78 Thursday, December 1 - Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Oxford Ladies hit rock bottom OXFORD Hockey Club Ladies 1s slipped to the bottom of the table after a damaging 4-1 defeat at fellow strugglers Buckingham 2s on Saturday. On a cold morning, the game started evenly with a few forays forward by both teams. It was Buckingham who broke the deadlock when an attack through the middle of the park forced a save from Emma Henriksen in the Oxford goal, but the ball fell kindly to Emily Protheroe to fi nish. OHC were then punished for a loose ball out of defence and the opposition pounced again to double their advantage through Andrea Freshwater. Oxford stepped up their game and a great ball into the D from Emily Malden meant Christy Barnard could latch on to it and put the ball beyond the Buckingham keeper to reduce the deficit. Oxford were next to score, but Barnard, who deflected the ball into the net, had her effort disallowed for an earlier foot foul. Buckingham improved in the second half and Georgie Holme scored the hosts’ third to give them breathing space. And, with 10 minutes remaining, Freshwater grabbed her second of the afternoon when she skilfully beat three defenders before notching Buckingham’s fourth goal to seal a fi ne victory. Most valuable player for Oxford was Jess Upjohn.
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New England boss drops in to present RAF awards By George Welch THE winners of the 2016 RAF Benson Sports Personality of the Year Awards have been announced. Six awards were handed out to those who have made a significant contribution to sport at the air base over the last year,
and beyond. Nominees were joined by the new England manager Gareth Southgate, as well as the Air Officer Commanding No 2 Group, Air Vice-Marshal Gavin Parker, who both presented awards along with the Station Commander. Air Vice-Marshal Parker
was visiting the station for the second time in two days after conducting the annual formal inspection the day before. A keen sportsman himself, he said: “My heartiest congratulations to all the winners. The thing that struck me about all of the nominations is the level of effort and commitment; the
selflessness from you all. “You should be very proud of your nominations.” Group captain Hamish Cormack, station commander at RAF Benson, said: “Our sports awards are one of the highlights of the year. It is important that we formally recognise the achievements of those who go
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above and beyond to excel in their chosen sport. “Regardless of their role in sport, the teamwork, discipline, professionalism and tenacity required directly transfers to their day jobs. “All our award winners should be rightly proud of their fantastic achievements.”
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1. Sports Personality of the Year
Corporal Craig Lenane; Captained a cricket team in transition from a collection of individuals to a professional, well-motivated group of cricketers
2. Most Valued Person
Flight Sergeant Jon Radcliffe; Chairman of the Benson Lions Football Club who has been instrumental in the development of young players
3. Best Newcomer
Senior Aircraftman Siobhan Wasyliw; Crowned Best Female Lifter overall at the RAF championships despite being new to powerlifting
4. Coach of the Year
Sergeant Craig Moorhouse; Coach to the Benson Lion Cubs Under 11s who has developed youngsters into a champion team
5. Long Service to Sport
Flight Sergeant Matt Larkin; Current Men’s Overall Water-ski champion
6. Team of the Year
Running and Athletics team; Winners of the President’s Cup and inter-Station event
Didcot sink Supermarine as Stars snuffed out twice they extend winning run
Didcot celebrate Ben Whitehead scoring third goal (Picture by Roger Neal) DIDCOT Town made it five wins in a row to propel them into playoff contention. The latest victims of Diddy’s run were Swindon Supermarine, who beat Didcot 5-1 on the opening day of the EvoStik League Southern Division 1 South & West season. But on this occasion Andy Ballard’s men ran out 3-1 winners in Swindon. The Railwaymen had their hosts under pressure from kick off and took the lead on 15 minutes. The Supermarine defence failed to deal with a Sam Elkins deflected cross and Louis Joyce fi red past Connor Johns.
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Against the run of play, Swindon pulled level when former Didcot player George Reid’s cross was diverted into the net by Declan Benjamin 10 minutes from the interval. But Didcot regained the lead five minutes later when Ben Whitehead’s shot rebounded off the post into the path of Joyce who made no mistake. Whitehead sealed a deserved victory by fi ring past Johns. It saw Didcot move into the top 10 for the fi rst time this season. VË aW ÍË0 Ý ¾ÄËW ?Ä ËÝ Í ËÄjW ond-placed Evesham United on Tuesday was postponed due to a frozen pitch.
OXFORD City Stars lost both weekend matches to lose more ground on the league leaders. Simon Anderson’s side have lost three consecutive matches in the NIHLS1 and have lost five of their previous seven matches in all competitions. The Stars lost 8-3 at leaders Chelmsford Chieftains on Saturday and were thunderstruck 5-3 by Milton Keynes Thunder at Oxford Ice Rink on Sunday. The Stars raced to a 2-0 lead within six minutes at Chelmsford through Ben Paynter and Alan Green but were pegged
Oxford City Stars in action against Milton Keynes Thunder (Picture courtesy of Oxford City Stars)
back to 2-2 before the end of the fi rst period. By the time Joe Edwards scored for Oxford in the last period his side had already conceded five. As the visitors went all out to get back in the match, Chelmsford scored three more times in the fi nal 10 minutes. On Sunday, the Thunder, who were 3-0 up after the fi rst period, powered to a 5-0 lead before Oxford woke up and scored three goals in the last six minutes. The Stars travel to Chelmsford for the return fi xture against the Chieftains on Sunday.
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Pepperell tells of delight at saving European Tour card
VË aa jË+j¬¬jÁj AFTER saving his European Tour card at Q School, Abingdon golfer Eddie Pepperell said the experience was “exhilarating”. The Frilford Heath golfer required a top-25 fi nish at the six-day event in Spain last month after a poor run at the end of last season. Missing seven cuts in his last eight tournaments left him outside the top-110 in the Race to Dubai, meaning he did not automatically keep his card. But an upturn in form at Q School allowed Pepperell to
fi nish joint fi fth to recapture a place on tour. Speaking of his success at the PGA Catalunya Resort, he said: “Exhilarating is the word. In a totally different way to what it’s like to be in contention at Wentworth, but still, totally encapsulating.” The 25-year-old was in fi ne form and strung six successive rounds under par. Pepperell tees off at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa today to mark the new European Tour season.