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a special day for the legend

JETS 5 ILFORD 2
F.A. Cup Preliminary Round
30th August 2008

Having beaten Hertford Town 5-0 in the extra preliminary round of the F.A. Cup two weeks ago, Jets welcomed Ilford of the Ryman Division 1 North to the Boundary Stadium for this F.A. Cup tie.

Jets got off to a flying start with a goal after 5 minutes. Lee Grace knocked the ball into the area, Paul Turner won the near post header and the ball fell to Tim O’Mara on the far post who stabbed home the opener.

Jets made it two when Tim O’Mara turned provider, breaking the offside trap when running onto a through ball from Paul Turner, then drawing the keeper and defender before squaring for Jamie Arthur to tap into an empty net.

It has to be said that between these two goals, and for much of the first half, Ilford had the best of the possession, but they didn’t create the same clear cut chances that the Jets made.

Right on half time came a pivotal moment of the game. With Ilford looking to get something to reduce the deficit before half time there was a 50/50 challenge in the Jets area won by Jets keeper Kevin Paul. Ilford felt the challenge was unfair and made loud claims for a penalty and were upset that their claims went unheeded.

Jets started well in the 2nd half and both Tim O’Mara and Jamie Arthur had good chances to extend the lead. Then, on the hour, Jets made it 3-0 when Paul Turner (who was given the sponsor's Man of the Match for his performance today) finished off a Lee Grace cross at the back post.

The 3 goal lead, however, was short lived as Ilford pulled one back within a minute, taking advantage of a muddle at the back of The Jets defence and heading past ’keeper Paul. This gave Ilford new impetus and Jets showed signs of wobbling as Ilford came hard at their lower league opponents.

Any concerns of letting Ilford right back into the game were finally killed off when Tim O’Mara went clear on the right wing with a through ball from Nathan Roberts and, in a move similar to the 2nd goal, drew the Ilford defenders before squaring for Jamie Arthur to put away his second of the game and nail the game.

4-1 up but the best was still to come. Jets took the opportunity for substitutions, and on came club “Legend “ Gary Page. Gary has long been a legend at the club with his goal scoring records over many years but had never had the opportunity to play in the F.A. Cup. For Gary to finally get the chance to play in the F.A. Cup was a special day for him, and the club. But, typical of Gary, his 10 minute appearance was not going to pass without a goal and, after rounding three defenders, he squeezed home a shot between the ‘keeper and the goalpost to make it a day not to forget.

Ilford scored a consolation goal in stoppage time to make the final score 5-2.

Gary (picture, left) was delighted with his day. “I really appreciate the club giving me the chance to do this today. I’ve been at the club a long time and thought my opportunity to play, and score, in the F.A. Cup had gone. It’s fantastic!”

A great day for the club. Beating higher league opponents in the F.A. Cup is always good, doing it by 5-2 is outstanding, and having your Club Legend get a goal in his first ever F.A. Cup appearance makes it a special day.

Jets will now host either Dulwich Hamlet or Broxbourne Borough (who drew 1-1 and now replay at Broxbourne Tuesday night) in two weeks time (13th Sept).

 

jets edge past saints

JETS 2 ST MARGARETSBURY 1
Spartan Midlands Premier Division
27th August 2008

Jets came through against a quality St Margaretsbury side with a hard fought 2-1 win on Wednesday night.

Jets got off to the worst possible start as St Margaretsbury started brightly and took the lead after only 4 minutes. Chris Harding was beaten in the air at the near post and the looping header fell to a Saints forward who tapped in at the far post.

The first half was then pretty even with both sides playing some good football but St Margaretsbury were worth their lead. It looked as if St Margaretsbury would go in leading at half time but well into stoppage time Jets came up with an equaliser. Paul Turner rode three tackles and, despite being at an acute angle to the goal, managed to hammer home from 12 yards out. St Margaretsbury went in at the half shaken by the equaliser, whilst Jets went in on a high.

Jets started much better in the 2nd half and had a number of near misses, including a Lee Grace shot that came back off the crossbar, and 2 Jets efforts that were cleared off the line. The Saints keeper then made a superb save from a long range Lee Grace effort.

Finally, with 15 minutes left, Jets broke the deadlock. Jamie Arthur laid the ball square and, although it looked as if it wasn’t going to reach Tim O’Mara, Tim managed to tap the ball past the out-coming keeper. he then got the ball back on the 6 yard line, positioned himself, and shot home between two Saints defenders on the line. 2-1 to Jets.

St Margaretsbury then showed why they will be a threat to anyone in this league this season, as they came charging back at Jets and for the last 10-15 minutes it was all one way traffic with Jets holding on desperately to what they had. With 3 minutes left it looked like the Saints had come up with the equaliser but an outstanding save by Kevin Paul denied them.

Jets then held on to take the 2-1 win and three points that moves them into the top 5.

Tim O'Mara (2), Paul Turner and Jamie Arthur (2) got the goals for Jets on Saturday against Brimsdown Rovers

jets give it five

JETS 5 BRIMSDOWN ROVERS 0
Spartan Midlands Premier Division
23rd August 2008

Jets got their first Premier division win of the season and their third 5-0 win in five matches. It was also good to get a win over Brimsdown, a team that had done the double over us last year.

Tim O’Mara started the scoring after 10 minutes and Jamie Arthur made it two before half-time, having been put through by Wayne Gladdy after some good work down the right.

Half time talk was of the 2-goal leads Jets had given up in their previous two league games and Bennie Higham was looking for the team to keep their focus and get the job done.

Well, it only took 23 seconds of the 2nd half for Jets to extend their lead, the ball being moved out wide to Paul Turner whose lobbed shot was misjudged by the Brimsdown keeper and dropped underneath the crossbar to make it 3-0.

This set Jets up for the 2nd half, and the lead was extended again, just 2 minutes later when Jamie Arthur was put through and he fired home from the edge of the penalty area.

Jets were now in buoyant mood and had most of the play and probably should have scored more, and also had a penalty appeal turned down before eventually getting their fifth goal. Wayne Gladdy broke down the right hand side, and a good cross was met by Tim O’Mara who coolly chested down and side footed past the Rovers keeper.

Both teams then seemed to settle for the result, made use of their substitutes and played out the rest of the game. Bennie Higham was pleased with the performance and glad that Jets had been able to get their first league win of the season.

Jets will be concerned, however, about the loss of Jamie Arthur to injury which means he will probably miss the midweek league game against St Margaretsbury and next weekend’s F.A. Cup tie against Ilford.

 

 

fa cup thrills briNG PEACE TO THE JETS

JETS 5 HERTFORD TOWN 0
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
16th August 2008

Tim O'Mara bagged a first ever Oxhey Jets FA Cup hat-trick as Jets crushed Hertford Town 5-0 to progress in the competition to a tie at home to Ilford on Saturday 30th August (3pm kick off).

Jets were sporting their new kit promoting the clubs new commitment to raise money and support for the Watford Peace Hospice. Jets opened the scoring after only 8 minutes when TIM O'MARA hammered home from close range after an awful miss in the first minute of the game that had the hot striker holding his head in despair. PAUL TURNER headed home number two after 24 minutes and Jets were in their own personal danger zone. Twice in the last two games Jets have thrown away a two goal lead, and in the half time team talk manager Benny Higham warned strongly about the dangers of falling deep.

Jets were in no mood for a tight half hour and this time went for the throat from kick off. With just five minutes of the second half played TIM O'MARA  added his second and within a minute of the restart the Hertford defence was split wide open as a ball from Wayne Gladdy tore them open and JAMIE  ARTHUR slotted and Jets looked safe.

Hertford pushed for some respectability and keeper Kevin Paul was kept on his toes, but it was Jets who had the last word, when TIM O'MARA rounded the keeper to complete a super hat-trick from a tight angle. Jets were thrilled at the result against their much fancied fellow Spartan rivals.

The proud FA cup day was also a sweet memory for two young FA Cup debutants in the form of Carl Wigg and Adam Lowton, who can now proudly say our names are on a FA Cup team sheet.

Hertford Town's Game Report

(Left) Give us a smile Bennie! You must be well pleased with that.

 

(Below) Adam Lowton and Carl Wigg made their F.A. Cup debuts in the 5-0 win.

 

 

(Above) Paul Turner (partially hidden by red shirts) scores Jets 2nd, with Jamie Arthur following up on the line to make sure..

(Left) Tim O'Mara turns after scoring. Tim's hat-trick was Jets first ever hat-trick in the F.A. Cup.

(Below) Referee assessor Fred Weaving making his notes during the game, and the referee and his assistants inspecting the pitch prior to the game. Hertford described the pitch as a superb playing surface..

 

 

jets hold on again

JETS 3 LEVERSTOCK GREEN 3
Spartan Minerva Premier Division
13th August 2008

Jets and Leverstock Green shared 6 goals in an entertaining game at Boundary Stadium on Wednesday night.

Jets started the scoring in the 10th minute with a headed goal from Tim O’Mara. Jets were worth the lead but Green equalised with a powerful shot from the edge of the area after Jets failed to clear a corner.

It looked like all square at half time, only for Jamie Arthur to latch onto a poor defensive header and run through to score for Jets right before the break. Jamie added another within 3 minutes of the restart when Green failed to clear the ball.

Green still looked dangerous, however, and as the game went on they pushed forward and caused Jets problems. Green pulled one back with 15 minutes to go, and then put Jets under lots of pressure as they searched for the equaliser. With 4 minutes it finally came, a close range finish from a dangerous low cross into the box.

Overall a fair result in an entertaining game played in a good spirit.

Bad news for Jets was that Mitchell Murphy had to be taken to hospital with a leg injury. He was released from hospital early on Thursday on crutches with knee ligament damage. We wish Mitchell a speedy recovery.

Leverstock Green's Game Report

opening day point by the grace of.....grace

HARINGEY BOROUGH 2 JETS 2
Spartan Minerva Premier Division
9th August 2008

Player of the year Lee Grace saved a deserved point on the opening game of the season for Jets away at promoted Haringey Borough. Jets management never did fancy the away game at the returning club’s ground as it was clear that they were really up for their opening game on their return to the Premier Division, and when the battle scars die down both will feel happy with the point.

In the classic " game of two halves" syndrome it would be easy to think that Jets were lucky to get their point, and on the second half that would be true, but that would bear no credit to the first half performance that saw them a goal in front at half time, that became two early in the second period.  Paul Turner opened for Jets in the 23rd minute of the new season with a thunder header from Mitchell Murphy's free kick. Jets could and should have added and twice were denied goal scoring chances when they were pulled back for free kicks, when the advantage was a better option. 

Paul Turner added number two in the 60th minute even though it was the home side doing all the pushing at this stage. The crucial point  was the injuries to Mitchell Murphy, who was withdrawn at half time, and later to Colin Jenkins, Jets never really looked in good shape after the changes.

Haringey pulled one back with twenty minutes to go, and it’s fair that not many Jets people would have been expecting to hold out unless the balance of the game changed again. With fifteen minutes to play Colin Jenkins came off injured and on a slippery pitch substitute Chris Ingham struggled and made the slip that led to the break to tie up the game at 2-2.

Jets rallied after that and should have snatched the lead when clear on two occasions but no final shot materialised, David Jacks in goal for Jets pulled off a handful of good saves and the game was heading for the deserved ((on the whole game) draw, when Haringey hit a thunderous shot that was goal bound, and looked all but the winner when from somewhere, and somehow Might Mouse Lee Grace cleared off the line and saved Jets a point. Both sides will say what if and we should have, but the neutrals and the honest will say "about right".

Haringey Borough's Game Report

KEV PAUL'S OFF THE SAVES,  
aS JAMIE LEAVES JETS GLADDY ALL OVER !!

JETS 5 WELWYN GARDEN CITY 0
Herts FA Charity Shield
2nd August 2008

Jets got their competitive season off to a good start at the Boundary Stadium, and avenged their semi-final defeat in the same competition last season, by Welwyn Garden City, by winning 5-0.

Jets were boosted by the return of many of last seasons injured players and looked more their old self. The welcome return of Kevin Paul in goal and his performance and saves proved pivotal in this win, as, in fairness to Welwyn, they had chance after chance in the end to end first half, some that were squandered and others denied by the outstanding keeper.

It was Jets who took the early control when the re-energised man of the match Wayne Gladdy opened the Welwyn right flank up and delivered a pin-point cross for JAMIE ARTHUR to head home (10 min).

Welwyn made life difficult for themselves when their no 9 was sent off for violent contact in the 23rd minute for slapping Ian Bywater in the face, something that his mother should have done years ago !!   Welwyn came on strong at this stage and manager Benny Higham was forced to make a substitution to steady the wobbling defence, with "old codger" Colin Jenkins replaced by Antony Sheppard. In the 43rd minute JAMIE ARTHUR again went after the defence and forced Jason Williams to edge the ball into his own net. Half time Oxhey Jets 2 Welwyn Garden City 0

Jets were not happy with the performance and words were said, it was widely believed that the first ten minutes were crucial as it would either kill the game or edge Jets back into a battle, and it went Jets way as they went  for broke and attacked. JAMIE ARTHUR beat the advancing keeper as the bounce went his way and coolly slotted at 3-0.

In the 69th Minute it was all over as JAMIE ARTHUR completed his first day hat-trick with a screamer from 25 yards for 4-0. Young debutant Berat Ismayli  finished  a fine run and squared for last season’s top scorer TIM O'MARA to notch number 5 in the 80th minute to complete the scoring.

It was not spectacular but, after last season, a great start. Jets were boosted when over 150 people turned up to watch the 1-1 draw on Thursday in a pre season friendly against Barnet Town academy, in a wonderful all out attacking game, both teams were given a standing ovation at the end by the highly entertained crowd.