Portsmouth Academy fall to narrow defeat against Oxford

The young Blues put in a decent performance at Furze Lane, but were unable to find an equaliser after the visitors grabbed a first-half lead.

Pompey were put on the back foot in the early stages, with Josh Anifowose firing over the bar in the 12th minute.

The Oxford man had another opportunity eight minutes later but the outcome was the same.

But it proved third time lucky for Anifowose when he opened the scoring on 24 minutes.

He was the first to react to a ball in the Blues area and finished beyond triallist keeper Taylor Seymour.

The hosts’ response was positive, however, with Seok Jae Lee shooting wide.

And six minutes before half-time Harrison Brook went agonisingly close to finding an equaliser, but his curling effort from the edge of the box was kept out by the visiting keeper.

The U’s went close to doubling their advantage five minutes after the restart but Seymour did well to deny Callum Crooks.

Then Connor Ferguson had an effort blocked for a corner, which Pompey managed to clear.

In the 65th minute Brook almost levelled for Mark Kelly’s side but he was ruled offside anyway.

Then Pompey went even closer with 11 minutes left when they struck the woodwork.

However, they couldn’t find a way through in the closing stages of the game.

It means the Blues have one point from their opening two Merit League One fixtures, after playing out a goalless draw at AFC Bournemouth last