Boro 1 Oxford City 1

Match report courtesy of Owen Jephcote;

In a game of two halves, Nuneaton Borough rescued a draw against National League outfit Oxford City.

Bilal Yafai had the opening chance of the game inside three minutes dragging his shot just wide of the post. Dan Jezeph was called into action minutes later with a great save to deny Tafari Moore and keep the scores level. Yafai had another opportunity ten minutes after his first which saw him sting the gloves of Chris Haigh with a thunderous effort . Chris Haigh pulled off two exceptional back to back saves from close range to deny Connor Tomlinson and Scott McManus before Oxford City went down the other end and broke the deadlock in the 35th minute through a low driven effort from Zac McEachran which flashed past Borough keeper Dan Jezeph at his near post.
Just before half-time Boro’s Matt Stenson was forced off with a shoulder injury.

Half-Time 0-1

In the second-half Oxford showed their quality and began to apply further pressure on the Borough defence forcing experienced former Barwell shot stopper Liam Castle into two big saves, as well as a double block on the line from Prince Mancinelli, putting his body on the line in the process. Just when spectators thought that the game was dead and Oxford had secured the victory, a mix up at the back for the visitors gave Luke Benbow a clear run on goal. With young prospect Leo Kelly providing the perfect option on his left, Benbow squared the ball across giving the youngster an easy tap in to mark his first senior goal. Kelly’s smile was by a mile the biggest in the stadium as he celebrated with his teammates in front of over 300 fans. Two minutes later the final whistle was blown providing Nuneaton Borough with their second draw against higher league opponents in pre-season.

Full-Time 1-1

Nuneaton Borough Team:
1. Dan Jezeph
2. Jaden Charles
3. Alex Lafleur
4. Cain Noble
6. Scott McManus (C)
8. Prince Mancinelli
9. Matt Stenson
10. Bilal Yafai
18. Lathaniel Rowe-Turner
19 Connor Tomlinson
20. Isaiah Osbourne

Substitutes:
12. Liam Castle (GK), 5. Victor Nirennold, 7. Luke Benbow
10. Trialist A, 11. Kane Richards,
13. Kacey Milan Butterfield, 16. Zidane
17. Dan Edmonds, 20. Dan Adiefeh, 21. Cameron McWilliams
22. Elwalid Elhaghany, 23.Leo Kelly, 24. Oliver Szymanski, 25. Bradley Coleman

Oxford City Team:
1. Chris Haigh
2. Tafari Moore
3. Lewis Micco
4. Josh Ashby
6. Tom Harrison
7. Lewis Coyle
8. Reece Fleet
10. Zac McEachran
14. Josh Parker
19. Canice Carroll
20. Latrell Humphrey-Ewers

Substitutes:
5. Trialist A
9. Braydon Daniel
11. Trialist B
12. Trialist C
13. Trialist D
15. Andre Bromfield
16. Josh McConnell
17. Niko Nenomen Millar
18. Aaron Williams Bushell

Attendance: 301