Football: Brackley bag win at Oxford
Brackley Town's season got off the mark with a fine Bank Holiday Monday 2-0 win at Oxford City following a 0-0 home draw against Stourbridge last Saturday.
Boss Jon Brady was happy with the haul of four points in the two Zamaretto League Premier Division contests, saying his side were now starting to fire.
Against Oxford, first half goals from Kwesi Appia and Owen Story settled the game as Brackley took full control.
Fielding the familiar faces of numerous former Brackley players including Elliott Sandy, Craig McIlwain, Dave Savage and goalkeeper Richard Knight, City fell behind on 14 minutes as Blackwood's chip found Appia who controlled the ball before beating a defender and finishing coolly past Knight's despairing left hand.
Further openings fell to the visitors as on 20 minutes when central defender Tom Kemp, making his first full start for Brackley following his pre-season move from Worcester City, found time and space at a corner to fire in a shot that was beaten away.
On 40 minutes the lead was doubled as Knight's skewed clearance was headed on by Tom Winters into the path of Francis Green, who came out on top after a fierce covering tackle from right back Clarke, drove on into the penalty area, drew the goalkeeper and crossed for the advancing Owen Story to plant the ball into an open goal.
As the final whistle approached Brackley had their best chances to extend the lead but in added time substitute Jamie Gould's shot was saved after fine work by Story and on the whistle a mazy run from the doughty Carl Palmer set up Green in front of goal but his fierce drive hit the underside of the crossbar and was cleared.
In tribute to an impressive team performance any number of players would be worthy of the man of the match accolade with forwards Francis Green and Kwesi Appia, and central defenders Chris Willmott and Tom Kemp leading contenders.
Brackley Town: Acton, Magunda, Blackwood, Palmer, Willmott, Kemp (Clifton 90), Story, Challinor, F Green, Appia, Winters (Gould 78). Subs unused: Dorrill, Collins, Bignot.
Oxford City: Knight, Clarke, Kinch, Savage, McIlwain, Hector, Janes, Malone, Holman, Sandy (Faulkner 64), Harding. Subs unused: Davis, Barcelos, Beechers, Ashton.
Against Stourbridge at St James Park Brackley played well but couldn't break down their defence with their keeper playing impressively.
However Brackley will take encouragement from their Oxford victory into Saturday's game at home to newly promoted Windsor and Eton, kick-off 3pm.
Saints then travel to Woodford for a Northants Senior Cup tie next Tuesday, kick-off 7.30pm. This game should see the return of several players from injury including striker Steve Basham,who has recovered from rib and chest injuries, Barry Quinn and Jason Bradley.
But defender Josh Green is a doubt for Saturday's contest against Windsor after picking up an ankle injury.
Jon Brady said: "We fully deserved the win against Oxford City and against Stourbridge we were kept out by the heroics of their keeper.
"All the team played well against City. We created plenty of chances and our goals were well taken.We can kick on from here and win more games.
"The players are upbeat after going through a frustrating period where we were creating goalscoring opportunities but weren't finding the back of the net."
He said Tom Kemp came in and had a good game for Saints against Oxford but will be on the sidelines for a spell as he undergoes a hernia operation on September 14.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Buckingham
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North west
