In the blistering heat on Saturday afternoon, Oxford United were the visitors to the Draycott Engineering Loop Meadow Stadium – home to Didcot Town. The U’s fielded two strong sides mixed with first-team and fringe players, with each team playing 45 minutes each.
The game began all in the visitors favour. The first opening for the U’s came from Alex MacDonald who delightfully lofted the ball over the back four and into the path of James Roberts who read the bounce well and used it in his favour to lift the ball over the onrushing Bedwell. His shot, however, grazed the post so it was not to be for the U’s.
Didcot were sporadic in their attack and when they did get a glimpse of goal they were wasteful – United keeper Sam Slocombe was not forced to make a save in the entire first half.
Oxford continued to threaten, with centre-half Mullins rattling the crossbar with powerful header. It was Kemar Roofe who was stealing the headlines however. He was playing with a swagger and an impetus – most notably attempting a speculative effort from the halfway line – and they broke the deadlock soon after. Roofe was the end product of superb wing-play from Aiden Hawtin who breezed past the fullback before placing a pinpoint cross to the former who neatly tucked home.
It was Kemar Roofe again just minutes later. He picked the ball up on the edge of the box and gracefully skipped between two or three Didcot men before feigning a shot which sent Leigh Bedwell in the opposite direction leaving the winger an open net in which to blast home. 0-2 the scoreline read going into half time.
In the second half, it was again the visitors who were immediately on top. The Railwaymen looked despondent and tired which allowed for a barrage of Oxford attacks.
It was soon 0-3. The ball was worked to Hylton who found himself space in the penalty area before driving the ball low and hard into the bottom left hand corner.
The tempo of the game petered out a little but United continued with crisp passing in and around the penalty area. The fourth came on 79′ following beautiful link-up play between O’Dowda, Taylor, Ashby and Hylton. Quick-fire passes were made between O’Dowda and Taylor, with the former receiving the ball and playing it first time to Ashby who delightfully teed up Hylton who, one-on-one with the goalkeeper, dinked the ball over the advanced Didcot stopper.
The barrage of attacks was not to cease as the U’s wrapped up the day with more neat passing which resulted in Josh Ashby rifling home from close range. The final score was 0-5 in Oxford’s favour
Didcot Town FC
| Leigh Bedwell – Despite being heckled all game by the Oxford fans (presumably for being ex-Swindon) the goalkeeper did very well to only concede the three he did when on the pitch. | 7.0 |
| Sam Elkins – Had a tough afternoon containing MacDonald but there was certainly less of a threat down Didcot’s right than on their left | 6.0 |
| Luke Carnell – The tall centre-back was not easily phased in the air and did well with the threat of Roberts and Hoban | 6.0 |
| Adam Learoyd – Also very commanding in the air and although sloppy at times, he maintained a lot of order in the back four | 6.5 |
| Jack Longford – Played with flutters of confidence but this was largely overshadowed by a mistake-ridden performance | 5.0 |
| Martin Marvin – The midfielder had a tough time competing with Sercombe and Rose who were very good at maintaining possession. Struggled to have an impact on the game | 5.0 |
| Andy Ballard – Struggled with the tempo and physicality of the game which really let the United midfield run him ragged | 4.0 |
| Jack Self – Certainly livened things up for the Railwaymen but struggled to get a foothold in the game | 6.0 |
| Conor McDonagh – Again he had a tricky afternoon and struggled with the crispness of the United side and did not trouble the Oxford defence. | 5.0 |
| Josh Dutton-Black – Was not as involved as he would have liked which made it difficult for him to make a substantial impact | 6.0 |
| Mark Janes – Tough afternoon for Janes, whose hold up play was often poor and he failed to contribute an awful lot | 5.0 |
Substitutions
| Josh Gannon – Replaced Bedwell convincingly but still conceded twice. However, he did well to keep out Taylor on multiple occasions. | 6.5 |
| Matthew Taylor – Had a really tricky game up against O’Dowda whose pace and athleticism proved far too much. Poor performance from Taylor. | 4.0 |
| James Organ – Also had a very tricky game up against Taylor and Hylton and seemed a bit overwhelmed with their quality. | 5.0 |
| Josh Baines – Helped balance the midfield slightly, but was still second best to a lot of the midfield work | 6.0 |
| Jamie Heapy – Also struggled with the United frontmen who’s quick-fire passing got the better of them. | 7.0 |
| Joel Thompson – The youngster struggled with Hylton and was very vulnerable at the back. | 4.5 |
| John Mills – The 57 goal-a-season machine was very quiet but he brought a different option to the Dicot frontline. | 6.0 |
| Lance Williams – Also struggled in the midfield to get a grip on the game | 5.0 |
| Matthew Woodley – Had a tricky afternoon and seemed to absorb more and more pressure as the game went on. Poor move. | 4.5 |
Oxford United FC
| Sam Slocombe – Had next to nothing to do bar catch a few crosses. Very comfortable and unchallenging day for the stopper’s debut. | 6.0 |
| Aiden Hawtin – Exceptional movement and communication throughout. He should gain full credit for United’s first as the build-up play came entirely from the youngster | 8.0 |
| Johnny Mullins – The experienced centre-half was solid and untroubled. He came close with a header which rattled off the bar and was commanding in the air throughout | 6.5 |
| Jake Wright – The captain had a quiet afternoon, mainly due to the attacking ineffectuality of the opposition but did well when called for | 6.5 |
| Freddie Grant – The first-year pro had a good 45 minutes. He was good going forward and linked up well with Hoban and Roberts | 7.0 |
| Kemar Roofe – Was delightful to watch and brought a real spark to the game – evidently full of confidence he livened up the afternoon with flair and potency in front of goal | 8.5 |
| Liam Sercombe – The second of three debutants broke up play really well and his vision and playmaking abilities were superb. A very solid debut indeed. | 8.0 |
| Danny Rose – Bar a few sloppy mistakes, Rose was very good at maintaining possession and brought the frontmen into the game very well indeed. | 7.0 |
| Alex MacDonald – The winger showed good vision and drive and was at the epicentre of most that was being created down the left side. His first touch was also superb. | 7.5 |
| Patrick Hoban – Did not threaten the Didcot goal too much but showed excellent hold-up play, linking up well with the midfield and wingers. | 7.0 |
| James Roberts – Was not involved too much but seemed an omnipresent threat. Will be disappointed that he did not finish his lob. | 7.0 |
Substitutions
| AJ George – Replaced Roberts well during his brief cameo appearance and forced a very good save from Bedwell. | 7.0 |
| George Baldock – The MK-Dons loanee was very positive going forward and linked up very well with Humphreys and Hylton. | 7.5 |
| Sam Long – The centre-half was strong in the air and was largely untroubled throughout. | 6.5 |
| Chey Dunkley – Very vocal and commanding, rarely missing a header. Played with a presence that kept the forwards out of the game entirely | 8.0 |
| Joe Skarz – Superb performance from Skarz. He was good going forward and his dispatch was top notch, regardless of whether it was a ball down the line or a complete cross-field pass. Also very solid defensively. | 9.0 |
| Sam Humphreys – Fairly quiet but showed good drive and determination when he was on the ball. Also brought Hylton and Baldock into the game cleverly on a couple of occasions | 7.0 |
| Michael Collins – The midfielder showed good battle and determination breaking up the play and slowing it down when needed. | 7.0 |
| Josh Ruffels – Played similarly to Collins by breaking down the play and slowing it down. Maintained posession very well. | 7.0 |
| Callum O’Dowda – Showed excellent drive and gave the Didcot fullback a terrible time trying to mark him. For those of you who were at the game will understand the he was truly off the rails. | 8.5 |
| Ryan Taylor – The final debutant was such a nuisance to the centre-halves and his link-up play with Hylton and O’Dowda was superb. One to watch next season | 8.0 |
| Danny Hylton – Seemed to get on the end of every attack and had countless efforts on goal. Will be disappointed that he was unable to score more than his brace given the potent League Two campaign he had last season. | 8.5 |
| Josh Ashby – Fitted in nicely into the team and thrived off of the close-control passing. Topped off with a goal. | 7.5 |
| Robbie Cundy – Replaced Long well and controlled the backline well | 7.0 |
Man of the Match
| Aiden Hawtin – The youngster played with a superb demeanour, showing great work-rate going forward and also defensively. He created the first goal and contributed brilliantly to the U’s dominating first-half display. | 9.0 |
Highlights
portafoglio prada
mens prada shoes
burberry outlet online
mulberry sale
prada bags
mulberry sale
borse prada
prada trainers
prada bags
