Oxford United 3 North Leigh 0

Oxford eased themselves into the Oxfordshire Senior Cup final tonight with a straightforward win over Southern League First Division South & West North Leigh at Court Place Farm. After a bright opening with both sides trying to play attacking football, United took the lead after quarter of an hour when Shane Killock, on his return from injury and playing alongside Matt Day at centre-back, headed home from a free kick. Two minutes later North Leigh found themselves with a mountain to climb (although not literally) when Ben Reardon (assuming the shirt number matched the number in the programme) was sent off for a dangerous tackle. Shortly afterwards Richard Groves had to be stretchered off, to be replaced by Niall Hodgkins, but Groves' injury isn't as bad as it initially looked.

As the first half wore on United started to take a proper grip on the game, and North Leigh were restricted to speculative long-range shots that failed to trouble Ben Hinchliffe. Three minutes before the break United doubled their lead when a 20-yard shot from Matt Taylor bounced just in front of Lee Farrow and into the net. Farrow had been having a good game until that point, but he should have done better with the shot, and he knew it.

In the second half North Leigh looked lively, with Chris Allen up front looking like he might pose a threat. But United's defence, led by the impressive Killock protected Hinchliffe, and with the midfielders performing well, especially ROS Declan Benjamin and Joe Burnell in the centre, North Leigh found it difficult to create any chances. Marvin Martin at left back particularly impressed, while James Dobson and Adam Bowerman ran the wings well. The only sour note for United was a booking for Benjamin for a late tackle on ex-U Chris Weedon. Killock scored United's third goal with a header from a corner to set up a final against Banbury United, who beat Oxford City 3-2 after extra time at the Spencer Stadium last night. Apparently Banbury were rubbish, but City were worse.