Ardley United Reserves 0 v Rayners Lane Reserves 2

Ardley succumbed to their first defeat of the season, against Rayners Lane in the Chairman’s Reserve Challenge Cup, in a tight contest on Saturday.

Both sides enjoyed spells of possession and created chances but it was Rayners Lane who had the clinical edge and enjoyed a certain level of fortuitous luck.

Mark Wickens went close with a delightful volley but saw his effort cleared off the line. Ardley, with the advantage of the slope, pushed hard for the opening goal but Rayners Lane counter attacked with power and pace. One such counter-attack caught Ardley light at the back and C. Arens capitalised by sending Rayners Lane 1-0 up.

The whistle for the end of the half came shortly after and both sets of players traipsed off knowing that they were in a full blooded encounter.

Ardley came out in the second half looking lively and eager to reduce the deficit. To this end, the Ardley back four, under the command of the towering presence of Ryan Bush, limited Rayners Lane to just a couple of efforts.

With the defence solid, Ardley pushed forward trying to grab the equaliser. Jason Prpa thought he had done enough when his looping effort from the edge of the box was just tipped over the bar. Ricky Bridges also made the Rayners Lane keeper produce another good save to deny Ardley.

However, despite the good work from Ardley, a long clearance found J.Shepherd, who instinctively struck the ball from all of thirty yards and saw the ball sail over Ryan Watts to the dismay of the Ardley side.

Ardley continued to push for the final ten minutes and despite a series of corners, Rayners Lane remained defiant.

Despite losing 2-0 to a good Rayners Lane side, they can be pleased with the effort and the style in which they played.

A tough combative game saw the points shared by Ardley and Old Woodstock Town on Saturday in a goalless draw.

The first half saw both teams work very hard but Ardley were edging the contest in terms of chances made.

Woodstock were certainly causing problems at set-pieces and corners but in open play were being held by a firm Ardley defence.

In contrast, Ardley were coming very close to opening the scoring. Mark Wickens hit the post with a strong header whilst Gary Lawton’s missed timed leap cost him a chance of getting onto the score sheet. Paul Davis also came close with a looping header that brought a good save out from the keeper.

As the first half came to a close both sides were confident of pushing on to take all three points in the second half.

In all honesty, such ambitions were only going to be realised by Ardley in the second half. Woodstock came close with one header but rarely troubled Ryan Watts after that.

The Woodstock keeper was kept a lot busier. Gary Lawton came close again with another header but the goalkeeper pulled off a spectacular fingertip save to deny him again. Further scrambles in the Woodstock box saw some backs to the wall defending but Ardley just couldn’t get the goal that would break the stalemate.

In the end both sides had to be content with having to share the spoils.

Hook Norton Reserves 3 v Ardley United Reserves 6

Ardley Reserves ran out 6-3 winners in another goal bonanza at Hook Norton on Saturday, winning their first round Oxfordshire Intermediate cup game after extra time.

In typical fashion though, Ardley made hard work of the victory in a roller-coaster affair that swung both ways for either side.

Ardley started the better, playing a flowing passing game that soon pegged the opposition back into their half. Shortly, Mark Scaines rounded onto a loose ball and smashed a twenty five yard half volley into the net, providing the visitors with the perfect start.

The next thirty minutes saw Ardley continue to probe and threaten Hooky’s net and eventually they were awarded a fortuitous penalty. Mark McGrogan stepped up but was denied by a good save; fortunately though Mark Scaines reacted quickest and scrambled the ball into the back of the net.

Hook Norton, to their credit, continued to battle and their direct style of football did occasionally catch the Ardley defence square. At the close of the half Ardley kept the score line to 2-0 with a series of last gasp tackles and a great save by Ryan Watts.

The second half saw a complete change in this topsy-turvy game as Hook Norton piled on the pressure and exploited Ardley’s wastefulness in possession. Soon enough, sloppy play enabled Hook Norton to pull a goal back.

The game began to slide in Hooky’s favour and further errors at the back allowed the busy Hook Norton striker to calmly slide the ball past the onrushing Ryan Watts.  

With the game at 2-2 and the partisan crowd fuelling the Hook Norton crowd they soon grabbed a third when a failed clearance allowed the Hooky striker to bear down on goal and fire the ball into the net.

Ardley showed their mettle and began to drag themselves back into the game. The final ten minutes of the game saw Ardley regain possession and exert an increasing level of pressure onto an increasingly tired Hooky team. A whipped in ball from the Ardley right saw Michael Hicks laying the ball off to Mark Scaines who smashed his hat trick goal into the net and taking the cup game into extra time, much to the rapturous joy of the Ardley players.

Extra time belonged to one side only as Ardley dominated the next thirty minutes. Ardley’s fourth goal was a bullet header from Mark Wickens who latched onto a superb Bradley Franklin corner.

The fifth goal came from Bradley Franklin who drilled a cross-cum shot that sailed in at the near post.

With Ardley now cruising and keeping the ball very tidily, the sixth was added by the indomitable Mark Scaines who added to his ever increasing goal tally and bagging his fourth of this game.

Many lessons would have to be learnt from this game after Ardley allowed Hooky to get back into the match but can take heart in the fact that they showed great spirit in eventually wrenching victory from the jaws of defeat.  

Ardley took all three points, courtesy of a Michael Hicks brace, in a scrappy encounter that was the definition of winning ugly.

Ardley started brightly though, looking to play quick, flowing football. Soon enough, they were rewarded with the opening goal after Michael Hicks collected the ball in the Cirencester box and coolly fired the ball into the top right hand corner.

However, Cirencester were galvanised by this goal and began to press Ardley, disrupting their football. As Ardley became a little more one dimensional in their play Cirencester began to catch them more and more with the quick break.

Shortly before the half Cirencester’s pressure paid off, as Ardley’s inability to clear the ball from a corner resulted in D. Parker firing past Ryan Watts.

The second half saw Ardley work much harder as a collective and although there normal passing game wasn’t occurring, the raised effort saw them create more chances.

Mid-way through the second half Ardley’s perseverance paid off when a freekick was won twenty five yards from goal. Whilst the Cirencester defence were deliberating on how they were going to set the wall, Hicks stepped up a cheekily took a quick freekick that sailed into the Cirencester net.

The remainder of the half saw Ardley defend stoically and continuously threaten the Cirencester goal with their quick breaks, but no more goals followed. Despite the performance Ardley will be delighted in taking another three points away from home in this 2-1 victory.