Fixture: Maidenhead Utd 0 - 0 Oxford City
League: National League
Date: Saturday 26th August 2023
The closest away game of the season for me; a 50 minute drive and I was looking forward to the game as a result! I actually worked in Maidenhead on a weekly basis from 2016 through to when Covid struck and we still have an office there now but I never visit as I’m fully remote. I’d not been to their ground despite our office being a mere stones throw away so I was looking forward to seeing what it was like.
As it was just a 50 minute journey I planned to leave at 12.30, knowing I’d arrive by 1.30 at the latest and in good time to relax, take some stadium photos and enjoy the game, but the weather and M40 had other ideas…
Shortly after leaving home I noticed the time start to increase and then by the time I got further down the M40 the estimated journey time crept over an hour. Long story short, a deluge of heavy rain had resulted in an accident and a 50 minute journey turned into almost 2hrs. I arrived at the ground at 2.20pm and not in the best of moods it’s fair to say!
Anyway, as anyone who has been to Maidenhead will know, there isn’t too much to photograph and so it was a case of grabbing some warm-up photos for the socials and setting down for the game.
The game itself wasn’t a classic, a 0-0 in which Oxford City probably shaded the first half and Maidenhead shaded the second half but neither had the cutting edge to grab that all important goal.
Photography Learning/Musings…
I would say about leaving early but I don’t think you can avoid such accidents and it’s just one of those things you have to suck up in this instance - bloody annoying though!
Because it was a 0-0 I didn’t have a huge album of images to share after the game but some of my favourites are below, including a tackle and the afters which was quite amusing.
Oxford City captain Reece Fleet surrounded by Maidenhead players. I like any shot like this as it reminds me of that great image of Lionel Messi surrounded by players in his peak (I think against Bilbao but can’t be sure!).
This is an image I love. The City keeper Chris Haigh shouting and the fans with their hands above their heads in the background. It’s an image you can keep looking at and spot something different as you can.
The start of a sequence where Maidenhead’s captain fouls Oxford City’s Canice Carroll and then there’s a bit of afters!
You can see my match album and the rest of the photos from the game here.