Magnificent Marcus' Midfield Masterclass

Midfield dynamo Marcus Tranter scored a first-half hat-trick as Kidlington went top of the red league thanks to a 7-2 home victory over Abingdon.

The first game was very close, with a strong visiting septet led by the dangerous Alex Woodham, having the best of the first half. Only good work by home keeper Archie Devlin and defender Pierce Giles helped keep them out until the stroke of half-time when Abingdon took the lead through a fine goal from Woodham.

Kidlington hit back in the second half, but initially found visiting keeper Alex Carter in good form. They eventually broke through from an Ethan Couling corner, which Jude Boag-Matthews smashed into the roof of the net for the equaliser. Kidlington then went ahead with a brilliant solo goal from leading scorer Luca Sykes, but Abingdon to their credit, refused to buckle under more Kidlington pressure and counter-attacked well, the first time a brilliant tackle from Ben Merrill stopped Woodham, but he was not to be denied and scored his second goal on the counter late on to finish the first game 2-2.

The second game was a more one-sided affair, Kidlington scoring with their first two attacks. Skipper Callum Rolfe put them ahead with a powerful strike before Marcus Tranter had a purple patch, scoring three goals in ten minutes. His first was a strong shot from a wide angle, the second a conversion of a fine cross, and the third a great chip to the far post which Abingdon's keeper got fingertips to, but couldn't quite keep out. He backed up his goals with a great all-round display, taking all 14 of the home team's corners as well as helping out the defence when necessary.

Kidlington created many more opportunities in the second half, but Abingdon held firm until the last minute, when Tranter's fine free-kick from the right was met with a perfect header by Rolfe for his second of the match. A comedy moment occurred when referee Graham Day running backwards, accidentally tripped over his own son, Fraser, with both of them finishing in an untidy, not to say muddy, heap on the ground, much to the amusement of the home support. The game finished without further incident with a final score of 5-0 making the fixture 7-2 overall to Kidlington.