Oxford United managed to fend off Peterborough United pressure to squeeze through by two goals to one on aggregate and set up a playoff final with Bolton Wanderers at Wembley Stadium next Saturday.
LINEUPS
PET XI: Steer; Katongo, Knight, Edwards, Burrows*; Kyprianou, Collins; Poku, Randall, Mason-Clark; Jade-Jones
PET SUBS: Bilokapic, Fernandez, Dornelly, De Havilland, Ajiboye, Mothersille, Clarke-Harris
OXF XI: Cumming; Stevens, Moore*, Brown, Bennett; Brannagan; Dale, Rodrigues, Goodrham, Murphy; Harris
OXF SUBS: Eastwood, Long, Leigh, McEachran, McGuane, Browne, Bodin
Action: It was a fast start at London Road in the second-leg of this League One playoff semi-final with major chances and serious intensity at both ends of the table.
The best early-ish chances in the game came in Oxford United’s defensive box and both of them fell to Peterborough United’s centre-half Josh Knight.
The first chance saw him glance over from a corner kick before he then, from another set-piece, had the ball on the floor and flicked an effort at goal but Jamie Cumming reacted well to push the ball over the bar.
It was indeed Josh Knight, though, who managed to get the first goal of the game. Captain Harrison Burrows, with yet another excellent delivery, whipped with pace to the back post where Knight beat Mark Harris to the ball and side footed into the net.
However, that lead was not to last long, though, with the aforementioned Burrows giving away a penalty. Cameron Brannagan’s free-kick from the very edge of the box in first-half stoppage-time was clearly blocked by Burrows’ arm and that allowed for Brannagan to step up from the spot and roll Oxford back into an aggregate lead.
As cool as you like from Cameron Brannagan 😎 pic.twitter.com/dCZYePnvAZ
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) May 8, 2024
Peterborough did have another chance to retake the lead on the night, though, when Joel Randall did well to control an effort at goal but Cumming tipped over the bar once again.
As was to be expected, it was one way traffic for much of the second-half with Posh really pushing on but they couldn’t create much by way of clear cut opportunity.
That was, though, until two massive chances in second-half stoppage-time. The first came from a corner kick that Jonson Clarke-Harris met with his head but Sean Long managed to clear off the line.
Then, arguably their biggest threat on the evening, Josh Knight, had another headed effort at the back post with seconds to go but Jamie Cumming pulled off an excellent save to push the ball away.
The big picture: Despite their pressure, Peterborough United were fairly ineffective over the course of 180 minutes and for a second successive season, Darren Ferguson’s men have been knocked out in the semi-finals of the League One playoffs. Oxford United, for the second time in four years, are going to Wembley Stadium for the League One playoff final with Des Buckingham’s men aiming to get into the second-tier for the first time since 1999.
Man of the match: Jamie Cumming. The excellent Chelsea academy graduate, known for his footwork, was magnificent between the sticks with some notably impressive saves.
EVENTS
Kick-off
’32 | INJURY: Goodrham
’41 | GOAL: Knight (1-0)
’45 | GOAL: Brannagan [pen] (1-1)
Half-time
Full-time
1-1 | ||
Josh Knight 41' | Cameron Brannagan 45' (pen.) |
