Oxford City 4-0 Boreham Wood

Oxford City 4-0 Boreham Wood 

Vanarama National League

Monday 28th August 2023

Save this one in the scrapbook!

This result is one that will go down in Oxford City history as the wee plucky underdogs - tipped for relegation by many, got their first ever three points in the National League with this Bank Holiday battering of Boreham Wood.

When I rocked up at Court Place Farm (or the Raw Charging Stadium to use its sponsored name), I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from either the ground or the game itself but needless to say I was pleasantly surprised by both!

You can tell the pride and care that exists within Oxford City as the ground is well cared for, far more developed than I imagined it would be and it’s a very tidy set-up with seats and terracing on both sides making it a pleasant experience. In a crowd of over 1,000, it felt comfortable and there were plenty of good vantage points. The 4G pitch is brand new (re-laid and improved during the summer just gone) and immaculate; the smell of rubber crumb in the first half sunshine being the modern football equivalent of ‘Deep Heat’ in days gone down, and it’s obvious the club certainly make the best of what’s available to them and are very proud of the place they call home!

And on the pitch… wow, what a performance it was by Oxford City to get the win but what a contrast also because nobody whatsoever would have predicted they’d run out 4-0 winners at half-time.

Josh Parker was the ‘Man Of The Match’ and he deserves all the plaudits he gets for because he was EXCEPTIONAL, bullied the Boreham Wood defence throughout the second half with pretty much everything going through him in one way or another, and he has to be the most obvious inclusion I’ve seen in a very long time to go in the Vanarama ‘Team Of The Week’.

Lewis Miccio has already been in the TOTW recently and he played his part in keeping a hard-earned clean-sheet whilst one of my ‘points of interest’ when I rocked up was to watch Canice Carroll - someone who, likewise, has earned that ‘TOTW Inclusion’ accolade already this term and also happens to be a player I’ve followed from afar throughout his career - from the days when he was a YT at Oxford playing alongside Joe Hartley (year above him) and ball-boying at the Kassam Stadium on matchdays which every kid hates, and then onwards and upwards to Brentford and beyond with all the bits in between such as his Ireland youth caps, loan spells and the stint in Glasgow at Queen’s Park where he got the first promotion of his career.

Watching ‘Canny’ play in this game was enjoyable (bar two passes - no prizes for guessing which ones I’m referring to) and seeing a strapping on each of his wrists reminded me of another very promising centre-back coming through the ranks called Riccardo Di Trolio as he does exactly the same thing.

Remember his name because just like Canice Carroll (who at 24, and with the qualities he’s got could even get back into the EFL at some point) I’ve got no doubts that RDT will do well in the long-term too.

Carroll was a key figure in the early stages for Oxford City because along with constantly speaking to his team-mates, encouraging, organising and being a real ‘super-glue’ type leader (some of the best qualities a player can have in an era when communication is a dying art), he made not one but two vital blocks on the goal-line inside the first 20 minutes which had visiting boss Luke Garrard exclaiming ‘It’s the boy again’ in frustration - as his Boreham Wood team were unable to make a breakthrough despite a strong start where they had more territory, more possession, pushed the hosts back and looked the superior team in quite a few areas.

Oxford had a few bits and pieces up at the other end - including a header from Carroll - before he almost turned culprit for a catastrophe around the half-hour mark with a short back-pass that was intercepted and fired into the side-netting.

Needless to say there was a look of relief on his face in the aftermath - something which spread to the whole Oxford City defence not long afterwards when BW finally scrambled the ball in the back of the net only to see it rightly ruled out for offside.

Chris Haigh also made a brilliant save from Tyrone Marsh to keep things level and at half-time, the 100 or so ‘Wood Army’ fans in attendance - many of whom I suspect were paying their first visit to Court Place Farm would have been confident of returning to North London with three points.

Wrong!

The second half couldn’t have been more different because although I was starting to wonder whether I was about to witness my first 0-0 this season, just past the hour mark, City put together a move which culminated in the opening goal as Nya Kirky let fly with a thunderbolt which flew past Nathan Ashmore and into the bottom corner.

Suddenly it was ‘Game On’, Boreham Wood had work to do and it ought to have triggered a response and reaction from them.

Maybe last year when they had George Broadbent and Zak Brunt (two big losses for them) it would have done but instead Oxford grew in belief, the visitors capitulated, and it was soon 2-0 as Josh Parker grabbed a goal that he deserved with a shot that had all the power behind it yet went straight through Nathan Ashmore who seemed like he was already on the floor before Parker had even pulled the trigger.

If Oxford didn’t have confidence before, they were clearly oozing it now. They were well on top. They were the dominant team and the game was put to bed via a cleverly-worked corner on 79 minutes where Canice Carroll gave an insight as to what he’s about in attacking situations; using his strength to pin the BW defender at the near-post and purposely letting the ball from the delivery drift behind him towards Olly Sanderson who was waiting in the perfect spot to guide the ball into the net.

A great contribution by Carroll in a move that’s clearly been worked on and was executed to perfection and at 3-0 it was ‘tail between legs’ time for Boreham Wood and all over for them!

Incredibly, City weren’t done there because they found another goal to turn their second half dominance into an emphatic 4-0 mauling - and the fourth was arguably the best of the bunch. Zac McEachran had literally only just come on (think seconds rather than minutes); one of his first touches was a one-two on the edge of the box and, having got the ball back, his next was a shot that flew with ‘Va Va Voom’ verve and vigor straight into the back of the net - and the Boreham Wood ‘keeper diving away from the ball in the process just made the finish look all the more impressive.

Fair to say, Nathan Asmore had a nightmare afternoon which he won’t want to think about ever again, Cameron Coxe likewise further up the pitch whose end product lacked and the only thing he earned from the three times he went down looking for a free-kick out wide was a b*llocking from his manager for not getting up quickly enough. How David Stephens wasn’t sent-off for two or three off the ball punches and elbows (evident and not sly ones) was ridiculous - especially when the referee definitely saw one of them and gave a free-kick for it. 

And it sort of said everything when Jamal Fyfield punched the post in frustration when he blazed a volley over the upright late on when he should have buried the ball into the roof of the net for a consolation.

I can only think Luke Garrard must have given his players a few disgusted looks in the dressing room at full-time given this was actually Boreham Wood’s heaviest defeat in a league fixture since a 4-0 hammering by Hartlepool in February 2019 on a day when Josh Hawkes (another good player who I’ve liked for a while - nowadays at Tranmere) bagged twice.

But all credit really should go to Oxford City for ripping them apart. Nobody expected it - maybe least of all themselves given their results so far this season, yet they were clinical at one end, resilient at the other and this is the exact type of game that can give them confidence, give them belief, transform their mindset and really be used as a springboard to push on from.

If they extend their stay in the National League beyond just one season, they’ll be delighted and this result proves that when they’re on their ‘A’ game, if you’re not on yours then you will get a good hiding!

And who knew that Oxford’s ‘Yoof’ ultras stood just below the scoreboard even knew about throwback songs such as ‘That’s The Way I Like It’ which they were belting out after every goal they scored.

Wait until they hear 90s music!