Cropredy Devs 5-3 Bicester Town Colts

With their opening game a couple of weeks prior called off at Chalgrove, due to an unplayable pitch, and a cancelled round of fixtures due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, Cropredy Devs got their season kicked off, as they welcomed Bicester Town Colts to Williamscot Road. The Cropredy pitch in impeccable condition, thanks to some great work by the committee.
Bicester came into this one in a buoyant mood, having won their opening game against Easington Sports Clan, as they look for improvement on a disappointing finish in last seasons Division One. Crop also came into it full of confidence, finishing pre season with some encouraging wins, and looking to cement their place at this level after winning Division Two last season.

Team News
Manager Kieran Reading handed Cropredy debuts to teenagers Jamie Oxley and Charlie MacDonald after impressing in pre season. Regular first team players from last season, Tony Truman and Matt Allum also came in the side, which was mostly filled with players who were part of last season’s success. Michael Zinn came in on the bench, having recently returned to the club, signing from Hardwick.

First half
The game started with both sides looking to get the ball forward with pace, and it was Crop who should have taken an early lead. On 8 minutes, a Cropredy corner was turned goal wards and handled on the goal line, resulting in the referee pointing to the spot. Surprisingly the defender wasn’t shown a red card. Kyran Beales stepped up but his effort was well saved by away stopper Freeman.

This burst Bicester into life, and they took the lead 3 minutes later. The ball was cleared long from a Crop throw in, and striker Patrick caused havoc, holding off Woodcock and MacDonald in the centre of the pitch, before feeding the ball through to winger Nick Christodoulou, who was through on goal, and showed good composure to slot past Sam Roberts. 0-1.

Cropredy hit back on 19 minutes. A Butterworth clearance found Kyran Beales who was able to bring it down a feed a ball through the two centre halves towards Robertson. The skipper was able to stop the ball and bring it back onto his right foot, fooling the defender, before firing past the ‘keeper to level the scores. 1-1.

Crop continued to struggle defensively, and allowed Bicester to retake the lead. Harvey’s clearance was quickly recycled, and Patrick got to the ball in the area before ‘keeper Roberts, and was then able to get his head up and float the ball up to the back post where Christodoulou nodded home for his second.

The home side then gave away a cheap penalty. Oxley gave the ball away in midfield, and a long ball wasn’t dealt with by Woodcock, allowing Patrick to get goal side, and as he bared down on goal, Woodcock bought him down, resulting in a spot kick. Patrick took it himself, but Roberts got down well to keep the ball out and give Crop hope.

Despite this, Cropredy then conceded again after 35 minutes. Once again they faltered defensively, and got caught wrong side from a flicked through ball, which allowed Nick Christodoulou to once again find himself bearing down on goal, and he finished well to secure his hattrick and put his side three-one up!

Callum Moon began to come into the game as he was moved out to the right, and his effort from the edge of the area after a driving run past two defenders, could only sting the hand of the goalkeeper. Kyran Beales then had a goal ruled out for offside after he latched onto a pass, with the footage back clearly showing he was well onside when the ball was played.

Possibly the turning point of the game came right on the half time whistle. Truman’s long ball down the right channel found Moon, who was able to hold off the attention of two defenders before squaring the ball across the area. The defender done well to initially block Robertson’s effort, but he managed to regather and fire home from close range, meaning the score was 2-3 going into the break.

Half Time – Cropredy Devs 2-3 Bicester Town Colts

Bicester tried to unsettle Crop by taking their full 15 minute allowance and heading into the changing room at the break, but Cropredy were clear in what they needed to do to turn the game around, and knew their chances would come.

Cropredy managed to level the game within 5 minutes of the restart as Robertson secured his hattrick. Crop won the ball back from a Bicester set piece, and Harvey played a dangerous ball in behind the defence. The centre and ‘keeper got in a mix up, both waiting for the other to deal with the ball, allowing Robertson to nip in, knock it around the goalkeeper and fire home to level the scores.

This sparked an eventful 9 minutes, as Bicester pushed forward to try and retake the lead. Roberts was on hand twice making smart saves, once getting down low to stock a close range effort, and pushing a long range one around the post. Josh Patrick also spurred two good efforts wide, leaving the away side frustrated.

Cropredy managed to get through the tough period, and then took the lead for the first time in the game. Butterworth’s through ball in behind caused mayhem again, and Beales shrugged off the defender to get goal side and slot past the keeper to spark celebrations. Bicester livid with the ref, who felt Beales had nudged the defender in the back as he went through, but the goal stood. 4-3 on 59 minutes.

One of Bicester’s midfielders suffered a nasty looking shoulder injury during this period, and we wish him well in his recovery and he left the field. Cropredy then made changes and Liverpool was introduced to bring some fresh legs and experience in midfield, replacing Oxley, and Michael Zinn bought on up top for Beales. The game began to get a little more scrappy with both sides limited to half chances.

Connor Kelly then introduced, for MacDonald, and he was involved in the next goal. His long throw down the left, was poorly dealt with by the defender, who left his goalkeeper stranded with an under hit back pass. Robertson nipped in to steal the ball, round the ‘keeper and fire home his fourth of the game. A great goalscoring start to the season for the new Cropredy skipper.

Bicester kept on pushing forward to try and get back into the game, but the home stopper Sam Roberts was determined to not concede any further goals. He produced arguably the save of the game, as a 30 yard goal bound effort flicked off the head of Woodcock, then took a wicked bounce, but Roberts sprung across his goal to tip it onto the post and behind for a corner.

Cropredy saw out the remainder of the game, which included around 10 minutes added time from the referee, and we’re jubilant to hear the final whistle. The game ended on a sour note for Bicester as goalkeeper Freeman was shown a straight red by the referee after the final whistle for abusive language towards him.

Full Time – Cropredy Devs 5-3 Bicester Town Colts

Cropredy delighted to pick up 3 points from their first game, especially considering the performance was below par, and nowhere near what they’re capable of. Hopefully they can iron out the defensive mistakes and will go into their next game, a local derby away at Adderbury Park Devs next week.
Good luck to Bicester for the rest of the season, and we look forward to another battle with them down at their place later in the season.

Man of the Match – Luke Butterworth
Buterworth put in arguably his best performance in a Cropredy shirt, breaking up play, and being tidy in possession in the middle of the park. He picked up a customary booking but did get an assist for the wining goal for Kyran Beales.
Shoutouts also to Charlie MacDonald who had a solid debut at full back, and to Sam Roberts in goal who was a calming presence in between the sticks.