Oxford United beat Spurs U21 3-2 in the Papa John’s Trophy

Oxford Line-up and Stats

Oxford vs Spurs U21 Match Report

Joel Cooper was at the double as Oxford failed to win by a big enough margin to progress in the Papa John’s EFL Trophy. Luke McNally was sent off again, which made his team’s task harder.

The young term played admirably, and Cooper continued the run of early leads with a  2nd minute opener after Bodin’s block shot fell invitingly for him. Aygei should have doubled the lead but saw his effort well saved, and Cooper was equally denied.

Spurs young starlet Dane Scarlett then tricked seasoned pro McNally into fouling him for his first yellow card and a penalty. After his red in the tournament against Cambridge you’d be forgiven to wonder if he was deliberating targeted. Either way, Scarlett dusted himself off to bury the penalty to make it 1-1.

The impressive Cooper restored parity with a poachers goal, and Bodin had two great chances either side of the break only to be denied by Lo-Tutala. Needing to win by 3 clear goals, the U’s continued the pressure only for McGuane to hit the post before Alex Gorrin Rodriquez scored a rare goal.

Still needing one more, Lo-Tutala denied Bodin again, before McNally clumsily brought down Scarlett again to see red and give his side an uphill struggle. Manager Robinson gave Anifowose and O’Donkor some game time, but it was Spurs who got the next goal with a late Jack Clarke goal.

Time to focus on the league, with just the FA Cup of any interest.