Casually Speaking

Casually Speaking…

Oxford City Casuals

– the team that put Ability in Disability Football

Hello and welcome to the new column that will give you the low down on what the Casuals are up to. My name is Ashby Hope and I will try to keep you informed of all the fixtures, results and general shenanigans that we manage to get up to.

We’ve now been training every Saturday since early September and there is a definite sense to teamwork building within the squad. Believe it or not but we are still growing with more and more players hearing about us and wanting to join. We regularly have 20+ players at training which makes for some excellent and well contested training matches! We’ve seen sun, rain (Torrential), gale force winds, an attempt at snow and sleet, but even these have failed to dampen the spirit and determination on a Saturday morning.

All the training and hard work put in by the Gaffer (Andy), the coaches (Steph, Kirsty, Janet, Emma and Jasmine) and of course the players had to lead somewhere. That place being Court Place Farm on a chilly October night for our inaugural matches against MK Dons. The night was split up in to 3 matches, a Junior 7-a-side, Senior 7-a-side and finishing off with a Senior 11-a-side match. The 7-a-side matches were closely fought with both sides showing great determination, skills and teamwork. They both ended in impressive 3-3 draws and in the spirit of the occasion probably the best results that could have been hoped for. The 11-a-side game was somewhat more intense with the MK Dons putting out a very strong team. As I warmed up before the game I couldn’t help but look over and watch the MK Dons warming up. My first impressions were that they looked like a very organised and skilled team. This was confirmed with their first attack of the game where a well taken shot from outside the area beat the keeper to take them 1-0 up within the first 2 minutes. They were a team who were very fit, played one touch football, accurate passing and equally as accurate shooting/finishing. It was clear it was going to be a very tough game.

It was proving to be a very difficult game as with every MK Dons attack they looked like they could score. The game didn’t start well and heads started to drop as the MK Dons continued scoring. It took an inspirational half time talk from the gaffer to raise the spirits and produce a much improved second half performance. The result in the end was clearly a good thrashing but for our first match against a very tough opposition it was a result we could take many positives from. I know from a personal view point it was the toughest game I’d ever played in. A big thank you has to go out to the fans who came out to support us that night and make the whole event enjoyable for all those involved.

Well thank you for reading this and I hope I haven’t bored you too much. Look out for the next edition of Casually Speaking when I’ll be able to update you on our upcoming fixtures and results.

Regards,
Ash.

Upcoming Fixtures
Sunday 17^th February – Feltham Bees (Away)
Sunday 30^th March – Hitchin Town (Away)

There is currently no formal league competition for players with learning difficulties in the local area. The Oxfordshire FA and Berks & Bucks FA together with other interested parties have formed an Inclusive Football Development Group with the prime objective of establishing a league for next season.

Oxford City FC are members of that development group and will be pleased to actively support any local clubs in forming teams for these special players. Please contact the club for details.