FTL Futbol Hellenic Premier Division: Almondsbury Town 0 Oxford City Nomads 2 (From Gazette Series)

FTL Futbol Hellenic Premier Division: Almondsbury Town 0 Oxford City Nomads 2

4:50pm Wednesday 10th March 2010

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

RICHARD THOMPSON expects there to be more twists and turns in the title race after his Almondsbury Town side suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Oxford City Nomads, writes Rob Iles.

The Almonds missed a chance to close the gap on league leaders Reading on Tuesday night as they suffered their first home defeat of the season, and they remain seven points adrift with three games in hand.

Boss Thompson said: “There is no panic or crisis, the important thing is how we respond this Saturday and the following games.

“It’s still in our hands and I’m pretty sure between now and the end of the season there will be more twists and turns.

“We were below par, we know that, there were some fingers pointed in the dressing room after but hopefully that cleared the air a bit.

Oxford took the lead midway through the first half, while Aaron Blakemore had Almondsbury’s best chance, lobbing over the bar when one on one with the goalkeeper.

Almondsbury piled on the pressure in the second half with strikes from Aaron Cornwall and Jason Wood going close but they struggled to create many clear-cut chances and the visitors were always a threat on the counter-attack.

In the last minute goalkeeper Stuart Jones went up for a corner but Oxford cleared and broke away to score in the empty net and secure the points.

Thompson added: “We played against a side who would almost do anything to beat us, they worked their socks off and stopped us from playing so credit to them.

“They came with a game plan and it succeeded.You could see by their celebration at the end of the game how important it was to them and I hope they can put in the same kind of performance on Saturday when they play against Reading.”

Almondsbury visit Ascot United on Saturday (3pm).

Gloucestershire FA Challenge Trophy Semi-Final Hanham Athletic 3 Almondsbury Town 7

AARON CORNWALL scored four and Dean Griffiths bagged a hat-trick to help Almondsbury Town reach the County Cup final in emphatic fashion.

Richard Thompson’s side will face neighbours Almondsbury UWE or Shortwood United in the final.

Cornwall broke the deadlock with a free-kick before County League side Hanham equalised. A penalty from Cornwall and Griffith’s third made it 3-1 before half-time.

Cornwall completed his hat-trick in the second half and Griffiths soon followed suit.

Hanham pulled a goal back before Cornwall scored Almondsbury’s seventh

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)