Oxhey Jets 2 Woodley United 2

Just one kick from all three points !!

Jets again showed the yo-yo form they are capable of with a superb performance against promotion-chasing Woodley.

Jets were massively injury hit and had to scrape a side with no recognised forwards in the squad, so the delight with opening the scoring after just thirty-three seconds was a bonus as Lucio Cappuccini played in Harvey Hoyte to place the ball past the keeper (1-0 33 secs)

Jets were buzzing, and the football was far more flowing than of late, playing much more positively and forward, and only a top save by the opponent’s keeper stopped Jets from doubling the lead.

Jets were making untidy errors, and twice Young Austin Ayres came to the rescue in another excellent game for him.

Another attacking period followed, and Paulie Portes-Schuster latched onto a clearance and steered home Jets’ second (2-0, 18 mins)

Jets kept flowing, and the half came to an end too soon, and the worry was that Jets would lose their momentum and the promotion hunters would up their game.

Unfortunately, Woodley got back in the match early when Kaylum Barlow notched just six minutes after the restart, and the game swung with both sides missing what looked like bolt-on chances and both keepers pulling out the saves. Then a few minutes of mayhem were to kick Jets where it hurts. Lucio Cappuccini was harshly judged to have fouled when, in a full-bodied men’s game, the decision was harsh. Then, later, his clearance upfield was somehow looked at as kicking the ball away, and a second yellow was shown, a dreadful decision! (87 mins)

Still, it was end-to-end and then, what turned out to be points suicide, as Jets broke through with a three-on-one defender, but the awful pass found the one defender and the ball pumped straight upfield. Jets again cleared the danger, but a corner was awarded that Woodley swung in and scored, via a defender and in off the post, the equaliser. There were long and furious protests from the Jets players and the keeper that the ball had gone out of play, and it curled in, the official looking clueless, not even consulting with the assistant.

No time to do anything but kick off again. The game ended on the restart, and a gutted blow for Jets, who lost at the away game to Woodley with, in that case, a last-minute goal, but this was literally the last touch!

Jets are a yo-yo team. You don’t know match by match what you are going to get, but the great hope is the shared man of the match. Just 48 hours earlier, Harvey Hoyte was skippering Jets u18s to the league title for the second season on the bounce with a 4-1 win at Amersham, and he shared the Man of the Match here with Austin Ayres, who was incredible in Jets’ goal again, being an absolute sensation since his call-up.