Armenia 0-3 Belarus ( att : 291 ) – 2027 Women’s World Cup Qualification UEFA Group C6

April 14, 2024

These diaries had previously reported nearly 30 times on the Women’s Belarus Premier League, but this would be the first time the Belarus Women’s national side had been covered. Men’s football in Armenia had been featured half a dozen times, but this was the first time Armenia’s women’s football would be included.

Belarus National Team

Belarus were currently 45^th in the FIFA rankings, with their highest ever ranking being 37^th in 2012.

Belarus came bottom of their group in the 2025 UEFA Nations League to be relegated to League C. They were able to play three 0-0 away draws, against higher ranked Serbia, Finland and Hungary, but lost their three “home” matches, which due to the sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were played behind closed doors and on neutral territory.  A 0-2 defeat was suffered to Hungary in Serbia, 0-3 to Serbia in Italy, and 0-3 to Finland in Hungary.

Since then, Belarus had won 5 consecutive friendlies, beating Azerbaijan 2-0 and 3-0 at home, Malta 2-0 and 1-0 away, and 2-1 in Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-1, before a 0-2 loss to Greece in a game also played in Bosnia.

Belarus Squad

The national squad used to be nearly all players from Dinamo-BGU Minsk, with a couple from FK Minsk, and one or two playing in Russia. However, since the sanctions on Belarus, which has reduced the financial strength of the domestic league, there had been an exodus of nearly all of the experienced players to play abroad, with the home-based players in the national squad now being virtually all youngsters in the early stages of their career.

Of the squad announced for the two matches this week, seven played in Russia, two played in Georgia, and there was one each in Turkey, Hungary and Portugal. Only three players were with Dinamo-BGU and two with FK Minsk, and in a sign of the times, three were with Dnepr-Mogilev and two with Dynamo Brest.

Among the former Dinamo-BGU players now in exile were full-back Yulia Slesarchik ( 58 caps ) and centre-back Arina Sitnikava ( 11 caps ) who now both played for Lusso in Georgia, midfielders Anastasia Shlapakova ( 41 caps ) and Anastasia Kovaleva ( 10 caps ) had signed for Dinamo Moscow, midfielder Anastasia Linnik ( 51 caps ) was playing for Lokomotiv Moscow and forward Karina Olkhovik ( 48 caps ) was now playing for Fenebache,

Ex-FK Minsk players in the squad included keeper Nataliya Voskobovich ( 53 caps ), who was now with Russian side Zenit St Petersburg, Melana Surovtseva ( 29 caps ), who scored 58 goals in 2023 was playing in Hungary for Puskas Academy, and defender Anna Kozyupa ( 58 caps ) was now with Lokomotiv Moscow. Midfield dynamo Valeria Belaya ( 22 caps ) had gone to be play in Hungary for Pecs, but returned to FK Minsk towards the end of last season.

Viktoriya Valyuk ( 25 caps ) had played for both Dinamo-BGU and FK Minsk and scored 35 times for FK Minsk last season but was now in Portugal with Guimares, whilst forward Elizaveta Sergeychik ( 4 caps ) was with Russian side Zvezda having started out at Neman Grodno.

Armenia National Side

Armenia were 150^th in the FIFA rankings, with the only European nations below them being Andorra, Gibraltar and Liechtenstein. This represented the lowest they had ever been in the rankings, with their highest position being 83^rd in 2003.

In the 2025 UEFA Nations League Tournament, Armenia achieved their highest ever victory in their history with a 6-1 home win over Liechtenstein, and a 2-0 home win was also record over Kazakhstan. However, there were two losses to Luxembourg ( H 1-3, A 0-2 ), a 2-3 defeat in Kazakhstan and a 2-2 draw in Liechtenstein, where an 89^th minute equaliser prevented an embarrassing defeat.

In 2021, Armenia lost 0-21 to Belgium…….

The side’s nickname is Ararat, after the nearby mountain where Noah came to rest.

Armenian Domestic League

The Armenian Women’s Premier League consists of just four sides, who play each other 6 times for an 18-game season. Pyunik had won the last two titles, and at the time of writing were on course to retain their title, having won all 12 of their games played so far, and were 18 points clear of second placed Urartu.

The First League has 10 sides this season, with Noah currently having an 100% record after 13 matches, but Shirak were only 8 points behind having played one game fewer.

Although Armenia had the lowest UEFA co-efficient of countries that entered the 2025/26 UEFA Women’s Champions League, Pyunik beat Bulgarian side NSA Sofia 1-0 in a game played on neutral territory in North Macedonia, but then were eliminated 4-0 by North Macedonian champions Ljuboten.

Armenia Squad

Details of the Armenian squad were difficult to verify, with many sources on the internet appearing to be out of date, especially with respect to number of caps won and even the players’ current clubs.

Australian born midfielder Claudia Cholakian played for Actonians in the fourth tier in England, and German born captain Maral Artin has played for several sides in Germany and Spain, and now appeared to be with Motril CF in the 5^th tier in Spain.

Several of the squad were playing in Russia, including keeper Alina Poghosyan ( Krylya Sovetov Samara ), centre-backs Svetlana Karagezyan and Liana Ghazaryan and wing-back Oksanna Pizlova ( all Rostov ), and midfielder Anna Dallakyan ( Ryazan ).

Forward Veronika Asatryan had played in Estonia for FC Ararat but was now back in Armenia with Urartu, whilst Canadian born Lara Kazandjian now seemed to be playing in Italy for Serie B side Res Donna Roma. Midfielder Isabella Nersesian was playing in Poland for KKP Warszawa and defender Sophie Harutunian was playing in the USA.

World Cup Qualification

The 2027 Women’s World Cup will be hosted by Brazil and contested by 32 teams. The 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup was the qualification process for Asia, and had already provided 6 direct qualifiers and the two sides to enter the inter-continental play-offs.

The qualification process from UEFA for the 2027 World Cup had only recently started and is extremely complicated. Teams were first allocated based of rankings from the 2025 UEFA Nations League, with the top 16 forming four groups in Group A, the next 16 into four divisions in Group B, with the rest into 6 groups in Group C.

The four Group A winners will qualify directly for the Finals, whilst 32 sides will compete in a series of play-offs to determine the 7 other sides to qualify for the Finals, and one country to enter the Inter-continental play-offs.

Group C will provide 8 countries for the play-offs, the six group winners and the two best runners-up.

Belarus and Armenia had been drawn in a group together with Kazakhstan. Two matches were played last month, with Kazakhstan playing their two home games, beating Armenia 3-0 but falling to a 0-1 defeat to Belarus thanks to a goal from Dinamo-BGU Minsk’s Anna Sinyavskaya 20 minutes from time.

Matchday Information

The match was being played at the 14,303 capacity Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, which is more commonly simply referred to as the Republican Stadium. It is all-seater, has a grass pitch and is home to FC Pyunik and FC Ararat-Armenia, as well as the National teams.

The weather at the 16.00 local time kick-off ( 13.00 UK ) was sunny and 12 degrees.

Armenia made three changes from the side that lost in Kazakhstan, with Poghosyan replacing Sofine Kevorkian in goal. Cholakian and Pyunik striker Tatev Khachatryan replaced Marianna Vardanyan and Isabela Nersesian, who were both amongst the substitutes.

Belarus made just one change from the side that was victorious in Kazakhstan, with Elizaveta Sergeychik replacing Karina Olkhovik up front  

The referee was Sarah Telek from Austria.

The was shown live on the Belarus Football Federation YouTube channel. Bet365, who also live streamed the match had Belarus as 2/25 favourites, with Armenia at 16/1 and the draw at 10/1.

Armenia were playing in an all-red kit with the players’ names written in Roman script rather than Armenian script, whilst Belarus were in all pale green with no names on the back of their shirts.

Match Report

Armenia almost got off to a dream start. The Belarus defence looked uncomfortable in dealing with Artin’s ball into the area from the left, and the ball fell kindly to Khachatryan, whose modest shot struck the arm of Kozyupa. However, the referee deemed the arm to be in a natural position and waved play on.

That was virtually the only time Armenia posed a threat, as they were unable to register a shot on target during the whole game, and Belarus were soon dominating possession.

A minute later, after Pizlova could only partially clear a cross from the left wing, Slesarchik’s shot from the edge of the area went high and wide, and in the 6^th minute Shlapakova ran into the Armenian area but her shot was pushed around the post by the diving Poghosyan for a corner.

After being pinned in their own half for several minutes, Armenia were able to work their way forward and won their first, and only corner of the game in the 10^th minute. However, Artin’s delivery was headed away by Surovtseva.

Slesarchik was released to the right byline, but her cross was headed off for a corner by Karagezyan at the near post.

The Belarus pressure eventually told. After a corner was cleared, Linnik’s square pass invited left-back Zarina Kapustina, who now plays for Dnepr Mogilev, to run at the Armenian defence. After getting past Khachatryan and Dallakyan, Kapustina shot from just inside the angle of the penalty area. Karagezyan stuck out a leg in an effort to block, but only succeeded in deflecting the ball past the wrong-footed keeper. 0-1 after 17 minutes.

Just before Armenia could restart, the referee mysteriously showed a yellow card to Shlapakova, with the Belarus player baffled as to what the offence was. It may have been she had left the field without permission ?

However, Shlapakova shrugged off this set-back and was becoming increasingly influential in driving Belarus forward, and after one flowing move, Sergeychik flashed a ball across the goal-mouth but off for a goal-kick. Shlapakova then managed to get on the end of a cross from Kapustina from close to the corner flag, but the glancing header was well off target.

In the 28^th minute, a short corner was played to Linnik, who crossed to beyond the far post, but Shlapakova’s header was an easy save for Poghosyan.

In a rare foray into the Belarus half, Artin showed good skill to get away from Shlapakova and found Pizlova raiding down the left wing, but the cross was poor and an easy catch for Voskobovich.

Shortly after Armenia attempted to build out from the back from a goal-kick but Ghazaryan’s back pass was under hit, forcing Poghosyan to dive bravely at the feet of Surovtseva.

Sergeychik then made a good run down the left-hand touchline to get to Linnik’s incisive through ball, and passed to the under-lapping Kapustina, whose low cross from byline reached Surovtseva with her back to goal. The Belarus centre-forward turned, but her left footed shot from 6 yards deflected off Karagezyan and bobbled a few inches wide of the far post.

All the play was now in the Armenia half, and Belarus won another corner when a long-range effort from Slesarchik deflected well wide off Ghazaryan. Linnik’s set-piece bounced into the near post side netting.

With half-time approaching Surovtseva ran onto Sinyavskaya’s ball down the right-hand channel and crossed from the right, but brave defending by Harutunian cleared the ball as Sergeychik clattered into her on the 6-yard line. However, Sergeychik came out worst from the collision and had to leave the field on a stretcher to be replaced by Kovaleva.

At the interval, Belarus’ one goal lead didn’t reflect their dominance, but their only goal had been a deflection and they had created very few clear-cut chances.

Armenia nearly shot themselves in the foot almost immediately after the start of the second as the home side tried to pass around the back four but Ghazaryan’s wild clearance went high in the air, but Surovtseva’s first touch let her down, and the chance was gone as Ghazaryan recovered from her mistake.

The game’s slightly controversial moment occurred in the 52^nd minute. Kapustina floated a left footed chip towards the 6-yard line, which was headed away under pressure by Ghazaryan. Belaya was first onto the loose ball, and her first time shot deflected off the keeper to Surovtseva who turned and steered the ball past the three defenders between her and the goal-line. However, the goal was disallowed, although it wasn’t exactly clear why ! It wasn’t offside, so it could have been the referee thought Ghazaryan had been fouled in making the defensive header, but any contact was minimal ? Alternatively, there may have been a handball as Surovtseva controlled the ball ?

It didn’t take long for Belarus to score a second legitimate goal though through a lovely worked move. Kapustina played a ball down the left-hand channel which Kovaleva kept in play with a first time cross towards the penalty spot. The on-rushing Shlapakova reacted the quickest and took one touch before lashing the bouncing ball left-footed past the helpless keeper from 8 yards. 0-2 after 56 minutes.

Armenia’s response saw Khachatryan do well to run down the touch-line to the by-line but her cross was cut-out at the near post.

Belarus substitute Lia Tikhomirova looked to make an early impact following her introduction, but her 20-yard effort flew a few feet over the bar.

Substitute Valyuk then teed up Tikhomirova after receiving a throw-in but the shot was blocked by Asatryan, and Linnik’s follow-up was also blocked. When the loose ball rolled to Kapustina, the shot from her weaker right foot went harmlessly wide.

With 65 minutes on the clock, Tikhomirova did well to win possession and fed Valyuk inside the Armenian area, who beat one defender, but Harutunian averted the danger with a sliding tackle to concede a corner. Three minutes later the lively Tikhomirova played a pass into Valyuk inside the Armenian area, this time on the left-hand side, but after again beating one defender, this time it was Karagezyan was covering to put the ball out for a corner.

In the 73^rd minute Belaya passed to Tikhomirova, who played a give and go with Valyuk, to be clear with only the keeper to beat, but Poghosyan made a good close range save diving to her left, and Ghazaryan hoofed the loose ball to safety.

Belarus wrapped up the game with a third goal, which came from a free-kick mid-way inside the Armenian half. Linnik shaped up to take the free-kick but ran past the ball and the defensive wall and received the pass from Kovaleva, and then squared to Valyuk, who took a touch and then finished from 8 yards. 0-3 with 78 minutes on the clock.

The closing stages of the game mostly fizzled out, although Kovaleva shot over the bar from the edge of the area after a neat passing build up, and there was still time for Pizlova to receive a yellow card after a shirt-pull on Kolaleva, and Poghosyan needed to come smartly off her line to dive on a through ball to deny Kovaleva.

Asatryan collapsed with cramp whilst in possession, leading to the referee stopping play for treatment to be given, but Asatryan had to be replaced.

As the game moved into the 4^th added minute, the hard-working Harutunian went on a strong run towards the byline but was chopped down by Kapustina just before she could get into the Belarus penalty area, and Kapustina became the third player in the game to see yellow.

Artin played the free-kick short to Kazandjian, but her shot was blocked by Dynamo Brest’s Olga Kapysha, and when Armenia reworked possession Ghazaryan’s 40 yard attempt sailed harmlessly high over the bar.

At the final whistle Belarus moved to the top of the group with two wins from two, and a win on Saturday over Kazakhstan, which is being played in Gori in Georgia, would assure Belarus a place in the play-offs. Whilst not mathematically eliminated, Armenia now have little chance now of qualifying.

Highlights :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXbbOjIFe6A

Armenia : Poghosyan – Harutunian, Karagezyan, Ghazaryan, Pizlova – Dallakyan ( Nersesian ), Cholakian ( Martirosyan ), Kazandjian, Asatryan ( Badalyan ) – Khachatryan ( Sayadyan ), Artin

Belarus : Voskobovich – Slesarchik, Kozyupa, Sitnikova, Kapustina – Shlapakova ( Kapysha ), Belaya, Linnik ( Cherlenok ), Sinyavskaya ( Tikhomirova ) – Sergeychik ( Kovaleva ), Surovtseva ( Valyuk )

 

 

Oxford City 2-0 Peterborough Sports ( att : 731 ) - 2025/26 National League North

April 6, 2024

Today’s Easter Monday afternoon entertainment was the crucial National League North relegation battle between Oxford City and Peterborough Sports, whereby 20^th played host to 23^rd.

This was a re-match between the two sides, having met in the FA Trophy in November when two minutes after Oxford City had missed a penalty to take the lead, Peterborough Sports scored a late winner to grab a 2-1 victory in a game watched by Fatbear.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2025/11/oxford-city-1-2-peterborough-sports-att.html 

Oxford City Update

These diaries last featured Oxford City in mid-February when they fell to a limp 0-2 home defeat at the hands of Marine. However, since then they battled to a 0-0 draw at home to mid-table AFC Telford, and then recorded an important 2-1 victory at King’s Lynn.  Another lame 0-2 home defeat followed, this time to Scarborough Athletic, but since then The Hoops were unbeaten in 5 games to move clear of the relegation zone. A 2-2 draw was achieved at Curzon Ashton and Southport were vanquished 3-1 in Lancashire. Chorley ( 2-0 ) and Kidderminster Harriers ( 3-2 ) were beaten at Court Place Farm, then Oxford City came back from Wales on Good Friday with a point after a 1-1 draw at play-off contenders Merthyr Tydfil.

Consequently, Oxford City were now five points clear of the relegation zone with 5 games to play, and 5 or 6 points from their remaining games would probably be enough to avoid the drop. However, they still had to play three of the four sides below them in the table so there was no room for complacency, but today’s game was a huge opportunity to take another step towards safety.

The Hoops had been active in the transfer market. Ex-Oxford United, Bristol Rovers, Bristol City Forest Green Rovers and Cheltenham striker Matty Taylor had signed after taking a job as an academy coach at Oxford United. Taylor had scored nearly 200 goals in just over 600 appearances.

Also joining was 34-year-old striker Ashley Hemmings on loan for the rest of the season from Dagenham & Redbridge. Hemmings had scored 30 goals in NLN last season for Kidderminster Harriers to win the Golden Boot, and according to Wikipedia had scored 141 goals in 575 matches. His former clubs included Wolverhampton Wanderers, Plymouth Argyle, Walsall, Mansfield Town and Boston United, in addition to Kidderminster and Dagenham & Redbridge.

Last week saw the return to Marsh Lane of iconic defender Canice Carroll for his third spell with the club. The Irish centre-back had been a key member of the Hoops side that won promotion to the National League at the end of the 2022/23, and after leaving the club following relegation, he re-joined towards the end of last season to help steer Oxford City away from relegation. Having left again in the summer to join Chippenham Town, Carroll had returned to again help avoid relegation from National League North.

On the debit side, striker Callum McFarlane had been recalled by his parent club, having been on loan from Solihull Moors.

Previous Meetings

As mentioned above, Peterborough Sports won the meeting in the FA Trophy, but the league game at Sport’s Lincoln Road in December was a drab 0-0 draw.

Peterborough Sports did the double over Oxford City last season, winning 2-1 at home and 3-1 at Court Place Farm so The Hoops were yet to beat Sports in the league, but had won an earlier FA Trophy tie, when they won 2-0 in February 2021.

Peterborough Sports Update

Peterborough Sports arrived today second from bottom with a 10-8-24 record and were 8 points adrift of Oxford City having played one game more. Away from home they were 4-2-14. Realistically, Sports needed to win all four of the final games, and then hope 50 points would be enough. They also had a much inferior goal difference to the sides they needed to climb above in the table.

The chances of Sports going on such a winning run looked bleak as they had only won one of the last 14 games, 2-0 at fellow strugglers Alfreton, with 9 defeats and 4 draws. However, clutching at straws, they did have a 2-2 home draw with Kings Lynn on Good Friday.

In between beating Oxford City in the FA Trophy and the start of this disastrous run from the beginning of February, Sports had won 5 and drawn 2 of their 12 league matches and had peaked at 17^th in the table. A 0-5 defeat had been suffered in the FA Trophy at National League Scunthorpe United.

Recent signings since the FA Trophy game included ex-Wycombe Wanderers centre-back Anthony Stewart, who featured in these diaries’ first ever report in January 2020 ! Centre-back Ian Kamga was on loan from Watford.

In early March, ex-Hull City manager Phil Brown moved up to become Director of Football, and after being sacked as joint manager in September, former player Colin Gash returned as head coach.

Midfielder Luca Miller was the top scorer with 13 goals, followed by midfielder Max Booth with 7 goals.

Matchday Information

According to AA Route Planner, the journey from Peterborough to Oxford is 88 miles down the A45 and M40 and should normally take around 2 hours. Around 20 Turbine fans gathered behind the goal their side was attacking during the second half, with a handful more dotted around the ground.

Tickets for today’s match were £13 online or £16 at the gate. There were a whole range of reductions depending on ages, from seniors to children.

An online programme was available and a cup of tea cost £2.50.

The weather at the 15.00 kick-off was sunny and 14 degrees.

Bet365 made Oxford City 4/5 favourites, with Peterborough Sports at 27/10 and the draw at 5/2.

The Turbines made just one changes from the side that drew with King’s Lynn with the return of veteran striker and captain Mark Jones replacing Shaq Coulthirst.

Oxford City made three changes to the side that drew at Merthyr with Zac McEachran, DJ Sturridge and Ewan Clark coming into the side with Tom Scott, Jack Bearne and Josh Parker dropping to the bench.

Sports were playing in their usual kit of orange shirts, with black shorts and socks whilst Oxford City were in their usual blue and white hoops.

Match Report :

Peterborough Sports kicked off towards the Clubhouse End, sending the ball into touch for what would have been a 22-metre line-out in Rugby Union.

The early stages were quiet, with Hemmings and O’Shea Ellis showing nice touches for Oxford City whilst Sam McLintock was impressively spraying cross-field passes for Sports.

Miller hit the deck far too easily whilst running towards the home area and the referee waved away appeals for a free-kick and gave a goal-kick to Oxford City.

Oxford City won the first corner of the match in the 5^th minute after Sturridge had a shot blocked and the loose ball was scrambled to safety. Centre-back Aaron Harper-Bailey rose the highest but his header went a few feet wide, although the Sports defender on the back post had it covered.

It was then Clark’s turn to go down too easily following a challenge by Stewart after inter-changing passes with McEachran to run down the left-wing.

The first effort on goal arrived in the 14^th minute, but Josh Ashby’s lofted 20 yarder was a routine catch to his left for Sports keeper Peter Crook.

Oxford City then enjoyed a spell of possession without putting the visitors under any pressure, although a through pass from McEachran needed a timely interception from right-back Marcel Oakley to prevent Sturridge going clear.

In the 19^th minute Peterborough Sports looked threatening for the first time as Booth skipped past Byron Wilson on the left and his pass reached Dan Jarvis just inside the penalty area, but the midfielder was crowded out by the City defence. Sports recycled possession and McLintock threaded a ball between the Oxford City right-back and centre-back, but the marauding left-back Connor Wood saw his low ball cut-out. Wood was played in again but this time his cross was headed clear.

The influential Hemmings released Sturridge to the byline, but the cross was headed high in the air by Kamga, and Ashby fouled Stewart in his effort to get to the bouncing ball.

With 25 minutes played, McLintock tried his luck from long range but his shot bounced through to Oxford City keeper Max Metcalfe, who made a comfortable save.

A couple of flowing moves from the home side were ended by the linesman’s raised flag for offside, before Sports created the best chance of the game so far in the 30^th minute. A low 20-yard shot from Jones looked to be creeping into the keeper’s bottom left hand corner, but Metcalfe dived to push the ball away. Kaine Felix pounced onto the loose ball, but Metcalfe was able to recover and block his effort from a tight angle at the expense of a corner.

The game’s comedy moment came a couple of minutes later as Hemmings and McEachran combined to play in Wilson near to the Sports corner flag, but The Hoops full-back was bundled over. Thinking he had won a free-kick, Wilson put his hands on the ball, only for the referee to award the free-kick to the visitors for hand-ball !

Sturridge took a knock to his ankle and was unable to continue, so Oxford City were forced into making an early change, with Parker coming on as his replacement.

A piece of head tennis ensued around the Oxford City area until Wilson was fouled in the act of escorting the ball off the pitch for a goal-kick.

Peterborough Sports then had a spell of possession, passing the ball around nicely until Booth had a cross blocked by Wilson, shortly after which Miller fell to the floor in search of a free-kick on the edge of the Oxford City, with the referee again unimpressed.

Oxford City’s best chance to-date came on the stroke of half-time as after Kamga clearly poorly, Hemmings played an inviting ball into the danger zone for Clark to slide in, but the ball went just wide. The home side appealed for a corner but goal-kick was the decision.

The game was still goal-less at the interval, which seemed to be a fair reflection. Both sides had played some pretty football at times, but there had been little goal-mouth action. Oxford City had enjoyed more of the possession, but The Turbines had created the best chance of the game.

The half-time announcements and music over the tannoy were far too loud, making it virtually impossible to make a phone call. Clearly, the time to do this is during the football !

The Hoops make a strange substitution at the start of the second half, as substitute Parker was replaced by Taylor. The veteran Antiguan had been on the pitch for just over 10 minutes, but had apparently picked up an injury just before the half-time whistle.

Taylor was immediately in the action, running on to a ball down the right-hand channel and winning a corner. After the set-piece was cleared, keeper Crook dived bravely to save at the feet of Taylor after Harper-Bailey had headed the ball back into the 6-yard box.

Ten minutes into the second period Clark’s cross intended for Taylor was headed away by Jarvis. City reworked possession for McEachran to lift the ball over the square Sports backline to Ashby, but the volley was mis-hit and was put off for a corner before it could fall to Hemmings.

Ellis was shown a yellow card for a hefty challenge on Miller and five minutes later again brought down Miller. It could have been a second yellow for the Oxford City midfielder, but the referee kept his cards in his pocket, and instead just had a word with the on-loan Birmingham City player.

In between, Miller had teed up Jarvis, who could only weakly put the ball over the bar from the edge of the Oxford City 18-yard line. A minute later McEachran had a shot from just outside the Sports penalty area heading towards the far corner blocked, which came after a flowing move involving Humphries, McEachran, Taylor and McEachran again had needed a return pass to be put out for a corner by Stewart.

The game was now going end to end as both sides searched for the opening goal, and after McLintock crossed to beyond the far post, Miller won a corner off Wilson. The corner was drilled low towards the near post but was cleared, and when Sports regained possession, McLintock’s 20-yard attempt deflected high over the bar for another corner.

The set-piece was cleared and Sports carelessly gave away possession mid-way inside the Oxford City half. Ellis quickly played for Clark to run down the left-wing, and his cross was pin-point perfect to find Taylor, who had escaped behind his marker, to volley from 10 yards into the bottom corner. It was a glorious finish not really in keeping with what had gone before, but it was now 1-0 after 64 minutes.

Peterborough nearly had a sniff of a chance immediately after the restart as the under-pressure Carroll under-hit a back pass, but Metcalfe came out of his area to hoof off for a throw before Felix could take advantage.

Taylor seemed to be determined to make his mark on the game, flattening keeper Crook in an effort to reach a high cross from Wilson. McEachran then wastefully shot high over the bar from an acute angle when a cross looked to be the better option.

Taylor showed good control to lay off a hoof from Carroll to Clark, who swopped passed with McEachran, but then went down easily again and failed to fool the referee.

The visitors appeared to be running out of ideas on how to get back in to game, and cross from Booth was meat and drink for Metcalfe to catch.

The inter-play between Clark and Taylor continued to catch the eye and after Taylor had played in Clark inside the Sports area, he received the return pass after the midfielder had run into a dead end, and a low left-footed shot from the edge of the area went inches wide.

With 12 minutes remaining, Ellis passed to Taylor just inside the Peterborough area, and a clever back-heel gave Ellis the opportunity to run on to the ball, but good defending by Stewart ended the danger.

Oakley complained after not being awarded a free-kick and stopped playing. The Hoops quickly took the throw-in and launched the ball forward for Clark to run into the gap vacated by Oakley. McLintock, covering back, chopped down Clark near the corner flag to allow his side to regroup. Ashby’s free-kick was dropped by Crook but Sports partially cleared as far as Clark on the edge of the area, but his drive was blocked.

With 8 minutes remaining, Sports made a last roll of the dice with a triple substitution, although it didn’t appear to have any impact as Oxford City dominated the closing stages. City appealed for handball when Clark’s cross struck a Sports defender, but play continued.

As the game moved into added time, Taylor lobbed a ball forward from the half-way line. Crook came outside of his area to play the ball, but Bearne got their first and nicked the ball past the stranded keeper, and then squared from close to the byline across the goal-mouth. The only player in the Sports penalty area was Clark who tapped into the empty net. 2-0 with 92 minutes played.

With results elsewhere, the final whistle signalled relegation for Peterborough Sports, whilst Oxford City moved up to 19^th and extended their unbeaten run to 6 games. However, they are not safe yet, and have another relegation 6 pointer next Saturday at 21^st placed Alfreton Town.

Highlights :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fItWdRMBEY

Oxford City : Metcalfe – Wilson, Carroll, Harper-Bailey, Humphries – Hemmings ( Bearne ), Ashby, Ellis, McEachran ( Scott ), Clark – Sturridge ( Parker, Taylor )

Peterborough Sports : Crook – Oakley, Stewart, Kamga, Wood ( Powell ) – Felix ( Cadogan ), McLintock ( Coulthirst ), Miller, Jarvis ( Whitehouse ), Booth – Jones ( Beresford )

 

 

 

 

Chinnor 42-12 Cambridge ( att : 1,673 ) - 2025/26 English Champ

April 3, 2026

After these diaries covered Chinnor’s 48-36 victory over Caldy two weeks ago, they followed that up with a hard fought 26-19 win at Nottingham in poor conditions, although on the balance of play Chinnor probably should have won by a greater margin. However, the win took Chinnor up to 5^th in the Champ table, and today they entertained winless Cambridge, looking for a 5-point victory to further consolidate their position in the play-offs.

In the meantime, Chinnor had announced plans to achieve planning permission for the installation of  a 5,000 capacity stand in readiness for the 2027/28 season.

 

Previous Meetings

With the exclusion of both Cambridge and Chinnor from last season’s Premiership Cup, the two sides agreed to play their own Cup competition, the Not The Prem Cup, with Chinnor emerging victorious in both matches, with a 33-24 win at home and a 33-31 success in the return in March to take the Trophy.

Chinnor also did the double over the Blood and Sand in their first season in the Rugby Championship, winning 57-24 on the opening day of the season at Cambridge, and 82-34 at home in the final game of the season.

However, Fatbear witnessed a 19-17 victory for Cambridge in March 2023, on their way to promotion to the Championship.

Prior to that, matches between these two sides at Kingsey Road had historically been extremely close. In the 5 previous encounters, Chinnor had won three and lost twice, with four of the games being decided by 4 points or fewer, with Chinnor’s 34-22 win in November 2019 being the outlier. These diaries also covered a 32-30 victory for Cambridge in November 2021, although a late converted try made the score look closer than it should have been.

Cambridge This Season

Cambridge finished bottom of the Championship last season with just three victories, and the club had a massive clear out of their squad, with over 20 players leaving, including Sam Hanks who was now with Chinnor.

However, the wholesale changes had led to even worse results, as Cambridge came to Kingsey Road today already relegated, with an 0-1-20 record. The only time they had avoided defeat was a 12-12 home draw with Doncaster Knights, and they had only achieved 4 losing bonus points, going down 32-36 and 17-21 to Nottingham, 28-29 at Bedford Blues, and 24-26 at home to Caldy. Six four try bonus points had also been registered.

Cambridge’s average home attendance so far this season was 1,206, with 1,438 seeing the Christmas fixture with Coventry. Last season their average was 1,364.

Cambridge Squad

Ex-Nottingham fly-half Jamie Annand was the leading points scorer with 39 points whilst ex-Loughborough University and former England Under 20 back-row forward Dan Eckersley had scored 5 tries.

Amongst their many new recruits were New Zealand centre Levi Reweti, hooker Dylan Irvine from Cornish Pirates, ex-Bristol and Ampthill Welsh back-row forward Arthur Thomas, ex-Ealing Trailfinders South African full-back Ben Currie, and Samoan prop Paul Masoe.

Centre Jasper Sorrell had played in the Championship for Ealing and Ampthill, hooker Jack Doorey-Palmer was ex-Harlequins and was one of their many loanees to London Scottish last season.

Irish lock Jacob McCay joined having played in Spain last year and prop Billy Walker joined from Nottingham, having previously played for Saracens, Ampthill, Bedford, Old Albanians and Bishop’s Stortford. Centre Epi Rokodrava joined from Ealing Trailfinders, having appeared 11 times for Chinnor on loan last season but was missing today.

Matchday Information

According to AA route planner, the journey from Cambridge to Thame is 79 miles and should normally take around an hour and fifty minutes.

Adult tickets purchased online were £16 and £20 at the gate and the £5 charge to sit in the stand appeared to have been waived for today. An online programme had been prepared in advance of today’s game.

There were dark clouds overhead at the unusual 17.00 kick-off time but the forecasted light rain fortunately stayed away during the game. There was a strong breeze, with gusts of up to 20 mph expected and the temperature was a chilly 11 degrees.

Cambridge announced five changes to their starting XV that lost to Bedford. Jake Ellwood, who made 9 appearances for Chinnor on loan from Ealing Trailfinders in 2018/19 was back at prop, Gareth Baker and Northampton loanee Jack Lawrence were the locks, South African Rhys Fulford came into the back row, and Ethan Thorne was on the wing, replacing Ksenia Izu who was on England Under 19 duty. Four of their squad today played at Chinnor last season, captain Ben Adams, winger Elias Cavan, Ellwood and Baker.

Chinnor made nine changes to their side that won at Nottingham, with only back-row forwards Scott Hall and Will Cave, lock Jamie Campbell, fly-half Nathan Chamberlain, centre Tom Watson and wing Grant Hughes retaining their places.

Cambridge were in a change kit of blue shirts with black shirts and socks, whilst Chinnor were in their usual black and white hoops with black shorts and socks.

Match Report

Chinnor kicked off into the strong wind and in what was to become the pattern for the first-half, Cambridge would launch a high kick only for Chinnor to return in a similar manner. Most of the time Chinnor looked secure under the aerial bombardment whereas Cambridge often struggled to deal with the kicks in their direction.

At the kick-off Cambridge scrum-half Ollie Allen’s return kick was well caught by Chinnor full-back Joe Brock who made yards down the touchline, but after a ruck was formed when Brock was tackled, Chinnor scrum-half Callum Pascoe’s box kick was caught by Allen, and the return kick was claimed by Scott Hall. However, Chinnor were judged to be offside when Pascoe kicked again, and Annand kicked the visitors to within 15 metres of the Chinnor line.

The Cambridge throw went too long, and Chinnor hooker Alun Walker caught the ball and fed Pascoe, who made a half-break but was illegally halted. Chamberlain’s kick was taken in the wind and barely crossed the half-way line. Jamie Campbell won the line-out for Chinnor but when they went down the blind-side, Freddie Owsley was tackled into touch after gaining 15 metres.

Cambridge threw low to the front of the line-out for Rhys Fulford to catch, but a period of kick tennis followed, until Owsley again made yards down the touchline and passed to Pascoe, who entered the Cambridge 22, but the visitors won turnover ball only to kick poorly back to Owsley who made another strong run. Centre James Bourton made a further break only to be tackled just short of the tryline, but Will Cave was in support, caught the offload, and dived over under the post. Chamberlain added the extras to take the score to 7-0 with 7 minutes played.

The restart was caught in the wind and sailed dead to give Chinnor a scrum on the half-way line. Chinnor moved the ball wide from the scrum but Brock knocked on and Cambridge kicked high again, and this time gathered the loose bouncing ball, but kicked again, only for Chinnor to gather and clear to mid-way inside their half.  

For the second time in the match, Cambridge threw too long and Walker caught for Chinnor, who moved the ball wide to the left for Owsley to again cross the gain line and feed Brock, who was tackled. Cambridge won possession and kicked again, only for the ball to go into the in-goal zone where Chinnor winger Grant Hughes touched down for a goal-line drop-out.

Cambridge won a penalty at a ruck, which was kicked to 8 metres from the Chinnor try-line. Although Campbell stole the Cambridge throw, Chinnor knocked on to give Cambridge a scrum 5 metres from the try-line. Allan’s pass from the scrum was taken by centre Sorrell in what appeared to be a planned move, who forced his way over the line. Annand was successful from the tee to level the scores at 7-7 after 17 minutes.

Cambridge kicked back the restart to Owsley, who set off on a mazy run across the pitch without making much progress, and the Chinnor pack transgressed at a ruck close to half-way. However, the kicking from Cambridge again lacked accuracy and went dead, to give Chinnor a scrum near the half-way line.

Chinnor attempted to move along the backs but Brock’s attempted off-load in the tackle went into touch for line-out for Cambridge on their 10-metre line. The ball was knocked forward by Cambridge at their throw and Pascoe took the catch. Chinnor spread the ball with Owsley getting into the visitors’ 22 before being tackled into touch.

Cambridge won their line-out and after a bit of a fumble, the clearing kick touched a Chinnor hand attempting the charge-down and went off for a Cambridge line close to half-way. Allan kicked again from the line-out and Owsley called for the mark, and kicked to touch on the Chinnor 10 metre line.

The Cambridge throw went to the front of the line-out but the referee saw something he didn’t like and awarded a free-kick to Chinnor. The kick was sent into the heavens and swirled in the wind and Cambridge failed to deal with it. Cave gathered and charged through a gap but a tap tackle stopped the try. However, Cave was able to get to his feet and dived over the line close to the posts for his second try, and Chamberlain added the straight forward conversion. The score was now 14-7 after 26 minutes.

Cambridge had a scrum after a Chinnor hand pushed a line-out throw forward, from which Sorrell did excellently to catch a poor pass from Allen, and Chinnor were drawn into conceding another penalty, which Annand kicked to 5 metres. Baker claimed the line-out but the rolling maul was stopped short of the tryline. However, hooker Doorey-Palmer was able to burrow his way over the whitewash. Annand had to replace the ball back on to the tee after it was blown away in the wind, but he could only kick well wide. It was now 14-12 with 32 minutes played.  

Chinnor’s restart drifted with the wind straight out on the full, and Cambridge kicked from their scrum only for Chamberlain to make an outstanding catch as the ball appeared to be sailing away from him. Chinnor kicked the ball back, and yet again Allen failed to judge the wind correctly with another kick going dead to give Chinnor a scrum on the Cambridge 10 metre line.

The home side were awarded a penalty at the scrum which was kicked to 15 metres. Campbell won the lineout and the rolling maul rumbled towards the line only to be illegally stopped, and Chinnor kicked the penalty to 5 metres. The line-out was messy but Chinnor gathered and made several drives for the line which were repelled until another penalty was yielded.

Chinnor opted to take a tap penalty but were held up over the line to give a goal-line drop out to Cambridge. Hall took the catch and charged back into the Cambridge half but the maul was held up to give Cambridge a scrum, at which they won a penalty to take play to the Chinnor 10 metre line.

Campbell tapped the Cambridge throw back to Walker, who kicked the ball out of play to end the half. Chinnor held a 2 point lead at the interval, and with the elements in the favour would have expected to go on to win the match.

To illustrate the difference in the quality of the two sides’ kicking, shortly after the start of the second period, Pascoe’s kick with the wind stopped just short of the corner flag, forcing Currie to pick up and play, and substitute Joe Green’s attempted return pass went directly in to touch.

Chinnor had a line-out 8 metres from the line and after Hall made the catch, and the Cambridge defence was powerless to stop the rolling maul from marching over the line. Walker emerged with the ball and Chamberlain kicked the conversion. 21-12 after 42 minutes.

Quickly after the restart Chinnor won a penalty at a ruck on their 10-metre line, and an excellent kick took them back to 5 metres from the line. Dan Cooke won the line-out and for the second time in two minutes the Chinnor rolling maul rumbled over the line, and Walker had his second try. Chamberlain’s conversion struck the post and went over the bar. It was now 28-12 after 44 minutes.

Chinnor were now dominating and Walker was bundled into touch just inside the Cambridge 22. Cambridge kicked after winning their line-out and Chinnor were caught off-side after the ball was tapped back. Cambridge took play to the Chinnor 10 metre line but when they tried to move the ball along their backs, Chinnor forced a penalty at a ruck, which Chamberlain superbly kicked to 5 metres.

Willie Ryan won the line-out for Chinnor, but the Cambridge forwards won a turnover, and their backs attempted to move the ball from behind their own line but were forced back. The attempted clearing kick was partially charged down but Eckersley was able to pick up and together with Green, took play up to their 10-metre line and Cambridge were awarded a scrum.

The Cambridge scrum appeared to be in difficulty but replacement scrum-half Ruaridh Dawson was able to pick up and run, but then undid the good work with a dreadfully wild kick straight into touch.

Chinnor had a line-out on the Cambridge 10 metre line and with all the players in the line-out standing still, Walker threw the ball to Campbell ,who passed back to his scrum-half. To the bemusement of the Chinnor players and most of the crowd, the referee awarded a free-kick to Cambridge.

Cambridge took a tap but were halted on half-way, and Chinnor had the put-in at the scrum. However, Cambridge won another scrum penalty and were back inside the Chinnor half. Baker won their line-out ball and the Blood and Sand launched several attacks but the Chinnor defence was good, until a loose Cambridge pass bounced into touch.

Cooke won the line-out for Chinnor just outside their 22 and Pascoe kicked, but Currie made a good catch. Cambridge moved the ball across the field but without any penetration, and Chinnor won turnover ball and kicked again, where this time Tonga international Otumaka Mausia ( 12 caps ) took a good catch. However, Chinnor won a penalty at the ruck, and kicked to about 8 metres.

Hall won the line-out but the ball slipped out of his hands, so it was a scrum to Cambridge for a knock-on. For the second time in the match the Cambridge scrum looked under pressure but Dawson managed to make a clearing kick, but only as far as Owsley, who made a jinking run deep into the Cambridge 22.  The ball went loose and Cambridge were deemed to have knocked on to give Chinnor a scrum 10 yards out.

The scrum collapsed and Chinnor were awarded a penalty, for which they decided to scrum again rather than go for the corner. Bourton broke through a couple of tackles but was brought down short of the line. With the Cambridge defence scrambling to prepare for the anticipated forward drives, Pascoe looked up and sent a long pass to Owsley in oceans of space near the touchline, and the Chinnor winger sauntered over the line. Chamberlain added a great conversion from out wide with the wide, taking the score to 35-12 with 67 minutes on the clock.  

Cambridge now enjoyed their best spell of the game. Mausia made a good run after a Cambridge scrum but despite a fumble in midfield, Cambridge won the put in at the scrum just outside the Chinnor 22. Cambridge again tried to run, but Mausia was flattened by a robust tackle. Cambridge attempted multiple attacks but the Chinnor defence was good.

From another Cambridge scrum near the Chinnor 22, the visitors went down the blindside but Green was tackled into touch. Baker stole the Chinnor throw, and more waves of attacks were launched, and Chinnor eventually conceded a penalty. Cambridge decided to take a tap 5 metres out but the drive was held up over the line.

Cambridge ran the goal-line drop-out back into the Chinnor half but were pinged at a ruck, and Chinnor kicked into the Cambridge 22. After securing line-out ball Owsley chipped over the flat Cambridge defence but Dawson was first to the ball and touched down in goal to concede a 5-metre scrum for Chinnor.

Chinnor drove for the line and Ryan was stopped short, but substitute prop Ramaz Rukhadze picked up barged over for Chinnor’s 6^th try. Chamberlain maintained his 100% record from the tee so Chinnor extended their lead to 42-12 with 79 minutes played.

The final moments of the game were scrappy as Chinnor threw a loose pass in to touch, the Cambridge line-out wasn’t straight, then Chinnor won a scrum penalty. When Chinnor tried to go wide from the scrum, Currie attempted to make an interception but was unable to hold onto to the ball, and the referee blew for the knock-on and to end the game.

With the 5 point victory, Chinnor consolidated their place as 5^th in the table.