The Spitfires held League One visitors Oxford United to a goalless draw at the Silverlake Stadium with an impressive defensive performance.

The first chance of the game came early on for Oxford United as Mark Harris was played through and had his attempt saved low by Joe McDonnell in the third minute.

The Spitfires came close in the fourteenth minute as Solomon Nwabuokei won the ball in the final third and passed the ball into the path of Charlie Carter who shot wide to the left of the goal.

Oscar Rutherford sent in a cross in the 35th minute which was met by Aiden Barlow whose shot was blocked and went out to earn the Spitfires a corner.

Moments later, the visitors looked set to score as Tyler Goodrham was sent through one-on-one with McDonnell who made an impressive save with his trailing leg in the centre of the goal to keep the game goalless going into half time.

Oxford United had the first real chance of the second half as they earnt a freekick on the edge of the box in the 61st minute which was taken by Cameron Brannagan whose right footed shot clattered the cross bar.

Late on, Oxford came close to stealing the game after Billy Bodin intercepted a misplaced pass, his strike was saved in the middle of the goal by McDonnell.

The game ended in a goalless draw with plenty of positives to take for the Spitfires from another pre-season test.

Report by Matthew Gibbs