Oxford United’s Under 18s kicked off their Merit League campaign with a 2-0 defeat to Stevenage on Saturday.
Stevenage scored with a swift counter attack and then doubled their lead in the last minute of the game to put the fixture to bed.
It was a game that was still very much in the balance with 20 minutes to go but after Will Owens was sent off, United were forced to play without their influential left-back and struggled to chase the game.
“It was a tough game in poor conditions.” Chris Hackett commented, “It was a game we probably dominated but couldn’t capitalise from the chances we had, just lacking a bit of quality today in the final third.”
United
Barnsley, Watt (Nosakhare h/t), Sankoh, Johnson, Franklin, Zabeli, Coe, Anifowose ©, Owens, Tiamuna (Masters 60) , Davis-Stephenson (Trialist 60)