Youngsters beaten in a game of two halves
Oxford United’s youth team let a 2-0 lead slip as they lost 4-2 at home to Exeter City on Saturday morning. Leading through goals from Jordan Graham and skipper Lewis Hayden, United threw their two goal advantage away as Youth Team Coach Chris Allen told us:“It was a fantastic first half, really strong and we looked great going forward. We were 2-0 up and cruising and looked dangerous every time we got in their half.
“We opened the scoring with a great team goal. Lewis Hayden played it to AJ George who gave it to Jordan Graham on the penalty spot and he slid the ball in for a decent goal. Then we had a good passage of play on the left and Lewis Hayden made it 2-0 from the edge of the area.
“And that should have been game over but right on the break we made a silly mistake and they made it 2-1. It was a poor time to concede because it lifted the opposition and in the second half they came back at us. As well as we had done going forward in the first half we started getting edgy and losing shape at the back and once it went to 2-2 the momentum was all against us.
“Obviously you take the positives from the first half where our passing and transition play was as good as I’ve seen it, but then you have to kill the game off and not let the other side in when you have got yourself into such a great position.”
United
Stevens, A.Grant, Cundy, McCormack, Welch-Hayes, Hastings (Cook), Hayden, Humphries (Williams), George, Conte (Jeacock), Graham