played for Hartlepool, Barrow and Harrogate.

Ex-Greenock Morton and Queen Of The South centre-back Michael Ledger is hopefully known as “General”, winger Junior Mondal is one letter away from being a world star and ex-York Coty defender Olly Dyson can be expected to hoover everything up at the back !

Spennymoor This Season

Spennymoor started the season with an impressive 2-0 victory at home to Hereford United, and then went to Radcliffe Borough and returned home with another 2-0 win. Taylor had scored three of The Moors four goals, with Rowe the other scorer.

However, the wheels feel off the wagon during the week with a disastrous 0-5 home loss at the hands of Kings Lynn. The Moors then had another set-back this week with the news that striker Gary Madine, ex-Cardiff City, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry City and Blackpool amongst others had announced his retirement. Madine had signed in the summer and started in the opening two fixtures.

Previous Meetings

Last season was the first time the two sides had met. Oxford City won 3-0 at home in December in front of a crowd of 1,082 but lost 0-1 away on the last day of the season, where Corey McKeown was on target for The Moors.

Matchday Information

According to AA Route Planner, the journey from Spennymoor to Marsh Lane is 236 miles and should normally take 4 hours 25 minutes. The Spennymoor supporters coach had a 07.45 departure time and it looked like around 30-40 fans had made the journey.

Tickets for today’s game were £13 for adults online and £16 at the turnstile. This represented a reduction from £15 online and £17 at the turnstile last season. There were a whole range of reductions depending on ages, from seniors to children. Hospitality was £40.

A special promotion for the game was draught pints being reduced to £4.

The weather at the 15.00 kick-off was overcast but dry with the temperature around 21 degrees..

Bet365 made Spennymoor 11/8 favourites, with Oxford City at 29/20 and the draw 13/5.

Spennymoor were playing in a change kit of all red whilst Oxford City were in their traditional blue and white hoops.

Spennymoor made two changes from the side that started the 0-5 defeat at home to King’s Lynn, with Jones and Mondal replacing Beals and Doherty. Oxford City also made two changes to the side that started at Kidderminster, with DJ Campton-Surridge and Alfie Potter coming in the line-up with Josh Parker dropping to the bench and Jack Bearne missing out with a shoulder injury, who is likely to keep him out for some time.

Programme

An online programme was available on the new Oxford City App, with paper programmes now discontinued as they were apparently now financially unviable. The online programme is similar to those produced by several rugby clubs with links to both sides’ websites.

Personally, I feel that if City are going down the online programmes route, they should follow the example of many local non-league clubs eg Thame United or Risborough Rangers, where it is a pdf of what would have been the paper programme. Also, unlike most clubs, the online programme isn’t yet available via City’s website nor does there appear to be any archive.

Team-sheets used to be handed out free of charge inside the ground, but now cost £1.

https://oxfordcity.shorthandstories.com/oxford-city-v-spennymoor/ 

Matchday Report

Oxford City nearly opened the scoring in the first 30 seconds. Westendorf spun away from Rowe and ran clear with just the keeper to beat, but his low shot was too close to James, who made the save and held on to the ball. It was a great chance.

The home side had started strongly and were winning all the loose balls before Spennymoor got into the game. McKeown released Ramshaw inside the left-hand side of the penalty area, but from a tight angle his shot was blocked by keeper Lewis. The roles were reversed in the 8^th minute as Ramshaw released McKeown but Lewis was able to come of his line to challenge the Moors midfielder, and the ball ricocheted off for a goal-kick.

A minute later McKeown was teed up to shoot from just outside the 18-yard line, but his right-footed curling shot was pushed away by the diving Lewis. A left-footed cross from the right-wing by Dyson then bounced across the goalmouth and off for a goal-kick. The Moors were starting to play !

The response from Oxford City was to send a long ball down the left-hand channel for Jacob Roddy to chase, and when Spennymoor partially cleared, Zac McEachran hit the bouncing ball harmlessly wide.

After 13 minutes Ramshaw did well to prevent an overhit pass from going off for a goal-kick and his flick reached Taylor beyond the far post, who headed back across goal. Josh Ashby could only half clear as far as Dolan, whose 25 yard effort was superbly saved by Lewis.

In an end-to-end game, Campton-Surridge skipped past Jones, who resorted to hauling the City winger to the floor, and Jones was shown the first yellow card of the match. The free-kick was cleared at the third attempt.

Westendorf then robbed Dyson of possession and again ran clear, but with three defenders bearing down on him, the centre-forward could only shoot straight at James, who made a regulation save.

Westendorf was looking fast, strong and powerful and was a handful for the Moors defenders, but his finishing was letting him down.

Out of the blue, the game’s first goal arrived. MacKenzie Heaney floated a cross from the right which sailed over the head of Wiggett, and Ramshaw was on hand to sweep home on the half volley from close range. 0-1 with 23 minutes played.

Almost immediately after, Westendorf ran onto a long ball from Wiggett, getting to it ahead of James, but his lob over the keeper was cleared for a corner by Rowe. Johnson saw his effort from the corner blocked at the far post.

Wiggett’s attempted pass to Scott was intercepted by McKeown, who ran to the edge of the Hoops area, but his shot was weak and easily saved.

Westendorf again made his presence felt by winning possession close to the half-way line and then passed forward to McEachran who weaved his way into the Spennymoor area, but with three defenders closing him down, McEachran’s toe poke took a slight deflection and ended in the far corner, past the despairing dive of James. 1-1 after 32 minutes.

When Jones sent a huge long through into the centre of the Oxford City 6-yard box, Taylor could only head high and over the bar. At the other end, Burroughs won a corner after being put into space by Wiggett, and when Roddy took the set-piece, Wiggett’s flying header went a couple of feet over the bar.

Westendorf and Scott then combined to put Potter clear, but the danger was ended by the linesman’s raised flag. This was followed by Dyson getting past Roddy, but his cross into the Oxford City area was headed away by Johnson.

With half-time approaching, more good work from Westendorf resulted in McEachran being fouled just outside the Moors penalty area, but Ashby’s free-kick crashed into the defensive wall, being stopped by the head of Heaney, who crashed to the floor and play was halted.

The last action of the first-half saw Mondal force Roddy into conceding a corner for The Moors. When Spennymoor played the ball back into the danger zone after it had been headed away, Wiggett got an important foot to the ball, but the linesman had flagged for offside.

The scores remained level at the end of a hectic first half, full of good football which was an entertaining watch. Spennymoor had looked very good going forward, but shaky at the back against the rampaging Westendorf.

The second half was not of the same quality, with both sides being regularly guilty of losing possession through stray passes.

The first chance of the second period saw McEachran play a clever flick to give Westendorf some space but the shot was blocked for a corner, which was headed away by Pollock.

Another Jones long-throw caused confusion in the home defence and Taylor had a short blocked at the far post. Shortly after, Mondal set-up Ramshaw, but the 20-yard effort went a few feet over the bar.

The visitors came close to regaining the lead in the 55^th minute. Mondal’s left footed cross from the right went beyond the far post where Ramshaw headed back across goal for Taylor to head over the bar from 6 yards.

Westendorf then made a surging run past Rowe’s lunge, but the move ended when Parker was crowded out.

On the hour mark, Jones played a terrible pass straight to Hoops substitute Parker. City worked the ball patiently until Ashby’s piledriver was well saved by James. Another flowing move from the home side involving Wiggett and McEachran came to an end when Roddy was judged to have fouled Rowe whilst attempting to make a header to a floated cross.

Another passing move from The Hoops resulted in Scott volleying over the clubhouse after a pull-back from McEachran.

With 16 minutes left on the clock, Westendorf did well to rob Pollock and was then hauled down close to the byline and corner flag. Pollock was shown the second yellow card of the game. The free-kick from Ashby was cleared as far as Roddy, whose long range effort was also blocked by the Moors defence.

Spennymoor then enjoyed a good spell as the game enter the last ten minutes. A Dolan free-kick was headed high into the air by Pollock, enabling Lewis to make an easy catch. Dolan then tried his luck from 25 yards, and his left-footed strike was pushed away by the diving Lewis. Substitute Sankeld tapped home the rebound but he was a couple of yards off-side so the goal was chalked off.

Oxford City then nearly took the lead as Parker head back across goal for Westendorf but a Moors defender managed to get there first. However, he could only head as far as Roddy, who headed narrowly over from around 14 yards.

Play went back into the Oxford City half and Taylor went down very easily when challenged on the edge of the 18- yard line. The referee awarded a rather soft free-kick, but Taylor got up to take and his drive took a deflection off the defensive wall, wrong footing Lewis and nestled in the opposite corner. 1-2 after 84 minutes.

The goal appeared to take the wind out of Oxford City, who rarely looked like getting back on level terms. Brayden Daniel did well on the left wing, but Westendorf was pinged for fouling Pollock in his efforts to win a header, but Spennymoor comfortably saw out the 5 added minutes to take the three points and move up to 6^th in the table

Defeat was harsh on Oxford City who probably deserved a draw from a closely fought encounter but slipped down to 16^th .

Oxford City : Lewis – Burroughs ( Wilson ), Wiggett, Johnson, Roddy ( Daniel ) – Campton-Surridge ( Parker ), Scott ( Bampoh ) , Ashby, McEachran – Westendorf, Potter

Spennymoor Town :  James - Dyson, Rowe, Pollock, Jones ( Hill ) – Mondal ( Doherty ), Heaney ( Beals ), Dolan, McKeown ( Salkeld ) - Ramshaw, Taylor

 

 

 

 

 

 

Esperance Sportive de Tunis 1-0 Stade Tunisien ( att : 25,000 ) – 2024/25 Tunisian Super Cup

August 3, 2025

Fatbear made his first foray into football in Tunisia with the final of the 2024/25 Super Cup, the curtain raiser to the new season.

As Esperance won both the league and cup titles in 2024/25 there didn’t appear to be an obvious opponent for them to play in the Super Cup. However, the Tunisian FA decided that the league runner-up, US Monastir, and cup runner-up, Stade Tunisien, would have a play-off match for the right to play Esperance. In a match played on neutral territory in Sfax, Stade Tunisien ran out 2-0 winners, thanks to a penalty from Rwandan midfielder Bonheur Mugisha ( 7 caps ) and a sweeping left footed finish from 20 year-old Under 20 forward Khalil Ayari, both in the first half.

Today’s match was being held at the 60,000 capacity Hammadi Agrebi Stadium, which is home to the National Team, as well as Esperance and fellow Tunis based side Club Africain. The stadium is situated in the southern suburb of Rades, and is also known as the Rades Olympic Stadium.

These two sides also met in the 2023/24 Super Cup, when Esperance ran out 2-0 winners, with the goals being scored by South African winger Elias Mokwana ( 9 caps ) and ex-Brest and Ajaccio Algerian winger Youcef Belaili ( 57 caps )

Tunisia National Team

Tunisia are currently 49^th in the FIFA World Rankings, having achieved a high of 14^th in 2017.

They have qualified on 6 occasions for the World Cup Finals, in 1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018 and 2022 but are yet to get past the group stages.

In 1978, Mexico were beaten 3-1 in their opening match but a 0-1 loss to Poland left Tunisia needing to beat West Germany in the final group game, but a 0-0 draw saw them eliminated in third place.

In each of the three tournaments between 1998 and 2006 Tunisia were only able to obtain one draw each time. Fatbear was present in Marseille in 1998 as goals from Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes gave England a 2-0 victory, and Tunisia’s 1-1 draw with Romania came after the Tunisians had already been eliminated, having lost 0-1 to Colombia in their second game.

 

In 2002, Tunisia managed a 1-1 draw with Belgium but 0-2 losses to Russia and host nation Japan saw them return home early, whilst in 2006 an opening 2-2 draw with Saudi Arabia was followed by defeats to Spain ( 1-3 ) and Ukraine ( 0-1 ).

Tunisia again faced England in 2018 and looked to be holding on for a 1-1 draw in Volvograd until Harry Kane grabbed in his second goal of the game, in the 91^st minute, to give Gareth Southgate’s side a narrow win. Tunisia were then thrashed 2-5 by Belgium, before a consolation 2-1 victory over Panama.

Tunisia began their 2022 campaign with a creditable 0-0 draw with Denmark but a 0-1 reverse to Australia was to prove fatal. Despite a surprise 1-0 win over France, where ex-Sunderland attacking midfielder Wahbi Khazri ( 74 caps ) scored the only goal, Tunisia again finished third in their group.

Tunisia look to be on course to reach the 2026 finals, currently leading their qualification group with a 5-1-0 record to be 4 points clear of Namibia with four more games to be played. The group winners automatically qualify, whilst the runner-up might go into the complicated play-offs. Victories had been registered at home against Equatorial Guinea ( 1-0 ), Malawi ( 2-0 ) and Sao Tome and Principe ( 4-0 ) and away in Liberia ( 1-0 ) and Malawi ( 1-0 ). The only dropped points came in 0-0 against their nearest rivals Namibia, and Tunisia were yet to concede a goal in the group.

Tunisia have been regulars in the Africa Cup of Nations Finals, but their only triumph came in 2004 when they were the host nation. They were runners-up in 1965, when again they were the hosts, and finished third in 1963. Three fourth place finishes had been achieved, the most recent in 2019.

In addition to Khazri, other notable Tunisians to have played in England include ex-Manchester City right-back Hatem Trabelsi ( 66 caps ), ex-Bolton Wanderers, Birmingham City and Southampton centre-back Radhi Jaïdi ( record cap holder with 105 caps ) , ex-Leicester City and Nottingham Forest centre-back Yohan Benalouane ( 5 caps ) and Sheffield Wednesday and ex-Southampton right-back Yan Valery ( 10 caps ).  

Midfielder Anis Ben Slimane ( 34 caps ) is currently with Norwich City, having previously played for Sheffield United, whilst forward Manchester United starlet Hannibal Mejbri ( 33 caps ) is now with Burnley after loan spells with Birmingham City and Sevilla.

Tunisian League

The Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 currently consists of 16 teams who play each other twice for a 30-game season. The new season with be 100^th of top tier football in Tunisia with Esperance the record winners with 34 titles. including 8 of the last 9.

Club Africain are next with 13 titles, followed by Etoile du Sahel with 11, including the 2022/23 title. 18 sides in total have won the Tunisian league although 9 of them are now defunct. Stade Tunisien have four titles to their name, the last of which was in 1964/65.

Tunisia are the 5^th best ranked country in the CAF rankings for club football, which entitles two sides to play in the CAF Champions League and two sides in the CAF Confederations Cup. Esperance and US Monastir will play in this season’s CAF CL, whilst third placed Etoile du Sahel and cup runners-up Stade Tunisien will play in the Confederations Cup.

Esperance Sportive de Tunis

Esperance were found in 1919 and were an exclusively Muslim club, when other sides at the time included French, Italian or Jewish players. In addition to their 34 titles, they have also won the Tunisian Cup 16 times. They are ranked the 3^rd best side in Africa and have won the CAF Champions League on 4 occasions, the last of which was in 2019. They were runners up in 2024 and reached the quarter finals in the 2025 edition of the competition.

Esperance have participated four times in the FIFA Club World Cup, including this year’s expanded version, where they lost 0-3 to Flamingo, beat Los Angeles FC 1-0 and lost 0-3 to Chelsea.

As mentioned, home is currently the 60,000 capacity Hammadi Agrebi Stadium, although Esperance previously played at the 45,000 Stade El Manzah, which is in need of renovation. Their usual colours are red and yellow strips with black shorts and they apparently have a number of nicknames, including Taraji, The Beast of Africa, The Elder of Tunisian Clubs, The Red and Yellow, and The Blood and Gold.

Esperance Squad

In addition to Mokwana and Belaili, other foreigners in the Esperance squad included Algerian centre-back Mohamad Tougai ( 22 caps ), Brazilian attacking midfielder Yan Sasse, who had previously played for Wellington Phoenix and Turkish side Caykur Rizespor, Nigerian midfielder Onuche Ogbelu, and Ivorian midfielder Abdramane Konate. Brazilian striker Rodrigo Rodrigues was the joint leading scorer in the league in 2023/24 whilst Mauritania defender Ibrahima Keita ( 25 caps ) had just joined from Congo side TP Mazembe. Forward Aboubacar Diakite was from Mali.

Esperance had a number of players who had represented the national side. Keeper Bechir Ben Said had 21 caps, captain and centre-back Yassine Meriah ( 85 caps ) had played for Olympiakos, Caykur Rizespor and UAE side Al Ain, defender Mohamad Ben Hamida ( 6 caps ) and midfielder Houssem Tka ( 1 cap ).

London born left-back Ayman Ben Mohamad ( 14 caps ), who played in the League of Ireland for UCD, Longford Town and Bohemians left Esperance following the World Club Championship.

Stade Tunisien

Stade Tunisien were founded in 1948 and play at the 11,000 capacity Hedi Enneifer Stadium in the western suburb of Tunis of Le Bardo. In addition to the 4 league titles, Stade have won the Tunisian Cup on 7 occasions, most recently in 2023/24, and were runners-up last season.

Stade’s normal kit is green and red striped shirts with green shorts and red socks, and their nickname is either Baklawa or The Bey Team. The later is a legacy of the patronage of Lamine Bey, the last Bey of Tunis and the only King of Tunisia.

Last season, Stade Tunisien finished 6^th in the table, 17 points behind champions Esperance and scored only 29 goals in 30 league matches. They had actually led the table after round 16, having lost just twice, but their form disintegrated with just 3 victories in the final 14 games.

Stade reached the final of the Tunisian Cup but were defeated 0-1 by Esperance in June. In the two league meetings between the two clubs, Stade let slip a 2-0 lead at half-time to draw 2-2 at Esperance early in the season, but slumped to a 0-1 loss in the return home fixture.

Stade Tunisien Squad

The captain of Stade Tunisien is centre-back Marouane Sahraoui, who was called up to the most recent national squad but is yet to make his international debut, which was also the case for goalkeeper Nourrad Farhati and forward Ayari.

The overseas players in the squad, in addition to Mugisha, were Senegalese midfielder Amath Ndaw and Ivorian defensive midfielder Toure, who had played in Georgia for Samgurali

Matchday Information

The weather at the 18.15 local time kick-off was sunny with a moderate breeze, and 29 degrees.

Bet365 made Esperance 4/5 favourites, with Stade Tunisien at 4/1 and the draw at 9/5.

The match was streamed live on the rtfofficelle YouTube Channel, the official channel of the Tunisian Football Federation.

Esperance made five changes to the side that started their last match against Chelsea. Ammanallah Memmiche ( 2 caps ) replaced Ben Said in goal, Keita was in at right-back for Ben Ali, who dropped to the bench, whilst Mohamed Derbali ( 1 cap ), Younes Rached and Belaili came in for Yan Sasse, Ogbelu and Mokwana.

Stade Tunisien made one change for the side that started against US Monastir, as Hedi Khalfa replaced Wael Ouerghemmi at right-back

Esperance were in their usual red and yellow shirts, but Stade Tunisien were in a change kit of all white but their gold numbers were not easy to make out.

Match Report

Stade Tunisien kicked off and quickly played a long ball forward, but conceded a foul on the edge of the Esperance area.

Derbali was then chopped down by Mohamed Khemissi near the Stade corner flag. Meriah met the free-kick beyond far post but his header looped up for an easy save for the Stade keeper, who took a quick throw, but Stade were caught offside as they counterattacked.

In the third minute Sahraoui made a good sliding tackle to deny Keita and to give the first corner of the game to Esperance.

It was a fast start to the game, and the fouls were clocking up as the tackles flew in. Konate made a strong run at the Stade Tunisien defence before laying off to Achref Jabri, but his left footed shot was blocked and ball rolled through to the keeper.

With 10 minutes played Keita was chopped down midway inside the Stade half. Belaili took a quick free-kick for Jabri to run onto and the Esperance forward hit the deck after a slight shirt pull by Stade centre-back Adem Arous. However, Jabri had gone down far too easily and the referee ignore the appeals for a penalty.

Esperance really ought to have opened the scoring a minute later. Jabri played a dangerous ball from the right-hand byline, but Arous was able to get a touch to divert the ball away from Derbali. However, the on-rushing Konate should have buried the chance from 6 yards but somehow managed to put the ball wide of the far post.

Play was held up for a few minutes as Sahraoui needed treatment after a foul by Khalil Guenichi and when play resumed Stade’s Mohamed Smaali made a good run into the Esperance and a clever back-heel created space for Amir Jaouadi, but the left-back could only shoot wide under pressure. This was followed up shortly after with another nice move for Stade but Jaouadi could only shoot weakly straight at the Esperance keeper

In the 27^th minute Jabri made a break down the right wing, but his low ball was smartly put out for corner by Arous.

The visitors best chance of the game to date came on the half hour mark. Khalfa went on the overlap and played a pull-back into the Esperance area where Mugisha dummied to set-up Toure, but with plenty of time to pick his slot, the Ivorian could only shoot over the bar from edge of area.

Smaali then played a lovely cross field ball to Ayari, who showed good trickery to make half a yard inside the Esperance area, but no foul was awarded as he went to ground after being challenged.

The pivotal moment of the game arrived in the 36^th minute. Stade keeper Farhati carelessly passed straight to Belaili, who shot from the edge of the area past the keeper, but Sahraoui was covering on the line and make a block. Unfortunately for the Stade captain the ball rebounded onto his arm after which the clearance was made, but the referee immediately awarded a penalty for the handball.

Under the instructions given to referees in England for the new season, instances of the ball hitting the arm after a player had played the ball are not to considered as handball. Either today’s referee had not received a similar memo, or referees in Tunisia are playing to different interpretations to referees in England this season.

The unlucky Sahraoui was shown the yellow card, and Belaili stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way from the spot, to make it 1-0 with 38 minutes on the clock.

With half-time approaching, Jabri again got to the byline but his pull back was well saved by the diving keeper. The last action of the half was a yellow card to Guenichi for a shirt-pull on Ayari.

Stade Tunisien started the second period strongly, and almost immediately, Keita brought down Jaouadi just outside the Esperance area. The free-kick was played across the 18-yard line but a left footed shot blocked by the Esperance defence.

Stade were enjoying most of the possession but were struggling to make any impression. A corner was won in the 54^th minute and after it was headed away, Stade put the ball back into the Esperance area, where two shots were blocked by defenders.

In an Esperance counterattack, Belaili went down inside the Stade area after a challenge from Khemissi, but the linesman’s flag was raised for offside to end the danger.

Stade’s Toure entered the referee’s notebook after pulling back Konate, but then in the 64^th minute Jaouadi went down inside the Esperance area after a clumsy challenge by Haythem Dhaou. It looked a penalty, but the referee wasn’t convinced, and play continued.

Esperance’s Ben Hamida was the next to see yellow after a foul on Ayari near the byline. Ayari took the free-kick, which was cleared by the Esperance defence at the second attempt.

Esperance should have doubled their lead with 11 minutes remaining. After Stade had given away possession near to the half-way line, Belaili did well to tee up Tka, but with just the keeper to beat from 10 yards, his shot was saved by Farhati’s outstretched foot.

Three minutes late a nice flowing Esperance move saw Dhaou release Ben Hamida close to the left-hand and a floated cross to the far post was met by Diakite, who somehow managed to head over the bar from close range.

In the 83^rd minute the referee wasn’t fooled by Keita’s obvious dive inside the area to win a penalty, but the referee took play back for an earlier foul. Belaili took the free-kick but tamely put it a few feet wide of the near post.

When Stade played a hopeful long-ball forward Meriah was all over Ayari, but the referee gave a free-kick to Esperance after the ball struck the arm of the Stade forward.

Stade’s last chance came in the 88^th minute but after a pull-back from the left a Stade player slid into the area, but the contact was poor and Esperance were able to clear.

As the came moved in 5 minutes of added time, Belaili got to the byline but his floated cross was bravely headed away by one of the Stade centre-backs and a free-kick was given. There was still time for Stade substitute Nacef Atoui to be shown the last yellow card of the match after a late tackle on Meriah.

Esperance comfortably saw out the closing stages of the game to retain the Super Cup. It looked like Stade Tunisien’s goalscoring problems from last season still remained. They played lots of nice football, had 53% of the possession, but lacked a cutting edge.

Although the winning penalty was dubious, Esperance looked far more dangerous when they attacked, and squandered two gilt edged chances to have won the game more comfortably.

Esperance Sportive de Tunis : Memmiche – Keita, Meriah, Tougai, Ben Hamida – Derbali ( Bouassida ), Guenichi, Konate ( Tka ) – Rached ( Dhaou ), Jabri ( Diakite ), Belaili ( Laifi )

Stade Tunisien : Farhati – Khalfa ( Atoui ), Arous, Sahraoui, Jaouadi ( Hanchi ) – Khemissi,  Ndaw ( Guezmir ), Mugisha, Toure, Smaali ( Ouerghemmi  )– Ayari