Match Preview | Oxford City v Spennymoor Town
The Hoops return to The MGroup Stadium.
Oxford City welcome Spennymoor Town to The MGroup Stadium in the Enterprise National League North as City look to build on the positives from the first three games of the season.
Having just missed out on a spot in the playoffs last season, The Moors have begun the season on the front foot, albeit, reeling from a heavy defeat in midweek to Kings Lynn Town.
The Hoops are coming into the game with four points in the first three games with a win over Macclesfield at The MGroup Stadium and a draw on the road against Kidderminster.
The last time Spennymoor travelled down to The MGroup Stadium, The Hoops ran away with a 3-0 win but the reverse fixture on the final day of the season saw Spennymoor win 1-0. It is fair to say that is game is a difficult one to predict.
City fans will be buoyed by the positive start to the season. On paper, The Hoops have had the hardest start to the campaign and a result on Saturday will give them plenty of momentum as the games start coming thick and fast.
This is the first of two games in there days. A long journey Chester awaits City on Monday night.
FIXTURE DETAILS
Oxford City v Spennymoor Town
The MGroup Stadium – Saturday 23rd August – 3:00pm
Enterprise National League North
Referee: Jason Porter Assistant Referees: Russell Jones & Manny Chandwani Fourth Official: Daniel Smith
FORM
OXFORD CITY - L W D
City opened the season with a tough defeat away to promotion-favourites AFC Fylde. Goals from Tom Scott and Zac McEachran either side of half time, put The Hoops in a commanding position, but three quick fire goals from The Coasters meant City travelled home with nothing.
The first visitor to The MGroup Stadium this season was newly-promoted Macclesfield. Josh Parker bagged his first of the season as did Alfie Potter. The Silkmen clawed one goal back but couldn't find an equaliser and City were on the board.
The first midweek game for City saw the spoils split evenly with Kidderminster. Jack Bearne's first goal for The Hoops against his former club wasn't enough as Alex Penny's managed to snatch a point for The Harriers.
SPENNYMOOR TOWN - W W L
Spennymoor opened their account with a 2-0 win over Hereford. Two first half goals, courtesy of Glen Taylor and Dan Rowe, were enough to secure all three points for Moors. A well taken strike from Taylor opened the scoring, before Rowe’s smart finish doubled the advantage.
The Moors then travelled to Radcliffe for their first game on the road and it was more of the same. A Glen Taylor double in the second half saw them return to the North East with full points.
Moors fell to heavy defeat at The Brewery Field as rampant King’s Lynn Town inflicted a 5-0 defeat on Graeme Lee’s men.
Goals from Bailey Clements, Reece Hall-Johnson as well as a hat-trick from Michael Gyasi proved the difference for The Linnets as they took all three points back to The Walks.
LAST TIME OUT
It was a memorable day at the MGroup Stadium last time around, as City marked the festive period with a dominant 3-0 win over Saturday's opponents.
ONE TO WATCH - Junior Mondal
Exciting attacker Junior Mondal signed on at The Brewery Field following his departure from Whiby Town last summer. He appeared 35 times for The Moors last season, picking up four goals along the way.
A graduate of Middlesbrough’s Academy, Mondal joined The Teessiders when he was just 11 and went on to take up a scholarship with the club in 2013.
A first professional contract followed, and he began to feature for Boro’s Under-21 side as they won the Premier League Division 2 title in 2014/15.
Mondal’s senior breakthrough arrived in 2016/17 when he made three appearances in the League Cup, but he moved on at the end of the season and signed for Moors that summer before joining Whitby on a dual registration.
Comfortable in attack or out wide, Mondal earned a move to the EFL with Forest Green Rovers in 2019 and also played for AFC Fylde and Darlington before playing under Moors boss Graeme Lee at Marske United.
He returned to Whitby in 2023 and was one of the standout performers last term, scoring important goals against Chelmsford City and Bristol Rovers as The Seasiders enjoyed a memorable run to the First Round Proper of the FA Cup.
THE MANAGER - Graeme Lee
Graeme Lee was appointed as the new First Team Manager of Spennymoor Town in January 2024 after stepping down from his previous role in charge of Marske United.
Since then, he's made a huge impact with Spennymoor, most notably booking their place in a Wembley Final in the FA Trophy.
Born in Middlesbrough into a football family, Graeme Lee went on to carve out a successful playing career in the Football League during
which he made over 500 senior appearances.
A stylish centre-back, he came through the ranks at Hartlepool United where he made a debut in 1995 at the age of just 17 when
appearing as a substitute against Arsenal in the League Cup.
Unfazed by coming up against the likes of Ian Wright and Dennis Bergkamp, Lee quickly established himself in the Pools back four and was a core part of the team as they reached the League Two play-offs three seasons in a row.
Lee recovered from a serious knee injury to be a virtual ever-present in the heart of the defence as Pools finally clinched automatic
promotion when they finished runners-up in 2002/03.
His dominant and classy performances meant that Pools boss Chris Turner took him to Sheffield Wednesday when he was appointed boss at Hillsborough and Lee was Player of the Year in his debut campaign.
The Owls bounced back from relegation to win promotion with a Play-Off Final win in 2004/05 – ironically beating Lee’s former side
Hartlepool at The Millennium Stadium – though he missed the game through injury.
He moved onto Doncaster Rovers in 2006 and he clinched a place in the Club’s history books when he captained the side to the EFL Trophy
Final in 2007 and scored the winning goal to land the silverware.
Loans at Hartlepool and Shrewsbury Town followed before Lee made a permanent switch to Bradford City in 2008 and then Notts County in 2009 where he went on to win another promotion.
In 2011 he agreed a deal to join Darlington, but financial problems soon beset The Quakers and he left in January 2012 to play the remainder of the season at Celtic Nation before retirement.
Hometown club Middlesbrough offered him the opportunity to cut his teeth in coaching with a position in their much-celebrated Academy and Lee never looked back.
He spent over a decade working in various roles within the Boro set-up before being unveiled as Lead Coach for the club’s Under-23s in
2019.
However, ambition burned deeply inside Lee and when the opportunity arose for him to take up the challenge as Manager of Hartlepool
United in 2021, he could not turn down a return to his former club.
Filling the shoes of promotion-winning boss Dave Challinor was a tough ask, Lee got stuck in and led the team to the semi-finals of the
EFL Trophy as well as a memorable FA Cup Fourth Round where almost 5,000 travelling fans saw them beaten at Premier League Crystal Palace.
Fans were surprised when Lee parted company with the club after less than six months in charge but his appetite to prove himself was
undiminished and he reemerged in charge of Marske United last summer.
Financial problems at Mount Pleasant made the job a tricky one but Lee persevered and gave the club’s supporters something to smile about over Christmas as victories over Ashton United and Guiseley helped lift them out of the danger zone.
Lee’s appointment as boss at The Brewery Field means he is following in the footsteps of his legendary father Tony, who was manager of
Spennymoor United in the early-2000s.
HOW TO FOLLOW
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