Southampton won their third game in this year’s Junior section, sweeping aside OC Blues in an entertaining encounter.
OC Blues started brightly, but Southampton were resolute in defence and took the lead when Jonathan Afalabi looped his header over the goalkeeper.
It wasn’t long before Southampton added a second; this time, Maj Roric won the ball in midfield before setting up Tommy Willard who stroked the ball home. Afalabi came close to scoring his second moments later, shooting just wide after good work on the edge of the box.
But the scoreline didn’t reflect OC Blue’s contribution to the game. OC winger Will Richmond looked a threat on the right hand side. The American side almost got back into the game but striker John Kim headed just over the bar. Midfielder Sebastian Cruz was at the heart of everything good which OC Blues did, spraying the ball around from the middle of the park.
A determined Southampton side came out in the second half, and they soon added a third. Southampton left back Joe Tomlinson turned the ball in after the initial effort came back off the post. Southampton’s Cameron Logan, who had had a quiet first half, began terrorising the OC right back. He was replaced by Jake Vokins who continued to torment the right back. Vokins thought that he’d provided an assist when Afalabi turned in his cross, only to see the linesman’s flag go up.
But Southampton were not to be kept out for long and made it 4-0 when substitute Christian Norton put the ball in the back of the net.
Southampton pressed for another, but it never came, the game ending 4-0 and Southampton hoping that the result was enough to put them in the Milk Cup semi-final draw.
Ben Smith