MARK Sykes felt familiar failings came back to haunt Oxford United as a 3-0 defeat to Blackpool dealt their promotion hopes a huge blow.
The U’s were well beaten in their Sky Bet League One play-off semi-final first leg, giving the hosts a sizeable advantage ahead of Friday’s return fixture at Bloomfield Road.
United will be hugely disappointed they could not get a result for their returning fans, back at the Kassam Stadium for the first time in 2021.
But Ollie Turton and Ellis Simms scored in the space of four first-half minutes to give Blackpool control and Sykes admitted the U’s had to manage the game better.
The midfielder said: “The second goal was a disappointment, we’ve got to see the game out a bit better.
“It has been a bit of an Achilles’ heel and we’ve got to fix that on the training ground.
“We’ve got to keep it tight after we concede and not go for the game as early as we do.”
Losing 2-0 and with a home crowd spurring them on, United looked to pull themselves back into the tie.
Sykes was thwarted by goalkeeper Chris Maxwell one-on-one soon after the break and the Seasiders were ruthless, Simms adding his second.
Read also: Karl Robinson's assessment of Oxford United's defeat
The 23-year-old said: “I’ve missed another great chance again.
“I don’t even know how to explain it and how I’ve not scored.
“We weren’t just going to sit there with it at 2-0.
“We gave a good account of ourselves but ultimately we paid the biggest price.”
The outcome could have been different had Blackpool defender James Husband been sent off for tripping Sykes, who had burst through the centre of the pitch, inside the first three minutes.
Despite protests from the stands, referee Robert Madley was quick to brandish a yellow card.
Sykes said: “I thought I was in on goal, there was two lads coming in from either side but if he doesn’t take me down, I’m in one on one.
“The referee had a hard decision to make at a big time, but he made his mind up and brought the yellow out straight away.”
One positive was the long-awaited return of 3,224 U’s supporters.
“It was nice to get fans back in and it was nicer without the fake crowd noise but we let them down, and we let ourselves down,” said Sykes.
“That’s the biggest disappointment, but hopefully there’s brighter days ahead.”
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