Peterborough & District Premier League: Oakham United 1-5 Leverington Sports

7th October 2023

Oakham United vs Leverington Sports @ Newton Fallowell Meadows - Oakham

Peterborough & District Premier Division (Step 7)

14:00 KO

Free entry

Attendance - approx. 30-40

Half-time score: Oakham United 0-4 Leverington Sports

Goals:

Leverington Sports: Hamilton - 13', 15', 28'

Leverington Sports: Gadsden - 43'

Oakham United: Staggs - 59' (P)

Leverington Sports: Garner - 78'

Final Score: Oakham United 1-5 Leverington Sports

The 7th October marks an important anniversary for me, so we headed up to one of our favourite parts of the country, the scenic Rutland Water and Welland Valley, for a much needed break. However, being a big fan of non-league football, I am always on the lookout for a game, and the one at Oakham United certainly caught my eye, pitching 2nd place Oakham United against 5th place Leverington Sports in the Premier Division of the Peterborough & District League, a sister league to the Anglian Combination.

Upon arrival at the ground, I was incredibly impressed with the facilities, a beautiful wooded car park, a modern club house, a neatly manicured and flat pitch with a metal fence around the perimeter, a nice new pine stand with benches, all set against the scenic rolling hills of Rutland, top notch! Whilst there were no matchday programmes, the sale of pin badges did make up for this, so I picked one up for £3.

It was a gloriously sunny day, perfect conditions for football and a cool beer. Oakham United were wearing yellow and green, reminiscent of Norwich City, with Leverington Sports in a blue strip.

KEY MOMENTS

OU = Oakham United

LS = Leverington Sports

13' - LS - GOAL (0-1) - From nothing, Hamilton is through, he picks up the long ball and with acres of space and time, he easily slots in past the stranded keeper.

15' - LS - GOAL (0-2) - No. 10 releases captain Hamilton, he performs a brilliant jink to round the final defender, opens his body then blasts in across the keeper, classic forward play from the captain.

25' - OU - Dobson cuts into the box, he stays strong to keep hold of the ball despite some some strong challenges, he then fires in a low pacey ball across the box, the No.11 swivels and shoots with a first time shot, but it is deflected wide off a defender, followed by some half-hearted shouts for handball.

27' - OU - The No.10 is threaded through by a deft ball from the No.7, his effort at the near-post is saved, it rolls across the box and Dobson lines up a shot into the wide open goal, but a defender gets to it moments before to knock it away from danger, and taking a knock in the process.

28' - LS - GOAL (0-3) - Hamilton is played through again, he cuts across the box under the attention of a defender, but he shakes him off and blasts in a shot, which flies underneath the diving keeper, and puts Leverington 3-0 up with less than 30mins played, it was looking a long way back for the hosts.

43' - LS - GOAL (0-4) - Just before the half was over, Leverington bag a 4th. Gadsden picks up the ball from a deep position and goes on a surging run through the field, he finds the No.3 out on the left wing, whose first time cross evades the keeper and falls to Hamilton, who lays the ball back to Gadsden who had continued his run, and he curls his shot around the keeper and into the right-hand side of the goal, tucking in just before the post, an exquisite finish from a move he initially kicked-off, surely game over?

57' - LS - From a Leverington corner, a flicked back header is subsequently headed towards to goal by the No.3, the connection is good, but it is too close to the keeper who was able to make a relatively comfortable save above his head.

59' - OU - GOAL (1-4) - Oakham are awarded a penalty as Dobson goes on a run inside the box, suffering several nibbles to his heels in the process, so there can be no complaints here. Staggs steps up to take the penalty, and he fires home with aplomb, an assured strike into the inside of the side-netting, leaving the keeper no chance.

78' - LS - GOAL (1-5) - Substitute Garner is put through, from outside the box he hits a laser accurate strike to the bottom left, which pings off the inside of the post and in, putting to bed any slims chances of a late comeback.

80' - OU - From a set-piece, the keeper comes off his line to clear, but the ball falls to substitute No.15 who prods the ball in over the keeper, it is headed towards goal and is heading in, but the No.3 heads the ball off the line.

Not the best afternoon for Oakham United, they were outplayed and outclassed all game, struggling to break through the Leverington back-line, and looking exposed at the back. Hopefully just a bad day at the office, they are still 3rd in the league, and I hope that they can push towards promotion, will be great to have a Rutland based team in the semi-professional leagues, and they certainly have the facilities to back this up. Leverington Sports were deserved winners, they played some nice neat football, with striker and captain Kieran Hamilton bagging a hattrick and causing problems all game, fantastic performance from him, and I was also impressed with Gadsden and the red-haired winger, No.3. Overall Oakham United is a brilliant non-league ground, and was certainly worth the visit, I wish both teams every success for the season ahead.

Line-Ups:

OAKHAM UNITED (in alphabetical order): Oliver Cox, Jamar Dobson, Lewis Duncan, Cemal Korkmaz, Jordan O'Rouke, Robert Parker-Meadows, Edward Sakovich, George Staggs, Jamie Stephens, John Swales, Michael Uff. SUBS: Mikey Baird, Stewart Lambie, Jack Pitt.

LEVERINGTON SPORTS (in alphabetical order): Josh Balding, Kieran Bates, Jake Gadsden, Kieran Hamilton, Dean Jimson, Vadym Khakimov, Jake Ogden, Dale Palmer, Daniel Palmer, Kevin Smith, Callum Young. SUBS: Jason Bradshaw, Josh Williams, Louie Garner.