A young Oxford United side comfortably beat Hellenic League Premier Division Kidlington 3-0 at Yarnton Road in United's latest friendly against local opposition this evening. Alex Fisher, currently getting his work experience at Brackley Town, and Matty Taylor, doing the same at Abingdon United, scored the goals, with Fish getting the first two and Taylor completing the scoring.

The game was only a few minutes old when United took the lead, with Fisher heading home from a superbly flighted Danny Rose free kick. Oxford continued to dominate the first half, with Sam Warrell a virtual spectator, but the final ball was always lacking and the team was unable to add to the scoreline before half time.

In the second half, the windy conditions really started to have an effect on both sides, but the United youngsters were still dominant. Just after the hour mark, Taylor floated an excellent ball over the Kidlington defence, and Fisher controlled it beautifully before going past Matt Hutton and walking the ball into the net. Shortly afterwards, Sam Deering skipped down the left wing and his low cross was flicked into the goal by Taylor to give United a scoreline that better reflected their superior play. This spurred Kidlington into a half-hearted response, as they managed to produce their first shot on goal, which went into the side netting. They then won their first corner of the match and had a short period of pressure, which the United defence coped with easily before Jamie Clarke, playing in his more familiar centre-half role, had to come off injured, to be replaced by Marvin Martin. Deering almost scored a fourth, but was able only to poke the ball wide when well placed. Hutton was also responsible for keeping the scoreline down, with some excellent saves from Rose, Declan Benjamin, and Taylor.

Overall, this was a good workout for United's fringe players and youngsters, although Rose was the only player with regular first-team experience, and he was captain until replaced by Deering, who looks like a mini-Rose, at half time. Ryan Semple also played for the first half, but did little of note and Taylor was his replacement. The side featured a couple of triallists, including Aaron Moses-Garvey from Birmingham City, a St Kitts & Nevis international striker. However, yet again it was Ian Sampson who caught the eye with an assured game at right back in front of the watching Nick Merry, Jim Smith, and a cameo appearance from Kelvin Thomas, back for a visit from the USA.

Meanwhile, in the Conference, Crawley Town won 3-2 at fifth-bottom Altrincham to climb above Oxford on goal difference. This means that United have dropped to 16th, their lowest position since relegation out of the League, and therefore their worst placing in over 50 years. Other results saw leaders Aldershot beat Histon 3-1 to go 13 points clear of Cambridge United and virtually sow up the title, while Torquay United remain third after losing 3-2 at Halifax. Burton Albion went fifth after drawing 0-0 at Grays Athletic, displacing Exeter City, who lost 3-2 at York City last night, with Steve Basham scoring the Grecians' first goal. Fourth-bottom Weymouth drew 0-0 with sixth-bottom Farsley Celtic to go within a point of Altrincham.