City narrowly beaten in final by WSL-chasing U's

Oxford City Women were narrowly defeated in the Oxfordshire FA Women's Cup Final by a strong Oxford United Women side.

Ellie-Mae Richardson scored the only goal in the first-half of the tie for the U's, but it was a tie that showed how far the Hoops have progressed in previous seasons.

Coming into the game, City (who play in the Southern Regional Women’s Football League – Step 5 of the Women’s pyramid) had a huge challenge ahead of them against their highly ranked opponents.

United have been knocking on the door of the WSL 2 in recent years, but the Oxfordshire Women’s Cup gave the Hoops a great opportunity to test their mettle against top quality opposition.

The U’s had made light work of the likes of Barton Rovers, Precision Oxford and Thame United ladies on their way to the final, as they scored 44 (yes, forty-four) goals in just three ties, conceding no goals whilst doing so.

Nevertheless, despite the gap between the two teams, you wouldn’t have been able to tell in the early moments of the match.

Connor Walton’s side started brightly, and stuck to their guns in the early minutes, trying to play forward from defence.

However, it was United who had the first opportunity of the game.

Amelia Alves Martins’ pass was intercepted, but the Yellows couldn’t direct the resulting shot into the net after they rounded Holly Jenkins in the City goal.

Instead, the resulting shot bounced off the post.

City started to press for an opener themselves and captain Georgina Tayman came close just moments after.

Beth Chapman’s relentless pressing in the midfield resulted in her being hacked down in the United half, but the following free-kick from Tayman floated inches wide of the post.

Despite that chance, Jenkins had to be alert to deal with a number of U’s attacks. Nevertheless, she was equal to a number of efforts that the Yellows threw at her to keep the score goalless within the first half hour.

However, the pressure did eventually tell for Oxford United, after a goalmouth scramble.

City couldn’t clear their lines after a set piece, and Ellie-Mae Richardson was in the right place at the right time to tap home the opener.

Half-Time: Oxford United 1-0 Oxford City

After the interval, the Hoops continued to persevere and try and find a way back into the game.

Jenkins continued to impress in between the sticks, though. Again the shot-stopper made a number of impressive saves to deny the Yellows.

She was a thorn in United’s side throughout the evening, and if it wasn't for her, the scoreline could've been greater.

Despite that, City always looked like they could threaten on the counter-attack, and Ellie White almost had a chance to level out of nothing.

City’s Players’ Player of the Season burst past the U’s backline, and for a moment, it looked as though she was about to find the net.

However, Cheyenne Flynn expertly denied White with an inch-perfect sliding challenge.

Despite their best efforts, City couldn't find a way back into the tie, but at the full-time whistle, instead of miserable, downtrodden faces, there were bittersweet feelings of progress and pride in their performance.

City had gone toe to toe with the best team in the county, and in no way had they disgraced themselves.

A number of City fans had travelled to Kidlington FC to cheer on the Hoops, and who knows? With the way they're playing, perhaps City will have another chance of silverware next season.

Thank you for your support tonight, Hoops.

Oxford City Starting XI: Jenkins, Hume, Latimer, Le Beau, Healy, Thorne, Tayman ©, Chapman, Gray, Alves Martins, White

Subs: Leigh, Cook, Wellington-Faissal, Kingdon, Lawal

Photos: Darrell Fisher