Exeter City’s Under-18s maintained their recent unbeaten run with a 1-1 home draw against Oxford United U18s in the Youth Alliance South-West division.

Lining up with a change of system, the Grecians’ intent was clear from the outset, with Alfie Cunningham firing wide inside the first 60 seconds.

City captain, Joe Wragg, drove his side’s second opportunity over the crossbar, but, despite their promising start, the Devon outfit conceded the opener after a quarter of an hour. United’s Josh Iheanacho saw a free-kick initially saved by Dylan Shanahan, however, Callum Cliff diverted the ball in from close range to hand his team the early advantage.

Wragg’s energy terrorised the U’s defence, and the home skipper brought his team back into the contest on 33 minutes after Hale and Cunningham combined. Wragg latched onto a defence-splitting pass before smashing an effort past Fraser Barnsley and inside the near post to deservedly make it 1-1.

A huge City chance came just before the hour mark when Wragg raced onto a sloppy Oxford backpass and looked to round the ‘keeper, but was forced to shoot. The striker's effort clipped off the inside of the post, before Cunningham’s rebound attempt was denied by a wonderful sliding challenge, as both sides had to settle for a draw.