Birmingham City U21’s 3-4 Oxford United

I must start this article by saying how impressed I have been with Alex Jones, both before and after his loan spell which was successful.

The game on Tuesday night was at the regular spot for U21 games, Wast Hills and produced an epic encounter. It was a shame that it was behind closed doors!It was a friendly against Oxford.

According to the official bcfc.com, the line up was:

Blues: Weaver, Cotton, Seddon, Baba (Cooper 58), Martin, Harding, Paul (Inman 73), Cesar, O’Neill, McDonald, Jones.
Not used: Trueman.

The game started very slowly, mainly due to the conditions of the pitch. But it soon livened up as the visitors were 2-0 up within 12 minutes. Perry Cotton was at fault for the first goal allowing their striker to nick it and produced a simple finish. This was followed by another goal due to lapses in concentration at the back.

Could the youngsters come back from this?

Two trialists were impressing. The first, Chris Paul, who is on trial from Spurs glanced a header just wide. And Cesar, a Blues’ Community trialist, showed some lovely feet before narrowly missing the target.

Blues’ were on top and needed a goal. They got this just before half time. The lively Jones raced onto a lovely ball over the top from Seddon before chipping the goalkeeper. A great finish from the young man.

2-1 at half time.


The second half started just as the first half had, with Birmingham City conceding a goal.A set piece was floated in and not dealt with allowing for yet another easy goal. The defence will have to tighten up a bit more if this streak is to continue. However, Wes Harding was doing well, yet again. A few blocks preventing clear goals.
He needed to be alert as Oxford were doing all the pressing.

Weaver, the Birmingham City goalkeeper was also proving hard to beat. He made two excellent stops, showing just how fast his reactions are. This kept the Blues’ in it.

Despite the pressure from Oxford, Birmingham were carving out a few chances on the break. Jones who ran his socks off all game had 2 chances which were smothered by their goalkeeper.

With 2 minutes to go, and 3-1 down, the tide turned. Jones was set free out wide and showed great strength to nudge his marker before sending a powerful shot into the bottom corner. 3-2 and game on.

However just a minute later, Harding was penalised for a foul inside the area. A very harsh call. Weaver managed to stop this but it was bundled home after a scramble in the box. 4-2 to the visitors.

McDonald was running the show in midfield and in injury time he slotted the ball through to Jones who just about beat the offside trap. Jones calmly finished to complete his hat-trick but the youngsters still fell to a 4-3 defeat.

The highlights can be seen on youtube. Please note, we do not own the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=206&v=m0yRd6Ze7fk