Ryan Peters hopes Oxford United display can 'catapult' Maidenhead United's season

Jayden Mitchell-Lawson had a couple of opportunities.

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Ryan Peters felt the Magpies gave their fans a performance they could be proud of despite the club exiting the FA Cup at the hands of League 1 Oxford United on Saturday afternoon.

Maidenhead stood up well to the challenge posed by the League 1 promotion chasers, matching their hosts for goal scoring opportunities and Peters is hoping it’s the kind of performance that can ‘catapult’ their league form.

However, Oxford had a clinical cutting edge that their visitors were lacking and a brace of goals from Billy Bodin in the 15th and 81st minutes saw the U’s set up a second-round home clash against either Slough Town or Grimsby Town.

Peters – who was supported on the touchline by Aaron O’Brien with manager Alan Devonshire serving a touchline ban following his sending off against Barnet – said afterwards: “I’m hoping this catapults our season. We had a good win last week and I’m hoping we can take this performance and use it as fuel and motivation to get a result on Saturday.”

Bodin fired the hosts in front from Stanley Mills’ low cross in the 15th minute and finished off a well-worked move in the closing stages to rubber-stamp the home side’s progress, however, in between times the game was very much in the balance with Maidenhead giving every bit as good as they got.

In fact, for a long period of the tie they created the game’s more dangerous moments, with Jayden Mitchell-Lawson firing over the bar just before the half-hour and forcing a smart save from U’s keeper Simon Eastwood before the interval.

However, it was a 10-minute spell just after the break that could have really turned the tie in Maidenhead’s favour. The visitors poured forward, sweeping in crosses and shots that the hosts managed to scramble clear. Alan Massey, a half-time substitute for Will De Havilland, probably had their best effort with a curling shot from just inside the box that was deflected behind.

Had they scored in that period, they might just have pulled off one of the shocks of the round, but it wasn’t to be.

Peters said: “There were moments in the second half when we had them on the ropes and if we could have nicked one, who knows where we could have got to.

“They’re a good side, top or second in League 1, we knew it was going to be tough, but I thought we did ourselves proud.

“It was always going to be tough, and it was a case of staying as positive as we could during those moments that weren’t so great. But, as I was saying to the boys afterwards, it was about moments. We had a few moments where the ball was flashing around their goal. If we’d have managed to get a nick on the ball and it’s a goal, you never know what might happen. But then they go up the other end of the field and produce the magic that’s put them second in their league.

“To be fair, we’re scoring goals for fun at the moment. It’s been stopping them going in the other net that’s been the problem. But we couldn’t put one in the back of the net today.

“For quite a lot of these young boys, this is the stage they want to be on, so it’s a day out I suppose. But when you run a team that’s been doing so well in League 1 so close, you’d like to see if you can get over the line. More importantly, get the club into the second round which hasn’t happened before. We haven’t managed to do it today, unfortunately.”

Maidenhead are back in league action this weekend when they host FC Halifax Town at York Road.