Town claims 9-0 victory over Oxford

Oxford...0

BANBRIDGE Town romped to victory at the weekend with a massive nine-nil victory over Oxford United.

The team executed a confident performance as they cruised to success at Crystal Park on Saturday - giving them increased belief that they can give Ballymena United a run for their money this weekend in the CIS cup.

The side has slowly but surely been returning to full strength following the summer holidays, with around 18 squad members all competing for places on the first team.

Player Paul Evans said Saturday’s Bob Radcliffe Cup performance was a credit to the team. “We played a team that was a few leagues below us but we still had to go out there with the right frame of mind and that’s what we did,” said the midfielder.

“I think the team thoroughly deserved a good win. We didn’t take it for granted. We put on a good, professional performance where everybody played well.”

A three-nil half-time score may have been good enough for some fans but the second half was set to provide even more thrills with six further goals. The standout goal according to club chairman Andrew Cully came from Damian McParland, with Stefan Campbell scoring a hat-trick to add to the day’s excitement.

Looking ahead to this weekend’s game, Paul said the recent win will not give them false hope but has served to add to the confident form the team have been building up in recent weeks.

“Ballymena are a league above us so it’s going to be a very difficult game,” said Paul. “But we have a confidence over this past while. We played Limavady United a while back and left with a clean sheet so that gave us a boost.

“That, added to the good squad we’re building up means we’ve got a good healthy competition for places. That can only make us better,” he added.

Kick-off on Saturday at Crystal Park is at 3pm and gate receipts will be in accordance with CIS senior competition guidelines.