Aldershot Town 1 - 0 Oxford United

Last updated : 23 December 2007 By Stray Shots Team
Anthony Charles: Another good game in defence.
Kirk Hudson's clinical finish in the 67th minute was enough to see off Oxford in a hard fought cup tie at the Rec this afternoon.

Gary Waddock took the opportunity in today's match to play a number of fringe players in his squad.

The first chance of the game came from a Shots corner in the 4th minute.
A Scott Davies delivery was met by the head of Winfield but the ball struck the post.

From the rebound Charles ballooned his effort well over.

In the 10th minute Yemi easily outpaced Dave Winfield before cutting inside - however he didn't show any composure in lashing his effort into the side netting.

The game degenerated into a midfield battle with only the pace of Hudson for the Shots and Yemi for the visitors looking likely outlets.

In the 35th minute, Foster was lucky to only receive a yellow card after a reckless challenge on Elvins.

The roles were reversed just before the break when the Shots front man took retribution on the Oxford defender and he got himself booked in the process.

Half Time: Shots 0 Oxford 0

The Shots did start the second half brighter, with Davies and Newman starting to gain control of the midfield.

Indeed they had the ball in the net on 59 minutes, from a Hudson finish, but the offside flag was already raised.

A minute later Gary Waddock made a double substitution when John Grant and Soares replaced the disappointing Joel Grant and Elvins.

The definitive moment came in the 67th minute.

A free kick five yards inside the Oxford half was flicked on by Danny Hylton. It fell perfectly for Kirk Hudson who opened up his body and curled his effort across Worrall into the far corner.

Dixon replaced Hylton immediately after the goal.

Ricky Newman then did superbly on two occasions to thwart Oxford.

Firstly he made an excellent block to deny Duffy, after good work from Yemi set the opportunity up.

Then he was in the right place to make a clearance inside the Shots six yard box to snuff out the imminent danger.

In the 81st minute the Shots had the chance to double their lead.

A slide rule pass from Davies found John Grant in the right channel. The Shots top scorer easily out-muscled his defender but then fizzed his effort into the side netting when he could have squared to unmarked players in the box.

Even though Oxford pushed forward looking for an equaliser, the Shots held out quite comfortably to record another win at Fortress Rec!

The Shots will now meet St Albans away in the 5th Round of the Setanta Shield.

TS Ratings:
M J Ruiz 5, Smith 6, Straker 6, Newman 7, Winfield 5, Charles 6.5, Hudson 7, Davies 6.5, Hylton 6 (Dixon 6), Elvins 5 (John Grant 6), Joel Grant 4 (Soares 6)

Report with thanks to Tongham Shots.