Gillingham U18 2 Oxford City U18 0

Match 59/16/1366 - Wednesday, 30th November 2016 - FA Youth Cup 3R

Gillingham (1) 2 Conway 39, Stevenson 88
Oxford City (0) 0
Attendance: 251

Entrance: £5
Programme: Free
Mileage: 58/4,590

Gillingham progressed with relative comfort into the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup and now harbour dreams of drawing a major club in Friday's draw.

The home side won the game with goals towards the end of each half through Jack Conway and Bradley Stevenson. If they had been a bit sharper in front of goal, the game would have been sewn up long before Stevenson's 88th minute clincher.

Conway opened the scoring six minutes before the break, in a move that started with a long kick from the goalkeeper. Leroy Hlabi controlled then flicked the ball over his man, and after his shot was blocked, Conway fired home the rebound from 10 yards.

With Gillingham's wastefulness always came the threat that Oxford City might pinch a goal and, after 64 minutes they had the ball in the net only to see a linesman's flag rule it out for offside, much to the disappointment of their contingent of supporters.

Noel Mbo, who has been attracting the attention of Gillingham's supporters during his successful loan spell at East Grinstead, came off the bench and immediately added a different dimension with his direct running and powerful shooting.

The Gills doubled their lead when Mbo laid the ball off to attacking midfielder Stevenson and his low, left-footed strike from 20 yards found the bottom corner.

Hlabi almost got a goal to reward a good performance, but his long-range effort hit the bar in stoppage time, but the Gills had done enough by then to progress.