Oxford United U18s beat Plymouth Argyle U18s 3-0 at the Bangkok Glass Training Centre this afternoon.
Louis Griffiths opened the scoring a minute after the restart, before Leo Snowden and Josh Iheanacho added goals to secure victory.
The young United side stood up to the physical challenge better than they have done in recent weeks. Argyle pulled an effort wide in the eighth minute, before the U’s had a handball shout in the Plymouth area from their corner in the tenth.
This was the third time the sides have faced each other this season, and Monty Marriott was aware of the visitors' threat, making a strong save when he came off his line quickly at the feet of Will Jenkins-Davies after a clever flick put the Argyle skipper through on goal.
Midway through the first half, United had a great chance to take the lead. Jacob Fowler pinched the ball in midfield, allowing a Yellows break. He slid the ball into Snowden, who chopped inside, then outside of Cole Gibbings, got his strike off and forced a big one-handed save from Zak Baker.
Plymouth had their chances, but a mixture of solid stops, spurned strikes, and an incredible Richard McIntyre goalmouth clearance in the 38th minute meant that the game remained goalless.
Just before the half-time whistle, Marriott made a fantastic save, tipping the ball round the post to deny Jenkins-Davies’ downward header, and the sides went into the break level.
United came out flying and found the lead within 60 seconds of the restart. Kasway Burton won the ball excellently with a strong tackle high on the right and found Tobias Brenan in the box; he laid the ball across cleverly while screams of “shoot” echoed around him.
Griffiths didn’t panic - a calm head on a 15-year-old’s shoulders - and slotted the ball into the bottom right corner first time to give United the lead.
The desire that earned United the chance to score was mirrored at the other end of the pitch; Harrison Mole made a miraculous headed block right underneath the crossbar two minutes later.
Aaron Lacey read the game well all afternoon, getting important touches on the ball and making big tackles to deny the busy Freddie Issaka and Kieren Adworthy from going through on goal on numerous occasions.
The U’s stood strong and found a second, this time through a 14-year-old. Fowler’s deep corner was headed back into the mix by Burton, and Leo Snowden hooked the ball into the back of the net as the Argyle defence stood still.
United defended with heart, Mole personifying that with more big tackles, and frustrated the visitors massively. With 15 minutes to play, Josh Iheanacho replaced Fowler, and Brenan found a superb split pass into Snowden, who was only denied by a good save from Baker in the Argyle goal.
Then, in the 83rd minute, substitute Iheanacho added a third to seal the victory. A floated ball over the top left Gibbings in two minds, and the striker pounced, lifting the ball over Baker to make it three.
Josh Holton and Kyron Webb replaced Burton and Griffiths for the final minutes, and the U’s saw out an excellent second half.
It was a fantastic performance from the U’s to earn their first win in four games, earnt through grit, togetherness, and moments of real quality at both ends.
LINEUP: Marriott, McIntyre, Maxwell, Lacey, Mole, Barrett-Doyle, Brenan, Fowler (Iheanacho 76), Burton (Webb 90), Snowden, Griffiths (Holton 86)
