Oxford United won their annual local derby friendly at Oxford City 4-1 this evening in an entertaining game watched by a surprisingly large crowd. It took United a while to get going, but once they got their noses in front the final result was never in doubt.

United took the lead after quarter of an hour, when Chris Hackett raced onto a Barry Quinn pass and lashed the ball home from the corner of the penalty area. While Chris Tardif in goal for the Us was a virtual spectator, Carl Wilkins in City’s goal was forced into some excellent saves, notably from a Quinn free kick and a Craig Davies header following some excellent wing play by Hackett.

With Dave Mackay having departed for Scotland yesterday, Lee Mansell started in what will presumably be his regular right back position, alongside Jon Ashton, Chris Willmott, and Matt Robinson in defence. The midfield consisted of Hackett, Quinn, Chris Hargreaves, and triallist Rob Hughes, who played against the Yellows for Yeading on Saturday and presumably impressed Brian Talbot enough for him to be offered a game. He certainly impressed tonight, with some deft touches and simple passes, although he was a tad lightweight he could also provide some much-needed cover on the left-hand side. Hughes started as a schoolboy with Fulham and went on to feature for the Cottagers’ reserves before a trial spell at Aston Villa. He then dropped into the non-league, playing for Farnborough until he joined Yeading this summer.

The initial striking partnership was Davies and Steve Basham, with Bash going off at half-time to be replaced by Lee Bradbury. Also at half-time Billy Turley came on for Tardif (naturally), and Ben Weedon came on for Robbo. United extended their lead about five minutes into the second period when Davies ran on to a superb through-ball from Hughes and flicked the ball past Wilkins. Three minutes later Bradbury scored another goal for United following sliced clearance, after a Hackett cross caused confusion among the City defenders.

City did manage to pull a goal back with their only effort on target in the entire game, Lee Keyes converting a penalty after Ashton was adjudged to have nudged Ray Spence unfairly. There followed a spate of substitutions by both sides, but this didn’t interupt United’s flow, and they added a fourth goal when Ashton powered home a Hackett corner.

The substitutions saw Mansell replaced by tall triallist Jude Stirling, a former Luton trainee who has most recently been playing for Tamworth, and who endeared himself to the crowd with some step-overs and one excellent cross. Davies was replaced by Billy Beechers, Hughes by Jerome Anderson, Hackett by Kyle McCoy, and Quinn by Paul Burton. In addition David Oldfield replaced Chris Hargreaves, making this the third successive game that Oldfield has played in, and which suggests that the former striker might well be in Oldfield’s plans as a reserve midfielder. With five minutes to go Ashton and Willmott were replaced by Lee Molyneaux and David Woozley.

This was a useful work-out, and a good way of getting the Yeading result out of the players’ systems, while also giving some triallists and youth-team players a chance to impress. Oxford still look a bit bereft of goalscoring prowess up front, although the Davies/Bradbury combination seems to be the most promising, while the central midfielders must learn to be less shot-shy.

In other news, United have signed former Sheffield United goalkeeper Alan Hodgkinson as a full-time goalkeeping coach. Hodgkinson has a very impressive pedigree, and with Alan Judge not being able to commit to a full-time position, this is possibly one of Talbot’s most impressive pre-season signings.