Saturday 17 October 2026
EFL Youth Alliance South
Oxford United Training Centre
Oxford United Under-18s… 1
(H.Vaughan 47’)
Cheltenham Town Under-18s… 2
(38’, 82’)
Oxford United U18s were defeated 2-1 in a hard-fought game against Cheltenham Town U18s at the Training Centre in the EFL Youth Alliance South.
In a highly competitive battle, Oxford fell to an 82nd minute winner for Cheltenham after the sides were level with a goal apiece at half time.
The game started with both teams vying for control, with the U’s trying to create chances on goal with slick passing moves, whilst the opposition looked to take advantage of set pieces and long balls.
The first chance of the game came in the 15th minute when a Yellows team move ended with a shooting chance which Maeson Vaughan struck over the bar after cutting in from the right wing.
The game lacked clear-cut chances as the match continued, but Oxford were probing the Cheltenham defence as Fiki Adesanya and Vaughan shot efforts over, before Riley Dourish intercepted a loose ball and charged towards goal from the halfway line, only stopped by a last-ditch challenge as he approached the box.
In the 37th minute, the opposition started to test the U’s defence as Chris Chitedze made a great sliding challenge, at the expense of a corner, to stop a threatening attack from the away side.
From the resulting corner, Cheltenham opened the scoring after the ball was guided on top of the Oxford goalkeeper, William Jackson, before being headed towards goal. The ball ricocheted off a crowd of players to eventually drop over the goal line in agonising fashion as the Yellows scrambled to clear.
United looked to respond quickly as the half drew to a close, and they found their equaliser in the 47th minute. An interception from a ball across the face of goal by Archie Payne led to a U’s counter-attack with Maeson Vaughan driving his team up the pitch. The ball found Dourish whose effort from the edge of the box was blocked to prevent a certain goal, but Oxford wouldn’t be kept out as the ball eventually fell to Hayden Vaughan on the right-hand corner of the box to strike a half-volley towards the near post. The ball flew past the opposition goalkeeper to level the game, and the half-time whistle blew with the score at 1-1.
The second half began with the U’s making one change at half-time as Matt Mainwaring was replaced by Kaden Evans.
The Yellows started the half well, instantly winning a free-kick which Kesh Purcell powered against the crossbar from long range. Only a few minutes later, Cheltenham had their own long-range effort which produced a fine save from Jackson as he tipped the ball over the crossbar.
In the 55th minute the first big chance of the half came as Maeson Vaughan ran through on goal, pushing the ball past the onrushing opposition goalkeeper before his effort was blocked and cleared. Two minutes later United created another big opportunity as they forced the Cheltenham goalkeeper into a great double save with two efforts from the edge of the box in quick succession.
On the hour mark Oxford made two more changes from the bench with Albert Collins and Ethan Dickinson-Annell replacing Euan Griffith and Adesanya respectively.
As the match approached the final ten minutes both sides had seen half-chances come and go since the United substitutions, but as both teams struggled to find a second goal, the opposition’s fortunes changed.
In the 82nd minute, the away side won the ball back high up the pitch as Oxford attempted to play out from the back, resulting in the Cheltenham attacker scoring into an open net with the goal left exposed.
In the remaining minutes the Yellows pushed for an equaliser, but they couldn’t find one. The referee blew the whistle for full time to confirm the 2-1 defeat for a disappointed Oxford outfit, who battled until the end.
Next up, the Under-18s will look to bounce back in the league with an away fixture against Barnet U18s on Saturday 24 October.
Oxford United: Jackson, Payne, Chitedze, Mainwaring (Evans 45’), Griffith (Collins 60’), Andrews, M. Vaughan, H. Vaughan, Purcell, Dourish, Adesanya (Dickinson-Annell 60’)
Subs: Jones, Odhiambo
Report by Toby Ludbrook
