Jets Push High Flying City Close
Oxhey Jets 0 Reading City 1
Cherry Red Combined Counties North Premier
28th January 2023
Jets after another long lay off had the daunting task of playing second-placed Reading City who have lost just one game this season and that’s to leaders Ascot as the two clear favourites for promotion.
Jets gave a debut to a young goal-scoring prospect Tom Flanagan who at sixteen was playing his first men’s game also.
The Jets team under Tom & Dave are progressing greatly and the performance today was fantastic meeting the excellent high flyers toe to-toe in a superb first half, and Jets had two very good chances that they could and probably should have been netted by Owen Ayres and Tom Flanagan.
At the other end, Jets were defending hard and in numbers, but you have to single out one stunning save by Lewis Lavin who turned somehow in mid-air to keep Jets level, a real stunner.
The second half was as competitive but Jets were under a good percentage of more pressure as the young legs tired and Reading more desperately pushed on. Jets needed all five subs to hold the pressure out emphasising Dave Barnes’s attitude that the games can be won from the bench and that everybody in the 16-man squad has a part to play.
For Jets it was a heartbreak with just twelve minutes to play as Reading found that goal, and it was a classy goal at least that finally took the points from Jets, a game that only a few weeks ago would have been a battering. I personally felt so sorry for our lads today, we were never looking like winning it but hell we dug deep and I was proud of the side today.
This is the first meeting ever between the clubs and what a smashing club they are. The Reading manager openly praised the young Jets admitting “you had us in big trouble first half”.
Carlsberg’s Jets man of the match went to young Jack James who was outstanding in a match that saw him also have to change positions during the game.
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