United not shrewd enough

Oxford raced into a two goal lead this afternoon, but two defensive lapses allowed Shrewsbury to level the scores before half-time. Andy Scott shot United ahead in the seventh minute and then another well taken goal by Jefferson Louis in the sixteenth minute put the Us in the driving seat. However just five minutes later Andy Woodman misjudged an Ian Woan free-kick and conceded a soft goal to allow the Shrews back into the game and then after another six minutes had elapsed the Oxford defence stood still, allowing substitute Leon Drysdale to waltz through to equalise. Both teams went on to hit the bar and, although Oxford should have wrapped up the points, in the end a draw was probably what both teams deserved.

Scott McNiven and Matt Robinson were both recalled to the wing back positions after being rested against Bournemouth in midweek. ROS Chris Hackett started again, this time in right midfield, whilst up front Louis was partnered by Scott. In the second half David Oldfield came on for Matt Bound as Oxford went to 4-4-2 in an attempt to win the game, and then Scott, who had moved to left wing, was replaced by Gavin Gordon. Right at the end Dean Whitehead replaced Louis.

The referee was our old friend Joe Ross, who had an odd game, giving some free kicks when there appeared little wrong and then allowing blatant fouls to go unpunished. He did send off our lad Hackett in the 89th minute for a foolish late tackle, earning a second yellow after Hackett had already been booked, rather more harshly. The attendance of 5,559 was United's second best of the season. A match report can be found here.

As a result of this draw United have slipped back to eighth, now seven points behind leaders Hartlepool, who won 1-0 at Southend last night. Bournemouth remain second, now four points above Oxford, after beating York 1-0, and Kidderminster have risen to third after their 2-1 win over Cambridge. Rushden and Diamonds have slipped to fourth after they drew 1-1 at Hull, whilst Lincoln's 2-0 win at Wrexham has lifted them to fifth. Torquay slipped to sixth after being hammered 5-1 at Scunthorpe, who have risen to seventh.

Carlisle remain bottom after being held 2-2 by third-bottom Swansea, and Exeter fell into the relegation zone after a 4-0 hammering at home to Darlington. United's next opponents, Macclesfield Town, lost 2-1 at Bury. Elsewhere Simon Weatherstone and Stuart Douglas were both on target as Boston beat Rochdale 3-1 and Bristol Rovers went down 2-1 at home to Leyton Orient.

Non-League away

In the first round of the FA Cup Oxford have been drawn away to either Dover or Woking, who drew 1-1 in Dover today and so need a replay. If Woking triumph then Oxford could well be embarrassed by former strikers Ben Abbey and Nick Banger. The tie will take place on November 16th.

More fevered than raging

United's combined fanzine side Raging Fever lost 7-1 to Shrewsbury's Away Fans Football Club. RF went two down to a dodgy penalty and then a blatant handball before pulling a goal back through Gez Foster just before half-time. In the second half a series of defensive howlers, dodgy lino decisions and sheer pace from players about half the age of the RF defenders led to a home side collapse and a rather unrepresentative scoreline. RF were without any of their regular strikers and had two or three other key players missing, but no excuses, we were beaten by the better team.
RF: Gunth; Brodders, Nick (Ginger Yellow), Rick, Andy; Colli (Domi), Gez, YF Dan, Jon WGL; Neil W, YF Rob;