Over the weekend Bicester 1s welcomed Aylesbury 1s to the Cooper School. Bicester entered the game as table toppers with Aylesbury sitting in mid-table. The reverse fixture played back in October was an impressive 6-0 win to Bicester, so hopes were high going into the game.

The match started with a quick tempo, opening with Bicester having an opportunity on goal inside the first 20 seconds. Followed shortly by an Aylesbury counter-attacking play which saw Jordan putting in a critical lastman defensive tackle to allow Bicester to reset shape.

As the game opened up more, both sides started to create chances and both keepers and posts would come to save each team. A well taken drag flick from a short corner in the 8th minute, saw the Aylesbury keeper push the ball onto the top of the post to keep the game level. Shortly afterwards, a short corner at the other end, saw another drag flick crash into the post. The follow up play saw Nathan pull off a couple of saves to deny Aylesbury further.

The 21st minute saw the stalemate end as the ball found the Aylesbury forward at the top of the D to be slammed into the bottom corner. In an instant, Aylesbury won another short corner and extended the lead as they flicked into the top left of the goal. However this 2 goal lead would be short lived for Aylesbury as Ollie produced a brilliant solo effort to beat 2 defenders to drive into the D and smash home the ball into the netting.

Pressure from Bicester continued as they looked for an equaliser going into the last 5 minutes of the half. In a flurry of short corners to Bicester, the first saw another dragged effort at goal and looked to be going into the netting as it beat the keeper, only for the last defender to deflect the ball off the line and over the bar. A following short corner saw Bicester mix it up with a slip and the shot crashed off the near post with the rebound effort then coming off the far post as the defenders then cleared to keep the 2-1 lead going into the break.

The second half continued as the first ended with Bicester continuing to search for the equaliser, As another the number of short corners continued to tick up and the Aylesbury keeper again being called into action as a fantastic stick save sent the ball over the bar and into the neighbouring carpark, which lead to Oooo’s from the onlooking spectators as a car was clearly hit.

As 5 minutes of the second half passed, Aylesbury got opportunities at the other end and won a short corner of their own. Jordan running out took the full blow of the shot as it smashed into this hand, the counter attack was on for Bicester and as the ball fell to Keegan to slot across the face of goal into the far corner, thinking to have equalised to only be ruled out for a foul in the build up.

The quarter hour mark passed as a series of passes starting out the back with Peter found its way to Alex with a mazing driving run forward to create further chances. The great passing out from the back continued as George followed in his brother’s steps to step through on the attack, finding Callum who slotted in at the near post to bring Bicester level.

The 25th Minute saw Bicester win another short corner, this time there was no doubt as Callum dragged the shot for it to sail past the keeper and defenders into the netting to give Bicester the lead after being 2 goals down. Yet Aylesbury continued to fight back and with seconds left in the game, won a short corner of their own despite efforts from all saw the ball find a way through to bring themselves level as the full time whistle was blown.

With the game ending 3-3, both teams were denied by some great goalkeeping and also came to rue some missed opportunities and the metal uprights as the points were split. Bicester remained top of the table by 5 points as results also went their way elsewhere. They continue their campaign as they travel to Berkhamsted in the coming week.

Man of the Match: Peter Bennett