Oxford United’s under 18s were left frustrated when a last gasp equaliser denied them a win at AFC Bournemouth on Saturday morning.
Having gone 2-0 down before the break to a Marcus Daws free kick and a Ben Winterburn volley United hit back when Elijah Coe crossed from the left and Adam Smith sidefooted home to make it 2-1.
Coe then levelled and when the same player again crossed and the ball was touched past his own keeper by a Bournemouth defender with five minutes to go it looked like the U’s had completed an amazing comeback
However the Cherries kept going and Michael Dacosta Gonzalez levelled in the last minute to leave both sides with one point.
“It was an excellent game” Chris Hackett told us. “There is a lot to admire in the way we came back from 2-0 against a strong Bournemouth side who we always seem to have these sort of games against.
“The first half wasn’t great but we reacted well and were excellent after the break. We said at the break that if we got the next goal we would have that momentum. At 3-2 we thought we had done it but they applied a bit of late pressure and that’s something we will talk about as well: you can’t stop doing what got you ahead in those circumstances.
“In the end it was a bit strange: happy with a point from 2-0 down but frustrated not to win when we were ahead after 89 minutes.
“Now we move on to the FA Youth Cup on Wednesday when we play Sutton Common Rovers at Oxford City. That’s a competition we always want to do well so hopefully a few fans will come along and cheer the boys on.”
United v Bournemouth
Barnsley, Sankoh, Owens, Masters, Golding, Nosakhare, Davis-Stephenson (O’Donkor 60), Anifowose, Smith (Elliott-Wheeler 85), Johnson (Tiamuna 60), Coe
Subs not used: Brearey, Giles