Oxford United Under-18s fell to a 3-0 defeat on Saturday in their opening game of the PDL Cup campaign.
United had positive signs this week and some good spells during the game, however any momentum was disrupted through three well taken goals at regular intervals from the Hatters to give the hosts a 3-0 win.
The Under-18s returned to the PDL Cup this year after qualifying through the league last season. A tournament which saw them reach the semi-finals two seasons ago. A difficult start to their campaign this year as they travelled to Luton, a side which just edged them to the league last season in a thrilling title race.
Another young side was named by Niall Keown, with Under-16 Ethan Dickinson-Annell being handed his first start for the 18s. Two other changes were made to the side from Tuesday with Jameson Blackmore returning to the defence, but once again a number of notable names missed out due to injury.
Oxford started on the front foot with Mubarak forcing a strong save early on from the Hatters keeper.
Luton managed to overcome the early positivity from United and went 1-0 up through a beautifully taken free kick that gave Will Jackson no chance as it went in off the crossbar.
Oxford continued their efforts of getting back level and had some good spells on the ball, however the next opportunity went to Luton, and they made it 2-0. A soft goal to concede for United as a long ball dissected the back line, and the lead was doubled on the brink of half time.
Oxford knew the road to a comeback would be difficult and this was made near impossible when the third went in, a tidy finish from the Luton man as he took it past Will before finishing into an open net. The Hatters now had a three-goal lead by the hour mark and had all but won it with thirty to play.
A positive of the day for Oxford was a debut for 14-year-old Liam Kiriisa, who came on with fifteen to play. United continued their push for a goal, but a constant theme of the day continued with the U’s moving the ball nicely but ultimately struggling to find that bit of creativity in the final third.
United: Jackson, Trialist, Osborne, Blackmore, Collins (Payne 86), Appiah, Abolade, Holton, Purcell, Dourish (Kiriisa 75), Dickinson-Annell (Andrews 90)
Unused subs: Clayton, Tang
