Oxford
kicked off their season in style with a tense victory over League One
Bournemouth on penalties. It was a fairly even match with relatively few
chances and both sides seemed happy to give their opponents plenty of time on
the ball – something which always tends to benefit United’s style of play.
Bournemouth
started the brighter of the two teams and certainly looked at least a league
higher than the hosts in the early exchanges, with Wes Thomas first going close
from a cross and then Marc Pugh stinging Clarke’s hands with a vicious shot
from the edge of the area. Many of the Cherries team will have been familiar to
Oxford fans, having previously impressed at the Kassam in League Two in recent
years – Lewis Grabban (Rotherham), Matt Tubbs (Crawley) and Wes Thomas
(Cheltenham) have all had success in the fourth tier before moving to Dean
Court.
Oxford held
on after soaking up some early pressure as they gradually grew into the game
and could have taken the lead when Damian Batt did well to find space in the
penalty area and managed to get a shot away, which was held by Bournemouth
goalkeeper Shwan Jalal. As the first half drew to a close it was Oxford who
looked most likely to score as first Chapman and then Rigg struck against the
keeper in the final action before half-time. Potter in particular was looking
strong in his first competitive match since January and he was a constant thorn
in the side of the Bournemouth defence.
The second
half started fairly evenly with penalty shouts for both sides but referee
Darren Drysdale waved away all protests as the game began to get scrappy, with
some heavy challenges raining in from both sides. The match began to open up in
the later stages as players tired and Bournemouth looked dangerous on the
break, with both Thomas and Pugh being denied by some last ditch tackles. There
was a heart-in-mouth moment for Oxford in the dying stages as Marc Pugh’s
fearsome drive from the edge of the area cleared the crossbar by a matter of
inches. Pugh was by far Bournemouth’s best player on the night and he
terrorised Batt repeatedly on the left wing before similarly worrying the
United defence in an attacking midfield role.
However, the
best chance of the match came from Adam Chapman. Oxford were awarded a free
kick out wide on the left and as the players gathered in the penalty area for
the inevitable cross Chapman instead caught Jalal off-guard with a rasping
shot, which was just tipped over the bar. Chapman was another player who
impressed for Oxford this evening, putting in a very assured performance just
in front of the defence.
With the
match still goalless at the end of the 90 the game went into extra time and the
tired players began to turn their attentions towards penalties. There were
still half-chances for both teams, but it was clear by this point that the only
way these two sides were going to be separated was from the penalty spot.
Craddock,
Smalley and Rigg each stepped up and slotted their penalties away coolly, but
were matched kick-for-kick by their Bournemouth counterparts. However, Marc
Pugh, who had been so impressive for Bournemouth this evening, saw his
spot-kick saved by penalty
master Ryan Clarke and Chapman and Batt finished the job to send United
through to the second round of the League Cup.
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