Penalties noticed

United scraped through their second round Auto Windscreens Shield tie against Wycombe, beating the Bucks team 5-3 on penalties after the game finished 1-1. Oxford took the lead with a Paul Powell penalty after Paul Tait was brought down in the area. Ten minutes later Peter Fear was sent off for an apparently harmless looking tackle and five minutes before the break former City striker Jermaine McSporran equalised for Wycombe. Jon Shepheard made his United debut and Tait and Fear replaced Joey Beauchamp and Derek Lilley in the midfield. Mark Watson went off with a recurrence of his back injury and was replaced by Steve Davis and Steve Anthrobus was substituted for Kevin Francis, who himself went off with a hamstring injury twenty minutes later to be replaced by Beauchamp. Oxford's penalty scorers, in order, were Beauchamp, Jamie Cook, Powell, Matt Murphy and Pål Lundin. There's a brief and unimpressive match report here.

They never did it for Oxford

Some former United players found the net today, including Dean Saunders, who scored Bradford City's goal in their 3-1 defeat at Gillingham, for whom Andy Thomson scored the opening goal. Torquay's winner in the Devon derby at Plymouth was scored by O'Neill Donaldson. Former Manor favourite Brian Wilsterman found the scoresheet, but unfortunately it wasn't for his team Rotherham, but their opponents Chesterfield who went on to win 4-1.