Vic’s View
Oxfordshire Senior League Premier Division
Friday 11th September 2026
Team: Bennington, Jackson (H), Morgan-Allen, Gunn, Smaldon, Shayler, Oliver, Morton, Ghrab, Holloway, Furlong.
Witney entered their first home league game of the season, under the Friday night lights, with interim Manager Chris Allen returning to his former managerial home at North Leigh. Witney struggled to settle in the early minutes as the visitors went close from a free kick. They did settle and within 10 minutes had the lead, with Jack Morton netting after excellent work from Adam Holloway. On 22 minutes the lead was doubled when Mercayd Morgan-Allen played a long ball and as the ball bounced through Holloway hit a sweet volley from the edge of the penalty area over the stranded Milton keeper. On the half hour Witney had a great chance to further extend their lead when a Ryan Oliver shot was well saved.
The game was getting a bit feisty, with the home side lucky not to be penalised for some robust challenges. On 37 minutes Witney netted their third when Moez Ghrab played the ball forward and Morton hit his second, again from the edge of the penalty area. Into injury time another great pass from Ghrab found Harry Furlong, who side footed the ball into the corner of the net to make the half-time score 4-0 to the hosts.
The second half saw Milton throw everything at the Witney defence. An early long-range effort sailed over the bar. Milton were creating chances but were unable to hit the target. This was summed up on the hour mark when a Milton shot from inside the 6-yard box rattled against the Witney cross bar. Witney were limited in their attacking chances to breakaways, with Will Shayler and Oliver firing in shots that went just wide. Tom Bennington was called on to make a couple of saves in the last few minutes, but the defence saw out the game to keep the clean sheet and the 4-0 win.
#Up.The.Blanketmen.
Report by Ian Dibley