Oxford Road Revisited

 Bexley 3 Peckham Town 2 - 24/04/2024

For the past few years I’ve always tried to fit in seeing at least one game at Oxford Road, usually towards the end of the season and often an early midweek kick off as teams fit in the games that were postponed earlier in the season. Despite it being 26years since Cray Wanderers last played a first team home game there, the ground located between Foots Cray & Sidcup still holds a lot of happy memories for me. Midweek games at the start and the end of the season with my Dad when Cray played in the Kent League, happy recollections of catching the 51 bus from St Mary Cray and seeing The Wands battering a team down the slope in the fading light of the second half.

 

This years visit was towards the end of April as current tenants Bexley FC took on Peckham Town in the Kent County League Premier Division, the first level where floodlights are not compulsory for a ground to meet the grading requirements. The ground has changed a little since it was HQ to London’s Oldest Football Club, the grass bank behind the top goal has been levelled, the fence around the pitch is now a rope and two sides are virtually in accessible to spectators. The old boardroom has gone and been replaced by storage units, but the changing rooms remain and there was a tea bar, but unfortunately this evening it was shut. The stand is still intact, with some red & black plastic seats and covered terracing to one side. There is still a cut through to the Conservative Club next door who own the pitch if you wish to purchase a beer, but I could never feel right about going in there. Since Cray Wands’ Reserves Team moved out a few years after the first team, a number of clubs have played home games at Oxford Road; Seven Acres & Sidcup, Stansfeld OB, Tudor Sports and Red Velvet to name a few, with Bexley the current club calling it home.

 

The game itself saw Bexley, already relegated, take on mid-table Peckham Town, kicking off at 6:30pm with a shortened half time in order to have enough light to play in. Peckham Town brought a number of fans with them, along with quite a few local football enthusiasts including Mike of KSN, Charlie & Jack of NLC, who I chatted to, boosting the attendance to around 70. I grabbed the last space in the car park at around 6:15. There was no charge for admission or programme on this ocassion.

 

The teams took the pitch with Bexley in yellow & black stripes and Peckham in their famous red & white hoops with blue shorts. Peckham ‘The Menace’ as they are know had a fantastic inspiring documentary made about them on You Tube a little while back and it’s well worth a watch.

 

For the first half an hour the game was not a classic, the pitch was very dry and bumpy and the ball hard to get under control, aside from some hefty tackles nothing really happened. Then from a Bexley corner, a mass scramble in the six yard box saw the home side bundle the ball over the line to take the lead and that’s the way it stayed until half time.

 

The second half saw Bexley double their lead early on, when a clear handball in the area gifted them a penalty and this was dispatched for 2-0. It looked like game over, but then Peckham rallied and by the 63^rd minute it was 2-2! Two well taken finishes at the far end of the ground levelled things up and it was all to play for in the final quarter. Tempers frayed a little as the game went on, but the Referee kept a good hand on things and in the end Bexley took all three points with a superbly taken goal from the edge of the area with around ten minutes left. Bexley’s No16 running over to the Peckham fans and shouting ‘Have that you ****s’ while pumping both his fists, which just made everyone laugh. The Menace pushed everyone up for a couple of injury time corners, but in the end they just couldn’t get another equaliser.

 

As everyone filed out at the end there was a distinct end of season feel to it all, although Peckham still have three more home games to play taking them up to 11^th May. I said goodbye to Mike, Charlie & Jack and I gave Oxford Road one last look as I headed back to the car and then drove up to Sidcup High Street and back to Bromley. It still has a special place in my heart. I hope to be back again next season.

 

Col.