PREVIEW Oxford United v Port Vale

A full guide to Saturday's Sky Bet League 1 game at the Kassam Stadium

1 September 2023

Sky Bet League 1 leaders Oxford United welcome Port Vale to the Kassam Stadium on Saturday (3pm).

It's first against sixth in the early table with both sides unbeaten since the opening day.

TEAM NEWS
New signing Kyle Edwards became the eleventh new face at the U's this window and trained with the squad today after joining on a season-long loan from Ipswich Town.

With Greg Leigh making a cameo last Saturday after also signing from Ipswich, and Sonny Perkins having trained all week after joining on loan from Leeds, Liam Manning has plenty of options as he looks for his side to make it five wins in a row.

Defenders Sam Long and Jordan Thorniley remain doubts after injury while James Henry and Marcus Browne are the only long-term absentees.

See a full interview with Kyle Edwards plus Ruben Rodrigues and Liam talking about the game in iFollow now.

THE OPPOSITION
Port Vale Boss Andy Crosby skippered Oxford with distinction and will be looking forward to his return to the Kassam Stadium.

His side are in good form. After a heavy defeat at Barnsley on the opening day his side have beaten Reading and Carlisle at home with an excellent win away at Charlton and a draw at Blackpool leaving them with ten points so far.

A penalty win over Crewe in midweek sent them through to the third round of the Carabao Cup where they will welcome Sutton United to Vale Park.

TICKETS
Tickets are available now from

oufctickets.co.uk
By calling 01865 337533
In person from the Kassam Stadium Ticket Office on matchday

PARKING AND ACCESS

There are around 2,000 free parking spaces at the stadium but we ask everyone to arrive early and park legally.

The gate behind the Planet IT North Stand will be closed so pedestrians cannot move from one end of the ground to the other behind that stand.

VISITING FANS

You can download a full guide to visiting the Kassam Stadium here: AwayFanGuide 23 24.pdf

Please park in the West Car Park - the one closest to the cinema and bowling complex at the fence end of the ground.

DISABLED SUPPORTERS

You can download a full guide to visiting the Kassam Stadium here: DisabledGuide 23 24.pdf

CLUB SHOP

The Club Shop has stock of all three new kits plus a huge range of leisure and training wear. Make sure you call in before the game, or take a look online HERE

GETTING HERE
The Football Special bus services, including the Didcot/Abingdon service, offer easy and affordable transport to home games and are part of the government's £2 for a ticket scheme.

The club are aware the numbers wishing to travel on the OX3 Carterton/Witney Football Special bus last Saturday exceeded the vehicle's capacity and regrettably some supporters were unable to be picked up.

The club are in discussions with the Oxford Bus Company/Thames Travel to see what can be done to increase capacity on that service but unfortunately nothing is possible before the Port Vale game.

FIFTY/50
Our Polythene UK Fifty/50 tickets are available all around the ground and offer a great chance to win cash at half time.

COVERAGE
The game is available to hear in the UK and watch worldwide in iFollow.

You can also follow the whole game on Twitter through @OUFCOfficial and we will have a full match report and Gallery right here on the final whistle.

Women Welcome Hashtag

U19s Take On MK Dons

The Programme

Match Reports

REPORT Oxford United 1 Port Vale 2

Nine man U's beaten in last minute. Full time report

2 September 2023

A last-minute penalty from Alfie Devine gave Port Vale a 2-1 win over nine-man Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium this afternoon.

Alex Iacovitti's header looked to be handing Andy Crosby's Vale side a win after United's top scorer Mark Harris was sent off, but Greg Leigh crashed home an equaliser and then got sent off two minutes later, before Devine intervened to make it five unbeaten for the visitors in the most dramatic of fashions.

As is usually the case, United had plenty of the ball but this time the game was to explode into life late on.

United were on top for much of the first half, although James Beadle still needed to make a smart save in the opening exchanges, parrying a James Wilson effort in the third minute before United truly settled.

Once they did, some of the football was very nice to watch; a driving run by Marcus McGuane and some clever promoting by Ruben Rodrigues pushing them forward, and Greg Leigh keen to join the attack down the left-hand flank on an excellent debut. Billy Bodin had two efforts, Cameron Brannagan another, and the best chance came for Tyler Goodrham, whose low drive from a tight angle was blocked by keeper Conor Ripley to keep it at 0-0 at the break.

However, a clear chance never really materialised and Vale again came at United after the restart, with Elliott Moore making one great block to keep an Ethan Chislett effort away from true danger.

United weathered that, and Harris was close with a drive on 52 minutes; Brannagan fired into the gloves of Ripley on 59 and the tide was starting to flow their way until just after the hour, when Harris caught Nathan Smith with his arm and ref Sam Purkiss showed him a straight red card.

United still went for the win: an audacious Rodrigues chip soon after the red card landed on the roof of the net with Ripley not sure whether to leave it or not, but on 74 minutes they were behind when Devine flighted in an inviting free kick and Iacovitti got up highest in a crowded penalty area to glide the ball past the helpless Beadle.

United pressed and did all they could to regain parity, but Vale are a tough side to break down and nothing quite fell Oxford's way. A Stephan Negru header was hacked off the line and that looked to be it until sub Stan Mills burst away down the right and squared for Leigh, who thumped home to seemingly give his side a deserved draw.

Leigh goal.jpg

However, Leigh then saw red after mistiming a tackle, and when Moore tripped Ben Garrity in the eighth minute of the seven added on, it was left to Devine to decide a fine game with an unstoppable penalty to leave Vale as the first away side to win at the Kassam Stadium this season.

Vale penalty.jpg