Brackley Town 0 Oxford United 2

An Oxford United XI had a decent stroll in the sun this afternoon at Brackley, and won courtesy of two goals from left winger Alex Rhodes. United took the lead on the half hour when Rhodes powered home a header from a pinpoint Alfie Potter cross. Potter was also instrumental in the second goal, in the 64th minute, when he dribbled past a couple of Brackley defenders, the last of whom caught him as he went through. Potter still worked the ball to Sam Deering, who put the ball in the net from an offside position, but the referee pulled the game back for the trip and awarded Oxford a penalty, which was converted by Rhodes. Potter was injured as a result of the challenge and had to be substituted.

Alex Rhodes

Until shortly before the opening goal the first half was fairly uneventful. It came to life when young keeper Nathan Silver was forced into making two exceptional saves in quick succession, the first from a Lee Hildrith shot, and the second from the resulting corner, when Tom Winters had a drive from the edge of the area that Silver managed to tip over. Before that the only chance had fallen to United triallist Kelvin Bosman, formerly of Reading, but the Ghanaian shot into the side netting after racing onto a through-ball when he could have done better with his shot or passed to the waiting Deering or Rhodes. Apart from his two wonder saves Silver had little to do, especially in the second half

Alex Rhodes wins a header, watched by triallist Kelvin Bosman

Bosman had another opportunity to score in the second half when he again raced clear, but this time his weak shot was no problem for Brackley keeper Richard Morris. Bosman failed to impress, but he was playing as a lone striker which is always a difficult role to pull off. More successful for United were Shane Killock, wearing the captain's band, who oozed class in the centre of defence, Chris Carruthers at left back, and the midfield partnership of ROS Declan Benjamin and Richard Groves.

This was a good competitive game, and Potter and Rhodes will have done themselves no harm in their quest for a first-team place. Killock and Carruthers could also force themselves into the reckoning, even though Carruthers looks to be on his way out after failing to appear in this season's official squad photo. Next up is another United XI game at Witney on Wednesday.