Oxford United started the new 2024/25 season with a 1-0 loss against Portuguese side Academico de Viseu.
It was the first runout in a campaign which will see United take part in the Championship for the first time in 25 years, and this tie was an opportunity to gain some vital fitness at the end of an intense training week in Spain.
With a host of new signings in the building, the game against the second-tier side gave Des Buckingham the chance to see those boys in action for the first time in an Oxford United jersey.
With it being a training game, it allowed the manager to give every player equal minutes, with the three goalkeepers sharing 30 minutes, and a new team out in both halves.
The first-half was a very even contest, but Viseu did score after nine minutes, with their striker reaching a low ball across the box and slotting under Jamie Cumming from close range.
In the opening 45 minutes, it was a chance to see Jack Currie, Will Vaulks and Louie Sibley, and all three impressed around their new teammates. Recently signing his new professional contract, Aiden Elliot-Wheeler started on the left-wing and was bright on and off the ball. The first United chance fell to the Academy graduate, as he shot just over the bar from the edge of the box after 16 minutes.
Viseu did hit the bar with a dipping effort from 25 yards, but United had the best chances shortly after with two Vaulks corners causing havoc in the box.
The second period saw a completely new team from United, with a first appearance for Peter Kioso.
This second 45 saw a much more dominant performance from Des Buckingham’s side, with Gatlin O’Donkor causing both full-backs a torrid time as he switched between either wing.
Cameron Brannagan had a great chance to score on 58 minutes when he got on the end of Ruben Rodrigues’s cross, but he couldn’t find the target at the back post.
O’Donkor and Brannagan then both had efforts from distance, one testing the goalkeeper and the other just sailing over the bar.
Jacob Knightbridge got the final 30 minutes in goal, his first appearance since signing from West Ham, and he had to make a crucial save towards the end to stop Viseu from going 2-0 in front.
With seven minutes left, United thought they had the chance to equalise, when O’Donkor was wiped out inside the box. The referee initially gave a freekick to Viseu, then changed his mind, and bizarrely awarded a freekick for United when the tackle was clearly inside the box.
In the end, it ended 1-0, but it was an important exercise at the end of a thoroughly successful week for the team in Spain.
FIRST-HALF LINE-UP: Cumming (Eastwood 30’), Johnson, Moore, Brown, Currie, Vaulks, Sibley, McGuane, Elliot-Wheeler, Dale, Goodwin.
SECOND-HALF LINE-UP: Eastwood (Knightbridge 60’), Kioso, Long, Thorniley, Bennett, McEachran, Brannagan, Goodrham, Rodrigues, O’Donkor, Harris.