Judged to perfection

The Tuesday night “jinx” continued tonight, as did the astonishing record of whoever scores first not losing, as Oxford and Cambridge drew 1-1 at the KasStad. After an uneventful first half, memorable only for an impeccable performance from Alan Judge, playing his first game for the club since May 1991 and, in the process, becoming the oldest ever player to play for Oxford, at the age of 42. Cambridge scored first, against the run of play, in the 59th minute, when Luke Guttridge surged into the area to give Judge no chance. Guttridge was booked for his provocative celebrations. United changed to 4-4-2 six minutes later and this reaped immediate rewards when Jefferson Louis headed the equaliser after a Paul Powell free kick was knocked back into the area by Bobby Ford. Although United then had most of the pressure and chances the game ended, fittingly, with Judge pulling off a spectacular save in the last minute.

The United line-up saw two changes to the side that began at Shrewsbury on Saturday. Judge was the replacement for Andy Woodman, who is thought to be likely to be out for up to three weeks. Louis came in for David Oldfield, the United player-coach suffering a recurrence to a hamstring injury shortly into the Shrewsbury game. On the hour Steve Basham came on for Lee Steele, who twisted his knee at the end of the first half. Three minutes later Powell replaced Scott McNiven, and it was Powell's first kick of the ball that led directly to Oxford's equaliser.

Referee Andy Penn, who took charge of United's home defeat to Southend earlier this season, booked Matt Robinson and three Cambridge players. The attendance was a disappointing 4,983, and a match report by Statto99 can be found here.

United have dropped to seventh after dropping these two points, while Cambridge stay 12th. Leaders Hartlepool lost 2-0 at Wrexham, who climb above Oxford into sixth. Rushden, in second place, won 1-0 at Bury to leave the Shakers in eleventh place. Scunthorpe stayed third with a 3-1 win over Rochdale, and fourth placed Bournemouth also won 3-1, beating Leyton Orient. York moved up to fifth with a 1-0 win at Bristol Rovers, who are now fourth from bottom.

Exeter moved up to third from bottom with a 2-0 win over Lincoln, who are one place behind Oxford in eighth, Boston slipping into 24th without playing. Swansea moved one place above the Pilgrims with a 2-0 win at Southend. United's next opponents, Macclesfield Town, are now fifth from bottom after losing 1-0 at Carlisle, who are now one place above them. The division's other games saw Torquay score a last minute goal to draw 1-1 at Hull, and Kidderminster come back from 2-0 down at home to Shrewsbury to grab a point.

There were two former United players on the scoresheet in Division One. Jim Magilton Ipswich's third in their 3-1 humiliation of Reading, and Dean Windass opened the scoring for Sheffield United as they beat Brighton 2-1.