Oxford United’s under 23s let a half time lead slip as they lost 3-1 in a friendly against AFC Wimbledon this afternoon.
Playing at Merstham, United once again used the game to give many of their under 18 side a chance to step up and show what they can do and were in front when Fabio Lopes, playing in midfield, had a shot blocked but the ball ran kindly for striker Dejon Noel-Williams to give the U’s the lead.
However a strong Wimbledon side which included first teamers James Hanson, Andy Barcham and Tom Soares raised their game after the break to level from the penalty spot through Tyler Burey and then take the lead through a trialist before Burey completed the scoring with a fine individual goal to make it 3-1.
Coach Chris Allen told us:
“We don’t like losing games, even friendlies and having taken the lead through Dejon we let that slip away after the break and that’s obviously not great. It was a very young squad and we talk about learning all the time, but you also need to keep your standards high and compete for the full 90 minutes, and for the whole season. There were positives- there always are because we have some very talented young players here- but we want a winning mentality as well.”
United
Harris, Lofthouse, Berry-Hargreaves, Niblett, Jones, Elechi (Stevens 38), Heap, Hopkins, Lopes (Crooks 81), Smith, Noel-Williams (Taverner 46)