The Jersey Cup

Referee: A. Austin Linesmen: Sgt O’Brien J.W. Johnson

Middle Barton: M Hazell G. Cox T. Smith T. Lowden R. Cox A. Stewart W. Dempsey J. Stevens R. Gascoigne D. Jarvis P. Bauckham.

Middle Barton Scorers: P Bauckham 1 W Dempsey 1

Heyford Athletic: Cross Buswell Scraggs Badby B. Walton Faulkner Beasley Varney Darvill Allen McPhee

Heyford Athletic Scorers: McPhee 1

The Lord Jersey Cup prized trophy among local village clubs since 1888 goes back to Middle Barton for another year.

At the Oxford Road Sports Ground on Easter Monday, Barton pipped Heyford Athletic 2-1 to become the first club to win the Jersey Cup in successive years since Kirtlington pulled it off in 1948 – 49. Barton’s magnificent record this was their fifth consecutive final appearance, deserves the warmest praise.

But success and achievement are often mixed with irony. Take away the Barton record and you are left with the worst Jersey Cup final in years. Monday’s clash between the two giants of Bicester area village football was a flop of the season.

A large Bank holiday crowd turned out to watch this match, expecting a feast of thrills. All they got for their money was ninety bread-and-water minutes. The football was sub-standard, thrills were few, excitement was total absent and what cheers there were at the start turned to jeers among some sections of the crowd. Jersey Cup finals crowds of yesteryear have always been colourful, noisy, partisan, and vociferous. Monday’s throng was bored and silent.

Barton deserved their victory simply because they scored twice as many goals as Heyford. A strangely subdued Pete Bauckham snatched Barton’s first goal and Bill Dempsey scored the second, but the Barton cup-fighting machine never lived up to its reputation.

Heyford Athletic, County Junior Shield semi-finalist and Mid-Oxon Junior League champions, were even worse. Their experienced attack fizzled and spluttered like a tired engine and never at any time looked like repeating the power, which crushed Brill ten days previous.

Alex McPhee, Heyford’s left-winger was the best forward in an attack that was barren of ideas. He scored a great goal in the second half. Heyford’s 17 year-old goalkeeper Tony Cross came through his first Jersey Cup Final with flying colours. He didn’t have a chance with the goals, which beat him, but showed the crowd his worth with a number of top-drawer saves.

After a short-lived Heyford attack soon after the start Barton took control until the interval. They pounded away at the Heyford defence but rarely looked like breaking through until a tragic blunder gave them a gift goal.
Faulkner under pressure from two advancing Barton forwards put the ball back to cross in the 30th minute. As it rolled towards Cross, in dashed Bauckham to collect, round the goalkeeper, and lashed the ball into the yawning net.

Athletic took up the offensive in the second half and were rewarded in the 65th minute when McPhee unleashed a rocket drive from 20 yards, which beat Hazell all the way.

Spectators were already talking about a replay twelve minutes later when Dempsey scored the winner for Barton after a scramble in the Heyford penalty area. As the final minutes ticked away, Heyford tried hard for the winner, but their attempts lacked method and Barton were never really in danger of losing their lead.

Athletic’s last chance came and went in the dying seconds when winger Dave Beasley, moving into the centre raced Hazell for a lose ball. The ball slowed down to a trickle as Beasley thundered in but it bounced up into Hazell’s grateful arms with Beasley only a yard away. Almost immediately afterwards referee Alex Austin ended the match and hundreds of old footballers trooped out of the Sports Ground reflecting that things are not what they used to be.

Result : Middle Barton 2, Heyford Athletic 1.

The trophy and medals were presented by Mr Joseph Ancil of Launton, who was introduced by Mr Eric Roderick, chairman of the Lord Jersey F.A.