Being unable to get to
Hartlepool
on Saturday, I decided to head down to Roman Way in the morning to
watch the youth team in action against Swindon. Anyone who's already
seen the score will, of course, understand why I'm glad I did! With
just a couple of exceptions it was the first time I had seen any of
the current crop of youngsters and I caught them in imperious form as
they thrashed Swindon 7-1.
In truth, it was a total
mismatch. As good as Oxford undoubtedly were, Swindon were poor in
every area. This was plainly apparent from the moment the match began
and within five minutes the yellows had a two-goal lead, thanks to
the predatory instincts of James Roberts. Roberts was a revelation
last season and he scored goals for fun as a first-year scholar
(including the first time I had seen him play, in the Oxfordshire
Senior Cup final back in May) and he was certainly a class above
the Swindon defence.
His first was a looping
header as he was allowed to rise unchallenged to meet a deep floated
cross into the box. For his second, Roberts burst through the
sluggish backline to latch onto an incisive through ball from Freddie
Grant and from the moment he made his run it was clear he would
score. The Swindon keeper was left helpless as Roberts coolly dinked
it over him.
Of course, it wasn't all a
one-man show. Roberts may have gobbled up every chance that came his
way but he needed someone to create those chances for him. Enter Sam
Humphreys, who was a constant threat on the wing. Time and time again
he beat his man and looked to deliver a ball into the box and it was
always obvious that it would lead to a goal eventually. In fact it
took less than 20 minutes as Jamie Calvin tapped in the third from
close range. Humphreys had again turned the Swindon full-back inside
out before heading for the byline and pulling it back into the danger
zone. The danger should have been cleared then and there but when
defender and goalkeeper contrived to make a hash of the clearance
Calvin was on hand to punish them.
 |
| Barney Martin |
Swindon did pull a goal
back, direct from a corner, and enjoyed a fleeting spell of pressure
but Oxford never really looked in trouble. Goalkeeper Barney Martin
should probably have done better for Swindon's goal but otherwise
coped admirably on what was an admittedly quiet afternoon for him. He
made a couple of decent saves in this period, including to spare
Alfie Grant an embarrassing own goal after a cross bounced off his
legs and looked destined for goal. Even more impressive is that
Martin is only playing for the youth team at the moment because the first
and second-choice goalkeepers, Josh Hill and Eddie Cavanagh, are both
out injured. Martin usually keeps goal for the under-16s.
But as impressive as the
whole team undoubtedly were, the first half really belonged to
Roberts, who scored his third just before half-time on the break,
pinching the ball off the feet of a static Swindon centre-back before
lobbing the humiliated goalkeeper to wrap up his hat-trick. How many
other times can we say we've seen an Oxford player score a first-half
hat-trick against our local rivals?
The highly-rated Aidan
Hawtin was introduced to the fray after the break and he looked
hungry to inflict further damage on the visitors. He could have had a
hat-trick himself, narrowly missing a one-on-one just moments after
coming on to the field, he did well to meet an excellent
defence-splitting pass but saw his effort drift agonisingly wide of
the left-hand post. He had better luck on his second and third attempts,
finding the net first with a header and then with a volley after
getting the wrong side of the defence but on both occasions he was
denied by the linesman's flag.
Having hit their opponents
on the break several times in the first half (sound familiar?)
Oxford's approach play in the second was more largely based around
some lovely passing football. The Swindon defence were bamboozled by
United's slick passing and superior movement and as a result they
were able to slice through the massed Swindon ranks as if they were
made of butter. Roberts got his fourth from just one such move, the
yellows passing the ball around nicely on the edge of the area and
when the gap inevitably opened he exploited it with a well-placed
strike, finding the bottom right corner with pinpoint accuracy.
With Muctaru Conte coming
off the bench to play on the left wing, Sam Humphreys was moved to
the right but looked no less comfortable as an inverted winger. Given
the recent discussions about our use of width
in the senior team, I thought it was interesting to see that we
are trying to produce players with the tactical flexibility to play
on either flank. Humphreys looked very dangerous coming in centrally
with the ball on his left foot and he added Oxford's sixth after a
glorious passing move had opened up space on the left, allowing
Hunphreys the simple task of tapping in the cross with his stronger
foot.
Having been pulled around
all match Swindon by now looked exhausted and they collapsed towards
the end, having briefly looked like they'd tightened up at the back
in the earlier stages of the second half. But the exhausted and
disheartened defence could do nothing to stop the sprightly Hawtin
from finally getting his goal when he latched onto a through-ball
from Humphreys and slotted in for the seventh.
It's difficult to make any
firm judgements about the team or make forecasts about the future of
these players based just on one match, especially one as one-sided as
this one. But based on the evidence on display in this game, the
future is looking incredibly bright for some of these lads and for
the club in general if this is the standard of player they're
producing. With the development squad now in place to ease their
progression into senior football the club is now better set up than
ever before to nurture the obvious talent on display in our youth
team.
Team: B Martin, Clarke, F
Grant, Ashby, A Grant, McCormack, D Martin, George, Roberts, Calvin,
Humphreys
Subs: Hawtin, Hackett, Conte,
Welch-Hayes, Hayden
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