We welcome Olly Howells to TBFUTH to report on another win for the mighty yellows.
Oxford
managed to hold on to the top spot in League Two and keep their 100%
record intact thanks to a three-minute salvo from Deane Smalley
midway through the first half. This was despite a surprisingly
lacklustre second half performance from the U’s, probably
influenced by the loss of both Deane Smalley and Jake Forster-Caskey
due to injury at half time.
The
yellows came into this game on the back of a minimal fuss victory
over Southend United in midweek, and were looking to push on from six
points of six so far. The first ten minutes were largely uneventful,
with a Tommy Craddock shot over the bar the only action of note in
this period. Shortly after the ten minute mark, Paris Cowan-Hall was
played in to slot the ball into an empty net, to the delight of the
770 travelling Plymouth fans, only for the offside flag to save
Oxford, and keep the scores level. On 20 minutes some hard work from
Sean Rigg allowed him to beat his man when the ball appeared to be
lost, before whipping in a cross, allowing Smalley to tuck the ball
past Jake Cole from three yards.
This
was only Smalley’s second league goal in 25 league appearances for
Oxford, and it was only three minutes before he made that three in
25, slotting the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net
from a tight angle between the edge of the six yard box and the side
of the penalty area after a quick break from Alfie Potter, who picked
up another assist, his second in two games.
Oxford
were rampant, and Damian Batt nearly added a third on the stroke of
the 30 minute mark, but his effort went just wide. As the rain began
to pour Smalley nearly completed his hat-trick, only for Jake Cole to
save from point blank range, leaving Smalley visibly disappointed to
have missed one of the best opportunities for a hat-trick he’ll
ever have.
The
second half was a completely different story to the first, as United
began to sit back and defend their lead, and Plymouth began to push
on, trying for a route back into the game, although Craddock had a
golden opportunity to finish the Pilgrims off, shooting over
from 15 yards when one on one with Cole. A fizzing shot from Sean
Rigg tested the handling of the Argyle ‘keeper minutes later, but
the ex-Oxford man was equal to it.
On
75 minutes Argyle won a free-kick 25 yards from Ryan Clarke’s goal
after a foul by Damian Batt on the impressive Onismor Bhasera, which
Plymouth substitute Robbie Williams stepped up and curled
impressively into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal, leaving a
tense last 15 minutes for the 6,136 U’s fans in attendance.
In
the closing stages United regained control of the match, and only a
smart save from Cole kept Pittman off the score sheet after Constable
whipped in an inch-perfect cross. United then spent the majority of
the remainder of the game in the corners of the Plymouth half, and
managed to hold firm against a late surge of pressure from the greens
to pick up their third win on the bounce and remain on top of League
Two ahead of the League Cup fixture at Leeds United on Tuesday, where
Chris Wilder will be hoping his side can spring a shock to the
Championship promotion contenders.
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