Oxford United’s under 18s maintained their excellent form with a convincing 5-0 home win over Plymouth Argyle in the EFL Youth Alliance on Saturday.
A hat trick from winger Kyran Lofthouse and strikes from forwards Ryan Crooks and Jordan Edwards kept the U’s clear at the top of the table and capped a good week for the youngsters, as Coach Leon Blackmore-Such told us:
“We will not get carried away but that’s twice we have scored five goals this week, plus going through in the FA Youth Cup, so it was a really good week for us.
“Kyran will get the headlines and deservedly so because he took his goals well and he was also involved in the other two- it was his cross for Ryan Crooks for the opener and then he closed down a defender to enable Jordan to get his goal. He played for us against Forest Green last Saturday, the under 23s at Hull on Monday, the Senior Cup game on Wednesday and then scores a hat trick on the Saturday so all credit to him, that is a fantastic effort.
“But it was a strong team performance and the lads at the back deserve credit for a clean sheet as well. Over all we have got to be pleased with how things are going. The lads are very grounded though and it won’t affect them- it’s all about progressing and learning all the time.”
United
Harris, Sampford, Niblett, McCreadie, Jones, Elechi, Chambers-Parillon (Gardener), Cowan, Crooks (Fertguson), Edwards (Goodrham), Lofthouse