Brimscombe and Thrupp 4

Ardley United 2

By Scott Boulton

Brimscombe jumped to the top of the Hellenic Premier Division table at a rain-soaked Meadow, where they defeated Ardley United.

Both teams had plenty of chances but the deadlock was finally broken after 14 minutes when Ade Talabi slotted the ball past Lewis Skyers and into the net.

Brimscombe made sure that their visitors knew they were about with some great link up play in and around the Ardley box but unfortunately nothing came of it. It took until the 34th minute for Ardley to ripple the net again when Jack Ross broke through the Whites' back four and powered into the bottom corner away from Skyers.

It didn't take long for the home side to respond when Jack Smith broke into the box and was challenged but the referee ignored all penalty shouts and signalled play on. 39 minutes into the game and Carl Tappin knocked the ball into his net from the corner to make the game 2-1 in favour of the Oxfordshire side.

Half-time saw changes made when Ben Deakin and new signing John Evans replaced Jonny Brodie and Josh Jones. Brimscombe played some beautiful football with Jordan Yeo linking up with Jack Smith who saw his shot saved by Lee Farrow.

Ashley Caldwell played a long ball out to the left wing where Ben Deakin was waiting, who in turn gave it to Ollie Pitt inside the box who turned and shot but it was blocked by some solid Ardley defending.

New boy John Evans made his mark when his rocket of shot was deflected onto the crossbar. Evans was involved again when his through ball found Deakin who saw his shot narrowly miss the net.

It didn't take Ben Deakin long to show what he is capable of when he saw his curling ball land in the top corner of the net to draw the two sides 2-2. 5minutes later and captain and center back Chris Greenhough found his powerful header from a corner flash past the goalkeeper and into the net, sending the players and fans alike into celebrations.

It was still anybody's game though and when Ben Deakin had his shot saved Yeo only found the side netting with the rebound. To make sure the game was over and that the three points went to the Gloucestershire side Deakin made no mistake in finding the net to make it 4-2.