PREVIEW Portsmouth U18 v Oxford United U18

Young U's take on Pompey

11 March 2022

Oxford United Under 18s travel to Portsmouth this Saturday in their second Merit League game of the season (11am).

The U’s kicked off their campaign with a 2-0 defeat against Stevenage last weekend but will look to make amends against a Pompey side they beat 3-0 in the Youth Alliance league three weeks ago.

Both sides subsequently qualified for the Merit League by finishing in the top five.

“It will be a good game" Coach Pablo Haysham told us. “Obviously the two sides know plenty about each other from the Alliance League but things change for the second half of the season and some clubs try to get lads out on loan, as we have done, others stick with a slightly older age group. It means that every game is a new challenge but that’s all part of the learning process for the players.”

Match Previews

Match Reports

REPORT Portsmouth U18 0 Oxford United U18 1

Young U's beat Pompey

14 March 2022

Oxford United’s under 18s picked up their first win of the Merit League season with a 1-0 victory away at Portsmouth on Saturday.

Midfielder Josh Johnson scored the only goal of a tight game from close range after Elijah Coe created the opportunity for Johnson to put United ahead. A solid defensive performance and clean sheet secured the win.

“It was a positive, collective team performance against a very competitive and physical Portsmouth side”, Coach Chris Hackett told us. “We always seem to have close games against them and we were pleased with the way we played. We asked for a reaction after losing the first game to Stevenage and were happy with the way the lads responded.”

UNITED
Barnsley, Watt (Sankoh), Zabeli, Nosakhare, Masters (Took-Oxley), Franklin, Johnson, Anifowose, Smith, Coe (Davis-Stephenson), Tiamuna (Trialist)