Under-18s return to action

Max Robson and Romaine Mundle were on target as our Under-18s played their first game since February, taking on Oxford United in a training ground friendly on Tuesday afternoon.

Both of our goals came inside the first 33 minutes at Hotspur Way, but it was the visitors who completed a 4-2 win in the 90th minute with our players pushing high up the pitch at 3-2 down in an effort to find an equaliser.

Nevertheless, coach Matt Taylor was able to take plenty of plusses out of a keenly-contested first pre-season fixture of the summer, handing match minutes to numerous players and assessing several areas as we begin to step up our preparations for the 2020/21 campaign.

Enock Asante and Robson capitalised on a mistake at the back as the latter gave us a 13th-minute lead while goalkeeper Thimothee Lo-Tutala made a superb double save at the other end, but he could do nothing to keep out a fine long-range strike from Tyler Goodrham as Oxford levelled on 27 minutes.

Mundle restored our lead six minutes later with a well-taken back-post volley following Dermi Lusala’s cross from the right, but when the full-back was adjudged to have fouled Nico Jones in the box four minutes before the break, Slavi Spasov made it 2-2 from the penalty spot.

Taylor made wholesale changes at the break and it was Oxford who snatched the lead 11 minutes after the restart when Elijah Coe pounced on a loose ball at the back to fire past Aaron Maguire, with the goalkeeper subsequently making a handful of vital saves to prevent the visitors from adding to their side of the scoreline.

We soon found our rhythm again and pressed Oxford back, Roshaun Mathurin forcing a good save from the visitors’ goalkeeper before Renaldo Torraj saw a golden chance slip away in the 89th minute, his shot from inside the box tipped over the bar. From the resulting corner, Dante Cassanova headed just wide and within seconds, with the players pushing up the pitch, Oxford snatched a last-minute fourth goal when Callum Crook scored with a stooping header.