Match Preview | Worksop Town v Oxford City
The Hoops continue road trip
Oxford City face third third consecutive away trip as they travel to Worksop in anticipation of their first three points on the road in the Enterprise National League North.
The Hoops have journeyed to Radcliffe and Leamington in the last two games and only picked up one point from them. Mid you, both games have had penalty decisions go against City...
The Hoops' last game was a dramatic 3-2 win over Oxford United in the Oxfordshire Senior Cup, as Brayden Daniel and Jack Bearne scored 97th and 98th minute goals respectively.
Worksop come into this fixture with a reserve of good results. Unbeaten in four and back-to-back wins will certainly be enough to convince Tigers fans that they can pick up another win.
Earlier in the season, when Worksop travelled The MGroup Stadium, City won 2-0. Jacob Roddy scored in the opening minutes of the game and Isaac Westendorf scored in the closing minutes of the game. It was the first time City went back-to-back for the season.
Oxford City Manager Ross Jenkins said: "We have had a tricky few games, with decisions going against us, but that's no excuse. We have to play better and shrug it off and go again.
"The boys have been excellent during the week and the win over Oxford United was a good chance to get some more minutes into the lads."
FIXTURE DETAILS
Worksop Town v Oxford City
The Mounting Systems Stadium - Saturday 14th February – 3:00pm
Enterprise National League North
Referee: Ben Wyatt Assistant Referees: Ethan Nundy & Joshua Thompson Fourth Official: Waqar Ahmad
FORM
WORKSOP TOWN - L D D W W
Worksop are unbeaten in the last four games.
A home draw against Darlington and an away draw against Scarborough followed up by a 3-1 win over Telford and a 1-0 victory against King's Lynn mean Worksop have climbed up to 15th in the league.
Only two sides in the league have conceded more goals than the Tigers and their -14 goal difference is equal to Hereford who sit in 23rd.
OXFORD CITY - L W L L D
The Hoops haven't won since they defeated AFC Fylde at home when Ewan Clark slotted in off the post. A tough defeat against South Shields was followed up by another tough defeat away to Radcliffe.
Saturday's draw against Leamington stings for The Hoops as they look to close the gap on the teams sat above the relegation zone.
City started the year strongly and will look to get back to that form on the weekend.
ONE TO WATCH - Aaron Martin
Martin began his career at the academies of Sheffield United and Barnsley before breaking into senior football with Staveley Miners Welfare. He later played for Worksop Parramore, Goole, Sheffield FC and lastly Brighouse, where he scored 30 goals in one season and earned the Player of the Year award.
That form earned him a move to Guiseley AFC, where he continued his good form with 17 goals in 20 games. Martin then joined Harrogate Town and helped them get promoted to the EFL with five goals and six assists.
After this, he had short spells at Halifax and Gateshead, before joining South Shields and scoring 11 goals in his final season before joining Worksop.
The 34-year-old impressed in pre-season but was injured before the season started, which left him out until November 2024. However, Martin continued to score like he did in pre-season and got nine goals for the Tigers in the 2024/25 season.
THE MANAGER - Craig Parry
Parry was a goalkeeper for Barnsley, Halifax Town, Bradford Park Avenue, Goole, Garforth Town and Pontefract Collieries before becoming manager of the latter. He guided the Colls to back-to-back promotions to the NPL South East (Step 4) and he came close to another promotion but lost to Brighouse Town in the final.
In his final season with Pontefract, they were fourth in the league before the season was cancelled due to COVID.
Parry became manager of the Tigers in May 2020, which meant his first season (2020/21), which was cut short due to COVID once again.
After a solid 8th-place finish and a Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup win in his first full season, Parry guided them during a record-breaking season when the Tigers won the NPL East.
In their first season in the NPL Premier Division, Parry took the Tigers to the playoff, where they lost to Macclesfield in the semi-final. However, they did win the Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup. In the next season, Parry achieved the double with Worksop Town, gaining promotion through the playoffs and winning the Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup final once again.
HOW TO FOLLOW
FOLLOW THE ACTION:
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There's also LIVE commentary on BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website.
