Match Report

Sutton’s pre-season campaign continued with a comfortable win against Oxford City, the home side preparing for a season in National League North after being relegated at the end of last season. It was U’s fourth win in five games in the friendly programme.

U’s fielded triallist Dylan Kadji, an attacking midfield player released by Bristol City, and were in charge of the game largely from start to finish, with goalkeepers Matt Kerbey and Sam Roberts rarely tested. Dillon De Silva went close inside the first three minutes with a shot that flashed across goal, but a minute later he was involved in Sutton’s opener when he exchanged passes with Eduino Vaz, whose low cross was forced back across goal by Jeremy Sivi and bundled over the line by Siju Odelusi.

Oxford came close to an immediate reply when Lewis Coyle’s shot from twenty yards was diverted round the post by Kerbey, but the majority of the chances came at the other end as Kadji headed wide from a right wing cross when he should have done better, and then not for the first or last time Oxford got themselves in to trouble trying to play out from the back and a loose pass was seized on by Odelusi, who shot high over the bar from a good position.

Sivi shot over from a narrow angle from De Silva’s low left wing cross as U’s continued to create chances, and the only disappointment from an otherwise impressive first 45 minutes was the failure to score more than the one goal. U’s might have been punished just before half time when Vaz was penalised for handball on the edge of the penalty area, but Brad Stretton’s free kick failed to trouble Kerbey, who then made way for Roberts at half time.

Having not scored the goals the first half performance deserved, U’s put things right six minutes after half time when Will Davies turned smartly at the near post to collect Sivi’s cross and fire high in to the net to claim his first goal in Sutton colours, and the second half went on to follow a similar pattern to the first, a third goal coming just before the midway point of the half when Vaz intercepted a ball out from the back and attacked on the left before sending in a cross that looked to be aimed for Sivi at the far post but ended up in the back of the net on its own merits, the left back’s third goal of the pre-season campaign.

At that point Jayden Harris replaced Kadji, and ten minutes later the remaining substitutions took place, with only Vaz staying on the pitch to play a full ninety minutes. U’s saw out a comfortable victory with little threat to Roberst, and almost added a fourth when another stray pass from the back, this time by goalkeeper Kai McKenzie-Lyle, was returned first time goalwards by Harry Ransom but Jalen Jones was alert to the danger to clear inside the six yard box.