Friday 9 January 2026
FA Cup Third Round
Stadium MK, Milton Keynes
MK Dons… 1
(Collins 34’)
Oxford United… 1
(Lankshear 52’)
(Oxford United win 4-3 on pens)
Oxford United advanced to the Fourth Round of the FA Cup with a penalty shootout victory at MK Dons.
After falling behind, Will Lankshear levelled for United, but as the game went to penalties, Oxford scored all four to move into the next round.
New Head Coach, Matt Bloomfield, was in the stands watching on just hours after being announced as the new man to lead Oxford United.
He would have been hoping for a confidence boosting victory and a chance of a Fourth Round tie, if Craig Short’s side could defeat League Two MK Dons.
It was a slow start to the game with Ben Wiles having the first shot on target from outside the box, which Matt Ingram pushed wide.
There was a debut for Jamie Donley, signed on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, but it was an unfortunate one as he had to be replaced early with what looked to be concussion. It did mean another debut, as Myles Peart-Harris came on, having only completed his deal earlier that day.
United did come into the game with a few long-range strikes of their own. First, Stan Mills tested the keeper with a powerful effort, and then Siriki Dembele blazed just over from a good central position.
The hosts did take the lead just after the hour mark through Alfie Collins. A corner into the United wasn’t dealt with on the first contact, and Collins managed to poke the ball beyond Ingram.
The keeper did have to make a strong save from Collins though on 41 minutes, when the forward raced through on goal but found Ingram a match as he tried to dink the former Wycombe Wanderers man, but he stood strong and tipped wide.
United got themselves back into it in the second half with Will Lankshear getting his seventh goal of the season. It was a trademark Will Vaulks long throw which was flicked on by Michal Helik and the Tottenham striker buried his chance as he smashed the ball first time into the net.
Craig Short, taking charge of his final game in interim charge, made a triple change just after the hour to try and find the goal to save extra time.
With 15 minutes left, it was Ingram who had to make another fine save again from Collins. This time, the striker managed to find space inside the box and he leathered a shot high towards the net, but Ingram met it with a fingertip stop.
Ole Romeny was next to go close to a goal two minutes later. The Indonesian international sent a dipping shot from the left corner of the box just over the bar with the keeper worried.
It was end-to-end at the closing stages and Callum Tripp forced Ingram into another impressive save, tipping a close-range header side of the post.
Romeny was at it again with three minutes to play, this time with the best opportunity for United. It was a stunning save from MacGillivray which stopped his left foot volley from finding the roof of the net – an agonising miss in normal time.
Extra-time called as neither side could find a winner. The goal almost game for United three minutes into the period with a fierce strike from De Keersmaecker. Romeny set it up with a lovely nutmeg, with the ball coming to the Belgian on the edge of the box and his curling effort was well pushed away from the side netting.
So, it went to penalties, and after more than 600 days without one, United scored all four in the shootout with Ole Romeny, Mark Harris, Myles Peart-Harris and Matt Phillips. Matt Ingram capped a brilliant performance with a save at the end to send United through.
Now, it’s Matt Bloomfield’s turn to lead this group as training begins on Monday. A huge effort from Craig Short, Lewis Price, Chris Hackett and the rest, and a massive thank you to the more than 2,000 supporters who made the journey.
MK Dons: MacGillivray, Jones, Crowley (Leko 78’), Hogan (Paterson 72’), Collins, Nemane (Tripp 59’), Thompson-Sommers (Kelly 72’), Lemonheigh-Evans, Wiles (Matete 72’), Sanders
Subs: Trueman, Singh-Hurditt, Burke, Boateng
Oxford United: Ingram, Long, Helik, Davies, Currie, Brannagan (Krastev 65’), Vaulks (De Keersmaecker 65’), Donley (Peart-Harris 17’), Mills (Phillips 97’), Dembele (Romeny 65’), Lankshear (Harris 90+2’)
Subs: Cumming, Spencer, Leigh
Attendance: 5,902 (2,080 away)