Oxfordshire Senior League
Premier Division
Saturday 28th October 2023
Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.02
Brill United 5 Yarnton 2, attendance 33
10’ 1-0
13’ 2-0
45’ 2-1
47’ 3-1
48’ 4-1
60’ 5-1
84’ 5-2 (pen)
@ Brill Sports & Social Club
Church Street
Brill
HP18 9RT
No Admission or Programme.
Ashton Folly had played here in Brill last season and over the summer changed their name to Brill United. As with last season, it was the only ground I hadn’t visited in this division, so it was about time that was put right. The journey from St. Albans took about an hour and having passed through one particularly heavy downpour en route, about fifteen minutes away, I was relieved to see nets and corner flags up on arrival and the players heading out to warm up. At least it remained dry throughout, bar a brief few spots of rain that lasted a couple of minutes, if that.
The ground is shared with the local cricket club. The cricket pitch is in front of the pavilion, with the football pitch beyond, running widthways, on the other side of a tarmac path separating the two and roped along the left hand half of this side only. The two ‘benches’ set up opposite, although no problem accessing all four sides. The view over the countryside beyond the far touchline goes as far as the eye can see and if bird spotting is your thing, well, red kites to be specific, then you can’t get much better than this.
The game was 7th versus 11th in the league table. Brill were 2-0 up after just thirteen minutes, the second goal being a cracker into the top corner, cutting in from the left and finishing right footed leaving the ‘keeper rooted to his spot. Brill then lost their ‘keeper after half an hour, going off injured, with an outfield player taking over. Right on halftime Yarnton finished a ball over the top with an angled shot into the bottom corner, setting it up perfectly for the second half. However, any hope of a comeback soon disappeared, as Brill scored twice in the opening three minutes of the restart. A stooping header, after a corner wasn’t cleared, quickly followed by a shot into the far corner. Goal number five arrived on the hour, finishing one on one, after being played through on goal. With six minutes left Yarnton pulled it back to 5-2, when they scored with a penalty. The stand in ‘keeper was booked for giving away the kick, then sent off when getting a second yellow card, for dissent, after conceding it. So Brill played out the remainder of the game a man short and with their third ‘keeper of the day playing in goal!
