The first full season at the ASM Stadium opened with two home league matches in the Hellenic Premier League. The first ended in a disappointing 3-1 defeat to Highworth Town, with Dan West scoring in front of a crowd of over 200. That was followed by a midweek 3-2 win against old rivals Wokingham and Emmbrook with another strike from Dan West and a brace from Aaron Rogers.

Progress was also made in the FA Cup with a 3-2 win in the Extra Preliminary Round at Sandhurst Town (goals from Alex Stewart (2) and Aaron Rogers), followed by a win, on penalties, against Newport Pagnell Town in a replay in the Preliminary Round after both matches had finished 1-1. This was swiftly followed by a 4-1 win against Staines Lammas in the FA Vase, but the success in Cup competitions could not disguise an indifferent start to the league campaign.

In the first Qualifying Round of the FA Cup we were drawn at home to Brackley Town who, at the time, led the Southern League Premier Division and went on to be champions that season. In front of another bump crowd, we ran out 2-0 winners with Mitchell Meredith (penalty) and Aaron Rogers sealing the win and a home tie against Oxford City. That tie, which was the featured match by The FA, saw us lead 1-0 at half-time thanks to a Jon Steedman penalty, before City scored three unanswered goals in the second half.

That defeat came shortly after a 5-2 loss at home to Hanwell Town in the FA Vase and, by the end of October, our league form had continued to suffer, with only three victories to show for our efforts. That changed in early November as we went on a nine match winning run, including six wins, with Alex Stewart and Aaron Rogers scoring 80% of the goals between them.

A minor ‘blip’ over the Christmas period – with defeats against Ardley United and Flackwell Heath – was followed by another six match unbeaten run, and progress through to the semi-final of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup thanks to a 2-1 win against Henley Town.

The biggest win of the season came in a 6-0 success at Witney Town in early March, with James Faulkner bagging a brace, before the semi-final of the Senior Cup saw us paired with Southern League North Leigh. In the match, played at Oxford City, North Leigh took the lead after 10 minutes through the prolific John Mills before Louis Cordice – of Harry Potter fame – headed an equaliser. After Alex Stewart had been sent off, North Leigh scored the winner just before half time though Ben Reardon.

The Senior Cup defeat largely brought an end to the season as we only managed a single win (a 3-0 defeat of Fairford Town) in the final four matches, leaving us 9th in the table at the end of the season.

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