Bexhill United Under 23 5 v 3 Hailsham Town

Wednesday 19th March 2025, Kick-off 19.30

Eastbourne FA Challenge Cup Semi Final

The Polegrove, Bexhill-on-Sea

Admission: £2.00

Programme: None

Attendance: 50 (estimate)

Crowborough Athletic 2 v 0 Peacehaven & Telscombe

Tuesday 18th March 2025, Kick-off 20.00

Peter Bentley (SCFL League) Cup Semi Final

The Oval, Eastbourne

Admission: £7.00

Programme: Free

Attendance: 129

Charlton Athletic 2 v 1 Wigan Athletic

Saturday 15th March 2025, Kick-off 15.00
EFL League One
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.50
Attendance: 16,491 (596 away)

A match report from a Charlton perspective can be read by clicking here

And from a Wigan perspective by clicking here

Brief video highlights can be viewed by clicking here

Olympique Lyonnais 4 v 0 FCSB

Thursday 13th March 2025, Kick-off 21.00

Europa League Round of 16 Second Leg

Olympique Lyonnais won 7-1 on aggregate

Groupama Stadium, Lyon

Admission: Season Ticket

Programme: €25.00 (plus €2.00 mandatory admin fee)

Attendance: 37,000 (approximate)

A match report can be read by clicking here, also copied and pasted below

Video highlights can be viewed by clicking here

OL - FCSB: Les Lyonnais qualify for the quarter finals! (4-0)

After a match that was controlled from start to finish, our Lyonnais team have qualified for the quarter finals of the Europa League and will face Manchester United.

OL - FCSB: Les Lyonnais qualify for the quarter finals! (4-0)

Match Highlights

1‘ Here we go, let's go get that qualification, Les Gones!

14’ GOAL! Georges Mikautadze is found in the opposition penalty area. He outwits one, two, three Romanian defenders and beats the opposition goalkeeper with his left foot. 1-0!

37' Ernest Nuamah hits Zima's right-hand post and then misses the target even though the goal was empty.

37‘ GOAL! After his miss and the poor Romanian restart, Ernest Nuamah finds the back of the net. Georges Mikautadze finds himself the passer and serves the Ghanaian who does not miss the mark this time. 2-0!

45+1’ Half-time.

47' GOAL! Rayan Cherki gets past a defender and sees Georges Mikautadze at the penalty spot, he sets him up. The Georgian controls and beats the opposing goalkeeper once again. 3-0!

88‘ GOAL! Thiago Almada, who has been on the ball well since coming on, finds Georges Mikautadze, who crosses for Nuamah. The Ghanaian scores his second goal in a stadium on fire! 4-0!

90’ Full time and qualification for our Gones for the quarter finals of the Europa League!

 Match Report & Analysis

Another European night at the Groupama Stadium! Our Gones are hosting the Romanians of FCSB. After winning the first leg 3-1, Paulo Fonseca's men are well on their way to qualifying for the quarter-finals. Especially as confidence is at its highest after the victory in Nice last Sunday.

For this round of 16 second leg, the Portuguese coach has decided to field Abner on the left and Jordan Veretout alongside Tanner Tessmann. Otherwise, nothing changes.

The start of the match is clearly in favour of our Lyonnais and it doesn't take long for them to show their dominance. It took just 14 minutes of play for the first goal of the game to be scored. Georges Mikautadze is found in the opposition penalty area. He outmanoeuvred one, two, three Romanian defenders and beat the opposing goalkeeper with his left foot. 1-0! The Romanians were overwhelmed by the liveliness of our attackers, Ernest Nuamah, Georges Mikautadze and Rayan Cherki combined at every turn. Ernest Nuamah hit Zima's right-hand post and then missed the target even though the goal was empty. But he made up for it straight away! After his miss and the poor Romanian counter-attack, Ernest Nuamah found the back of the net. Georges Mikautadze found himself as a passer and served the Ghanaian who didn't miss the mark this time. 2-0! Corentin Tolisso's team-mates didn't want to give up and would surely have wanted to push on in the second half.

After the break, our Gones didn't slow down, on the contrary. Rayan Cherki eliminated a defender and saw Georges Mikautadze at the penalty spot, he served him. The Georgian controlled and once again adjusted the opposing goalkeeper. 3-0! Not only a brace for Mikautadze, but also a brace of assists for Rayan Cherki, who is flying up the ranking of the competition's best passers with 8 assists.

5-1 on aggregate, qualification is almost assured, but the Red and Blue are still pushing. With the return of Thiago Almada and Malick Fofana, Paulo Fonseca shows that he still wants his team to score. And it happens in the 88th minute: Thiago Almada, who has been on form since coming on, finds Georges Mikautadze, who crosses for Nuamah. The Ghanaian scores his second in a stadium on fire! 4-0!

Our Lyonnais team qualify for the quarter-finals of the Europa League final and will face Manchester United. But there's no rest for Paulo Fonseca and his men as they host Le Havre on Sunday at 3pm.

Match Sheet

 

Groupama Stadium

Europa League Round of 16 Return Leg: Olympique Lyonnais 4-0 FCSB

Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG)

Goals: Georges Mikautadze (14', 47') and Ernest Nuamah (37', 88') for OL

OL: Perri- Abner (Kumbedi 75'), Niakhaté (Caleta-Car 46'), Mata, Maitland-Niles - Tessmann (Almada 53'), Veretout, Nuamah, Tolisso (C) (Matic 53'), Cherki (Fofana 65') - Mikautadze. Coach: Paulo Fonseca

FCSB: Zima - Radunovic (Miculescu 46'), Dawa, Ngezana, Cretu (Popescu 46') - Sut (C) (Musi 46'), Chiriches, Toma (Gheorghita 79'), Edjouma (Cisoti 46'), Stefanescu - Baluta. Coach: Elías Charalámbous

Photo Credit: Lyubomir Domozetski

Tamworth 1 v 1 Oldham Athletic

Saturday 8th March 2025, Kick-off 15.00

National League

The Lamb, Tamworth

Admission: £18.00 (+ mandatory 95p admin fee)

Programme: £3.00

Attendance: 1,933 (650 away)

A match report from a Tamworth perspective can be read by clicking here , also copied and pasted below.

And from an Oldham perspective by clicking here 

Video highlights can be viewed by clicking here 

Lambs comeback for deserved point v Latics

Creaney hits 99th goal in one all draw

On International Women’s Day, and on the back of the midweek 4-1 home victory over Wealdstone, Andy Peaks Lambs ran out at the Compare The Build Community Stadium once again, this time welcoming The Latics to Tamworth for the first time in the clubs’ respective histories.

Oldham boss Micky Mellon went on record prior to the game stating that some of his squad were not suited to play on the Lambs artificial surface, and coupled with squad injuries would be forced to make changes as his side looked to continue their push for a play off place.

The Lambs, who rose to 11th after back to back wins were keen to keep the momentum going to extend their 4 game unbeaten run with a possibility of moving higher in the Vanarama National League table with they could record a positive result, mindful of the 4-0 reversal at Boundary Park earlier in the season.

With the away end packed out with the travelling faithful a bumper crowd roared the sides onto the pitch as The Tamworth Academy and Ladies sides formed a guard of honour, and mascots from Gillway U11s lead the Lambs out.

Tamworth kicked off towards the away end in the first half but Oldham made the early forays forwards, forcing Hollis to head a cross behind for a corner on 4 and the same player cleared his lines with a mighty boot up field.

Ogle and Pritchard combined on the right on 5 with the former sending the resulting throw into the area but The Lambs cleared their lines and the ball went back to Donaghy in the away goal, only to find his clearance blocked by McGlinchey but it skipped away without the midfielder being able to capitalise.

Digie did well to get his head to a ball over the top of the Lambs back line looking for the run of Uchegbulam on 11, and on 14 a Tonks throw was headed behind by Ogle for a left sided corner which he also took. And although the initial far post header didn’t pose a threat, Cockerill-Mollett followed up with another header which dropped towards goal forcing Donaghy to punch it away from under the bar.

Pritchard loaded a right sided freekick on 17 and from Creaney’s defensive header Fondop swivelled on the dropping ball to fire into the arms of Singh from 18 yards.

The ball then made it’s way through to Pritchard on the left of the D despite calls for offside in the build against Fondop, and the former managed to get a shot on target which was easy for Singh.

A Tonks throw on the right forced a corner on the same side on 22 and Maher planted the ball onto Hollis’ head but he couldn’t get direction on it and it went high before dropping into the away end.

There were then shouts for an Oldham penalty when Fondop went toe to toe in the area with Hollis and Cockerill-Mollett on 24 but there referee waved away appeals when he went to ground.

When Maher was brought down in the middle of the Athletic half on 28 and although the training ground move was eventually blocked by the visiting defence, Tamworth kept up the pressure with Tonks launching a throw from the left into the near post and there were shouts for handball before the whistle blew for a foul on Donaghy.

Donaghy took a header from Creaney with ease on 33, however the build up really asked questions of the Oldham back line as Hollis curled a peach of ball into the box from the left after strong work from Maher and Tshikuna in the build-up.

At the other end, Olge send a throw into the box from the clubhouse which Hollis headed away but it went back out to Fondon on the right and when he tried to step around Cockerill-Mollett he went down over the defender for a penalty to Oldham which Pritchard despatched, sending Singh the wrong way (0-1, 36 mins)

Pritchard tried his luck from 18 yards on 39 after taking the ball down under close attention from Cockerill-Mollett but could only find the Castle End terracing, and a foul on the right gave him another freekick to unleash into the box. It eventually found Fondon and his overhead kick from the edge of the area bounced harmlessly wide amidst wolf-whistles from the crowd.

The Lambs were level on 42 though through a trademark far post header from Creaney after a delightful ball in from Maher from the left. His downward header, his 99th Lambs goal, crept in despite the best efforts of Donaghy and was confirmed by the linesman to the delight of the home faithful. (1-1, 42 mins)

With the bit between their teeth Crompton then drove a right footed piledriver from fully 35 yards just wide of the right hand upright on 44, and Tshikuna struck from a similar position wide of the opposite post in the two minutes added time played before the whistle blew.

The visitors restarted the game, with the Spring sun dropping behind the Castle End terracing which The Lambs were attacking in the second half.

HT 1-1

As with the first half, Oldham started the second penning The Lambs back without really threatening and a corner off a Crompton defensive clearance went far too long and Hobson was booked for blocking the resulting goal kick.

A long Tonks throw was flicked on by Digie at the near post and dropped for Tshikuna but before he could get his head to the ball the whistle had blown for a foul on Donaghy.

After great work from Maher to drill the ball low into the box, McGlinchey was denied a side footed finish in the middle of the box by a combination of two defenders in his path on 57, but the resulting corner from Tonks was headed off target by Creaney past the far post.

A corner was forced off Crompton and after a change for the visitors, Creaney headed the incoming flag kick away and from the ensuing play Maher set himself up with a half volley from distance but failed to test the keeper with his off target strike.

Rossiter was booked for picking the ball up, out of play, and running off with it to deny a quick Lambs throw on 63, and Tonks duly sent it into the area with Digie connecting cleanly, and forcing Donaghy to catch a knee level.

McGlinchey then pulled the ball back for Tshikuna to turn and strike from the edge of the box but his path to goal was blocked.

Substitute Morrison spotted an opening on 70 but was unable to direct his half volley on target, however The Lambs kept up the pressure and from a Tonks throw, Digie was beaten to his header by Donaghy and a corner resulted, which Maher sent too long for Creaney.

From a defensive Cockerill-Mollett header on 73 Pett sent his flag kick into the box and although being initially cleared, Singh had to jump to take the resulting cross from Hobson at height to halt the visitors intentions.

On 75 Uchegbulam got the better of Crompton and shot low at Singh but Hollis was there to prevent a 

need for the keeper to be called into action, and after Enoru replace Maher, Crompton returned the favour, denying the Oldham man a run into the box but needed treatment on the field before play could continue.

Both sides made further changes as the minutes ticked down, and there was a booking for Norwood.

Then, Enoru burst through and nodded the ball past the outrushing keeper but was very wide so pulled it back to the path of Creaney however his strike was low and able to be cleared by the covering defence with Donaghy ultimately recovering to boot it away before anyone else could react.

From a Tonks throw which Donagh punched behind over the head of Cullinane-Liburd and Enoru forced a way through but lifted his strike over the target from the edge of the area.

Another throw, from the right, was cleared as it dropped goalward on 90, and four minutes added time was shown.

Gardner was booked for protesting the play, but then popped up on the edge of the Lambs box and forced Singh into a telling stop from his rifled strike on the left of the area.

There was plenty of time left for Enoru to cause a nuisance again, and Donaghy punched another dangerous throw away on 93 in the final action of a well-earned point.

Tamworth:

Singh (c.), Crompton (Cullinane-Liburd 82), Digie, Hollis, Cockerill-Mollett, Sundire (Morrison 68), Tonks, Tshikuna (Fletcher 83), McGlinchey (Finn 85), Maher (Enoru 77), Creaney

Subs: Raikhy, Ponticelli

YC: (none)

RC: (none)

Oldham Athletic:

Donaghy, Ogle (Caprice 82), Kitching, Pett, Hobson, Fondop, Rossiter, Raglan (c.), Uchegbulam, Yoanagathan (Norwood 59), Pritchard (Gardner 79)

Subs: Dennis, Waters, Hammond, Leake

YC: Hobson 51, Fondop 56, Norwood 84

RC: (none)

Referee: Mr. Alan Dale

Assistants: Mr. Simon Robinson, Mr. Zharir Mustafa

4th Official: Mr. Lewis Smith

Attendance: 1933 (650 away)

Compare the Build Man of the Match chosen by match sponsors:

Charles Titch Precision: Haydn Hollis

Classic Roofing: Ronan Maher