A young Oxford City Stars side ended their South Division season on a high with an encouraging 3-2 victory at home to Milton Keynes Thunder.

Stars, with a squad including seven under the age of 20, dominated the first period one of their best of the season but just could not take their chances.

They did take the lead two minutes into the second half during a powerplay.

Adam Andrews fired in a shot from the point, and Dean Francis put the puck past Thunder's netminder, Mark Woolf.

Stars took two penalties in quick succession to give Thunder a two-man advantage, which led to goals by Mike Knights and Keiron Goody.

After strong words in the dressing room, Oxford returned to their early-match form in the third period, and outshot their opponents 20 to four in one spell.

It took a first senior league goal from 16-year-old Joe Oliver, assisted by his older brother, Nick, to get them level with seven minutes left.

Stars had several powerplays in the closing stages, with Milton Keynes having to defend desperately.

Eventually, with just a couple of minutes to go, a move saw Stars' captain Darren Elliott set up Francis, who powered the puck home from close in to put them into a deserved lead.

The visitors withdrew their netminder in the last minute, but then had to spend most of their time trying to block shots on their empty net.

Oxford's victory ended Thunder's hopes of a play-off place.

Oxford scorers: D Francis 2+0, J Oliver 1+0, J Clarke 0+1, A Cox 0+1, A Andrews 0+1, N Oliver 0+1, D Elliott 0+1.