Oxford Underestimate the Haddock Price Double

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 27 September 2014 at Meadowbank
Result	Shortwood United 2 Oxford City 1
Competition	FA Cup Second Qualifying Round
Hopping	Ground 549, and I am here because a substitute scored the last (and winning) West Bromwich Albion goal in the 3-2 midweek League Cup win over Hull City.  All the details are in the previous post.  Thank you to Saido Berahino for sending me here.
Pre-match preparation
Shortwood are unbeaten (albeit with two draws) in all competitions in September and sit in a mid-table league position.  They play in step 4 in the Southern League’s Division One S&W.  They got to this stage with a big win at Shrivenham followed by an away replay win over Cirencester Town. Oxford City, these days of Step 2 and the Conference North (yes, North, and 5th place as I write), enter the competition at this stage.  They have had an interesting month with two big wins, another win and two heavy defeats from their September fixtures.  They will start as favourites simply because of the difference in levels.  The other interesting feature of the pre-match prep has been the website warning to expect a very narrow lane on the final approach to the ground! The rest of the pre-match prep consisted of a delightful scenic drive down some narrow lanes, a gentle walk around those closest to the ground, and a pint of Moles best bitter.  All chemistry teachers will understand why that had to be done.
This match in one sentence
Oxford City took a first half lead, gradually lost control of the game due to a spirited performance by the lower-ranked hosts, and were denied a replay by some late defensive heroics.
So what?
Shortwood’s loyal supporters will have a midweek league trip to Merthyr instead of a replay at Oxford City, and of course they win some valuable prize money and a place in the draw for the next round.
The drama unfolds
Both defences were on top during the early sparring.  I took a scene-setter clip of this little gem of a ground midway through the first half.  Shortwood are in red & white stripes. Gradually Oxford City grew to dominate with a calm and unruffled performance, though their debutant Bermudan keeper Freddy Hall almost gifted a goal to Lewis Sommers with a fluffed clearance.  Fortunately a defender shepherded Sommers away for long enough to allow Hall to get back into position.  Home keeper Tom King had already made one decent save, but he could not do anything about the opening goal, which came after Adi Yussuf was allowed to use his strength and presence to turn and shoot from the edge of the box.  0-1 after 34 mins Just before the break, Kynan Isaac might have added a second.  He did the hard trickery to create the space but then rolled a tame shot wide so Shortwood remained in the game.  0-1 at half-time Shortwood started the second half well.  Target man Sommers lumbered around up front to good effect (and was to be of great defensive help later on).  Wearing 9, he laid the ball back to number 10 Adam Price who then found number 11 Ross Langworthy with a neat and numerically consecutive move.  Langworthy’s shot was, however, easily saved.  The equaliser came after Oxford lost the ball in a dangerous central spot.  Hall got his hand to Price’s shot, but there was no defensive cover in place and the scores were levelled. This would prove to be a generous gift.  1-1 after 59 mins The winning goal came from a left-wing cross which evaded Sommers, Hall and everyone else to fall for Tom Haddock steaming in late at the back post to head home.  2-1 after 79 mins My second clip is of the final five, and captures the defensive heroics needed to keep Oxford out.  King will be especially pleased with that save.  Even Hall is up at the attacking end in the final seconds.  There was much celebration at the final whistle, and fair play to the travelling support who took the defeat with general good humour.  Final score 2-1 The combination of a randomish choice of game, an interesting, scenic journey, a quirky ground with good food and a good clubhouse, followed by a decent game whose result was in doubt until the end, makes this one of the best hops for many months.  If you have not been here, sort it out – but do your route research first. En route today, Doris the Satnav (who is as up to date as anyone) tried to take me through a herd of cows, up a farm track, through a street market and up a one-way street the wrong way.  Allow enough time for U-turns and to enjoy the view.
Ground and Near the Ground Pix
To be fair, this was full of visiting fans in the second half.
Match Pix
Something You Don’t Get in the Premier League
Near the ground there is a “decommissioned” church, just SOLD by an estate agent by the name of Bishop.  There is a horse with one eye, hedgerows full of flowers, berries, spiders and snails.  There is home-made cottage pie and a clubhouse where you mingle with visiting fans.  There was a banner for the Oxford Brookes University Non-League Football Society, meaning that as far as I am concerned they move into second place in the university hierarchy (behind Cambridge, ahem, and ahead of that other one in their city) and I will recommend them to all my students immediately.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Grey beats green today, enough to drop green just below red in this updated league table.  The Cech theory was that orange is best.  He knows nothing.  Face the numbers, Petr. The story so far: 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, -1pt for a goal conceded and +5pts for a clean sheet P W D L GC CS Pts PPG Purple 5 3 1 1 9 2 11 2.20 Grey 20 9 5 6 27 6 35 1.75 Red 4 2 0 2 5 1 6 1.50 Green 19 9 2 8 26 5 28 1.47 Blue 8 3 2 3 14 2 7 0.88 Orange 5 2 1 2 9 1 3 0.60 Yellow 10 2 4 4 19 2 1 0.10 Radioactive Bile 6 2 0 4 12 0 -6 -1.00 Maroon 2 1 0 1 5 0 -2 -1.00 Pink 7 1 3 3 16 0 -10 -1.43
Soapbox Section
Let’s take this opportunity to list the Gloucestershire links on my family tree in case any as yet undiscovered cousins read this!  My great-grandmother (Yapp side) was born Martha Saul and her father George had settled in the industrial West Midlands (maybe working at the phosphorous factory in Oldbury) after a spell of military service that had ended in Madras in the late 19th century. His father was Jasper Alder Saul and he was the first Glos connection that I discovered.  Jasper was a boatman, born in Ashleworth in 1825, who later married a girl from the West Midlands and lived alongside the canal in Oldbury.  It is likely that prospects were better in the cities and towns of the industrial revolution at that time.  He had probably worked on the canals. Jasper’s parents were Josiah (or Sier) Saul who was born in Oddington in 1778 and Elizabeth Alder of Ashleworth.  The marriage took place in Hartpury, and certainly Elizabeth is recorded as still working as an agricultural worker at the age of 73 in Condicote in the 1851 census. The previous generations are Caleb Saul and Anne Phipps (associated with Bourton-on-the-Water and Oddington, and Jasper Alder and Sarah Phillips, associated with Ashleworth.  These would have been around in the second half of the eighteenth century. If any of these family names or places feature in your history, do get in touch so we can work out our common ancestor.  If you have never tried tracing your family tree, I can wholeheartedly recommend it, but you need to be prepared to spend some time and maybe some money too.  It can be painstaking and occasionally frustrating, but I am very glad that I made the effort a few years ago.  There is plenty of help out there and you can get a fair way from your computer keyboard.  It is something that I return to from time to time.
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!