Oxford City 1-4 Maidenhead

[clive]

Well, that was embarrassing.

I watched the game with a friend who is a Maidenhead season ticket holder. No doubt he enjoyed the day much more than me.....

For 60 minutes City were awful, and should have been a lot more than four down. OK they played well in the final 30 minutes but by then the game was long gone. Maidenhead didn't need to be anything other than organised to win.

All four goals conceded were poor, two of them were gifts and for another the ball was carelessly given away.

Very few City players came out of this with any credit. The one notable exception was Latrell, who despite being at fault for the second goal, was otherwise excellent throughout, looked the most creative player, and scored a fine goal.

Josh Parker is wasted out on the left and at least at home, I think we should play two upfront. It was good to see Reece get 45 minutes under his belt, and Coyle looked lively after he came on.

I wasn't impressed with Kpekawa and it seems puzzling that Harrison was allowed to go to Truro on loan. I would also prefer to Haigh between the sticks ahead of Bycroft but I have no idea why he isn't playing at the moment.

For anyone interested, attached is the detailed report
fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2023/12/oxford-city-1-4-maidenhead-united-att.html

[ChrisB]

Thanks Clive for the detailed report: that sounds as though it was a pretty unimpressive performance. A win in the Trophy next Saturday would go some way to lifting spirits, but, probably stating the obvious, City need to begin picking up league points again pretty quickly if they're to maintain their Step 1 status.

P.S. On a brighter note the City Development XI had a thumping 8-0 league win yesterday at Ardley.

[clive]

The selection for the Chelmsford cup tie is a tricky one in that we can't afford to have any injuries to key players before the Boreham Wood game. I would be inclined to play what I consider to be the fringe players eg McQueen, Kpekawa, Miccio, Fonkeu, Smith, Ofusu, Brzozowski and give the players returning from injury some time in the second half ie Fleet, AWB, Coyle.

It wouldn't be good if Zach, Canice, Olly or Josh were to get injured or suspended !

[sgodfrey81]

Tough decision next week. Sure players need a rest but also a win to try and build some confidence before Boreham would be important.

Photos from yesterday if anyone's interested: flic.kr/s/aHBqjB5xoD