Young U's Travel to Portsmouth

Oxford United U18s face Portsmouth in the Merit League

31 March 2023

Oxford United U18s travel to Portsmouth U18s in the Merit League tomorrow, Saturday the 1st of April.

Following an excellent performance from a young United side away at Cambridge last weekend, the U18s will look to make it 10 points from four games in the Merit League tomorrow.

The U's currently sit second in the Merit League with two wins and a draw, whilst Portsmouth are in fifth on the same amount of points having played two more games.

A win could send United top, depending on Luton's result, but United know the danger Portsmouth having lost away there in January.

Coach Chris Hackett told us

"We were really impressed with how the young boys came in and applied themselves last week against a good Cambridge side. Socially and physically they adapted to the challenge and we hope we'll see more of that this week.

"Portsmouth are a good side and we gave away some sloppy goals last time there so we know we'll need to defend well and focus throughout the game."

Match Reports

Young U’s Lose In Portsmouth

Oxford United U18s lose 3-0 on the road to Portsmouth

1 April 2023

Oxford United U18s lost 3-0 away at Portsmouth in Merit League One this afternoon.

Coach Chris Hackett told us

“They scored early and then went two ahead before half time and that made it hard. We didn’t create much, Jacob Fowler had a good chance but they scored towards the end of the game and killed it off.

“It was a tough one today, and it was a challenging game for the young boys. We went with a very young side, probably the youngest we’ve ever gone with to be fair so it was always going to be difficult. We ended with five Under 15s on the pitch.

“Physically it was a big challenge at times, they had a lot more developed boys in the side, but having said that we weren’t technically at the level of Cambridge, where we had better quality and control of the game.

“It was fair result, as I say a tough day but some positive experiences in there, getting some boys some exposure to Under 19s football and they didn’t look out of place which was impressive. We'll put it behind us and go again next week".

LINEUP: Marriott, Maxwell, Lacey, McIntyre, Bond, Took-Oxley, Brenan, Barrett-Doyle, Fowler, Iheanacho, Griffiths
SUBS: Holton, Mole, Rangecroft