Oxford United take home all three points despite Jamie Reid's opener...
Boro’s League One campaign was two months deep, and the games were beginning to come thick and fast. The side sat third in the table as they welcomed second-placed Oxford United to The Lamex Stadium. The gaffer made two changes from last weekend’s victory in Cheltenham as Kane Hemmings and Luther James-Wildin returned to the starting eleven in place of Charlie McNeill and Ben Thompson.
Stevenage kicked off, shooting towards the away end filled with yellow to begin with. A corner was won just thirty seconds in, but the danger was cleared before Carl Piergianni could get his towering head on it.
After three minutes, Boro looked to break on the counter and take an early lead. Krisztian Hegyi’s long throw forward found Jamie Reid who got the better of Oxford’s Marcus McGuane before seeing his cross fly just behind Kane Hemmings at the back post.
Boro were certainly threatening the Oxford defence as they won a flurry of corners around the ten-minute mark. The best of those corners came with Carl Piergianni’s header being blocked on the line by Elliott Moore.
Oxford were struggling to get out of their half at times in the first fifteen minutes as Stevenage deservedly took the lead. Jordan Roberts’ delightful through ball found Kane Hemmings sprinting down the right wing. Hemmings squared the ball across goal to his prolific strike partner Jamie Reid who fired home to get his sixth goal of the season.
The visitors grew into the game after conceding the opener and grabbed themselves an equaliser five minutes later. Billy Bodin’s header crashed against the crossbar, allowing Greg Leigh to tap in the rebound for Oxford.
The remainder of the half was extremely quiet in both boxes as the sides looked to play their football. The fourth official held up three additional minutes, but not a lot happened as the referee blew for half time.
Ten minutes into the second half, Oxford scored their second of the afternoon to take the lead. Greg Leigh turned inside the area before firing into the top right corner to double his tally for the day.
Boro had a real task on their hands now, and with over twenty of the ninety to go, the gaffer made four exciting changes. Terence Vancooten and Aaron Pressley made their return, alongside Elliott List and Louis Thompson who were all introduced in place of Carl Piergianni, Kane Hemmings, Nick Freeman and Nathan Thompson.
The hosts were applying the pressure after the substitutions were made as Oxford found themselves on the back foot. The home crowd remained noisy as they pushed their side for an equaliser.
Elliott List had two golden chances to level the scoring with his first effort being denied by the goalkeeper. His second was a free header in the area which fell inches over the crossbar. The visitors were being tested.
Despite Boro’s hard work, Oxford grabbed a third with ten minutes remaining. Josh Murphy’s cross into the box met the head of Elliott Moore who fired it into the bottom corner to give his side a two-goal advantage.
The gaffer threw one final role of the dice late on as Ben Thompson replaced Finley Burns in midfield, but Stevenage’s task was a difficult one. They weren’t going to let up though as they did threaten on a couple of occasions. Dan Butler’s dangerous free kick was aimed at James Beadle, but the Oxford stopper held on.
In the seven minutes of added time, the ball was entirely in the Oxford half, but Boro were unable to carve out a clear-cut chance as the referee concluded the game. It was a promising first twenty minutes for Boro, but Oxford proved to have plenty of quality on the day which meant they took home all three points.
Stevenage now look ahead to Tuesday’s test in Bolton.
Attendance: 5,512 inc. 1386 away supporters.