Roots hall was the setting for this FA Youth Cup 2nd
Round tie between Southend and Oxford.
It was a quiet start as both teams tried to find their feet knowing a
third round tie away to Swansea awaited the winners. Oxford began to take control slowly but
surely and took a deserved lead on 20 minutes when Sam Humphreys pounced on
hesitation in the back line to curl a shot past Ted Smith in the Blues goal for
a 1-0 lead. Oxford doubled that lead on
31 minutes when James Roberts was played through and he fired past Ted Smith
for 2-0. It did look a yard offside
though it has to be said. Oxford were
all over their hosts by now and duly made it 3-0 just before the half when
James Roberts was fouled in the box and Josh Ashby fired the spot kick past Ted
Smith. Oxford should have had a fourth
just before the half time whistle when Jamie Calvin hit the bar but the away
side still went in with a comfortable 3-0 half time lead. The Blues made a double change at the start
of the second half with Jordan Williams and Charlie Barlow making way for
Freddie Gard and Harry Norman. This
seemed to improve matters somewhat for the home side as they took the game to
their Oxfordshire counterparts. They
duly pulled a goal back when Nico Cotton got down the left side and his cross
into the box was turned in by Freddie Gard to reduce the arrears to 3-1. Chances came and went for Southend as they
tried in vain to pull back the three goal half time deficit but Oxford ran out
3-1 winners and it is they who will travel to South Wales in the next round.
No comments:
Post a Comment