NATHAN Skelton scored twice as Oxfordshire Under 18s beat Devon 3-2 in the South West Counties Youth Championship.

However, a below-par second-half display saw Oxon holding on for victory after dominating the opening period.

The hosts were quicker on the ball in the first 45 minutes, stringing some neat passing movements together and deserved the interval lead.

Luke Carnell (Brackley Town) was denied early on, and three minutes later, Devon keeper Joe Moore had to dive at the feet of Skelton to keep the scores level.

Oxfordshire then forced three successive corners that were dangerously floated into the box by Steve Bonner (Oxford United Academy) all of which caused problems to the Devon rearguard.

It was from the third on 20 minutes that Oxon took the lead when Skelton fired home from 8 yards.

After 38 minutes, Oxfordshire doubled their score when Skelton hit the roof of the net with a rocket of a shot from 20 yards.

In the second period, Devon moved Dan Jewell into midfield and his presence immediately caused problems.

In the 60th minute, from one of his bursts through the home defence, he played the ball wide on the right for Jordan Taylor to shoot past Tom Heslop (Henley Town).

Devon stayed on the attack, but a long ball out of the Oxfordshire defence sent Jordan Ayris (Ardley United) clear to beat the visiting keeper, despite strong appeals for offside.

In added time, Devon scored their second following a corner which ran through the Oxfordshire goal area and Jewell had an easy tap in to reduce the deficit.

Devon then pushed for the equaliser, and Heslop was forced to make a fine last-gasp save from Taylor to secure victory.