Against a strong Oxford City side, Basingstoke Town’s academy side took the game to Oxford in the first-half and despite City hitting the bar ealy on, it was Stoke who grew into the game and a neat volleyed finish by Charlie Barlow, sent us into the lead.
Stoke appeared to have doubled to their lead but the referee awarded a free-kick for a foul on their centre-back. A moment of comedy, as the supposed injured player (with the keeper urgently requesting assistance), suddenly jumped up like a ‘spring chicken’ and started to walk away, as one or two comments came from the crowd, which made the nearby linesman laugh at the comical situation.
Back to the game, minutes later the same said injured centre-back, then initially failed to make a defensive header, then as the ball bounced back up again, he headed the ball back to the oncoming keeper, who could only partially stop the ball, and the ball fell to Charlie Barlow who tapped the ball home from close range.
Stoke a few minutes later went into the break with the two-goal lead.
The second-half got underway, and Oxford clearly upset by their first-half performance, pushed forward and created a number of chances which either flew wide or were superbly blocked by Stoke’s defence.
The game continued in similar fashion, as the game drew to a conclusion, and despite six minutes of added-time, Oxford City failed to breech Stoke’s defence and it was Basingstoke Town who progressed into the next round of the cup.
Basingstoke Town 2 – 0 Oxford City