Is everybody happy? Almost everybody, as Mark Harris fires home United’s first goal of the 2026/27 season (pic: Steve Daniels)

The sun was shining, it was a beautiful day, people were smiling. It was almost as though last season never happened.

Except it did, and as the evidence before us showed, we were once more playing a side that shouldn’t exist. Last time we played Milton Keynes was last season, in the FA Cup third round (none of that first or second round nonsense back then), there were two divisions between the sides. Now, on the opening day of the 2026/27 season, we met as equals – they were ascendent following promotion from the basement division last season, and we were despondent, with relegation our latest achievement.

Of course, the day was about so much more than football. There was a lot of speculation in the pub before the game about the presence or otherwise of United’s two alleged want-away players: Stan Mills and Brian De Keersmaecker. Although Millsy was in attendance, apparently he entered the ground ignoring the pleas of the autograph-collecting youngsters, having earlier sent a text to head coach Aaron Ramsey excusing himself from selection. Mysteries upon mysteries. BDK, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen.

Ramsey instead went with the same starting XI that had underperformed at Leyton Orient in the League Cup the previous week. To be fair, it’s not like he had a lot of options. Although when the teams took to the pitch, my immediate thought was maybe he should have selected Michał Helik, possibly the only player in the squad who wouldn’t have been dwarfed by the freakishly tall MK players. Were they a basketball team, repurposed by manager Paul Warne into a football franchise?

Ironically, the visitors were very reminiscent of the former Wimbledon side whose place in the football pyramid they stole. Tall and physical, but nevertheless athletic and well versed in the darker arts of the game. They were very effective, considering, but not particularly pleasing on the eye, with United playing most of the football on offer.

The game began (as games are wont to do). There was little between the teams, despite the obvious differences in approach. Such was the parity on the pitch, it came as a bit of a surprise when Oxford opened the scoring, the much-maligned (although not on here) Mark Harris pouncing on a defensive error to smash the ball home and open his and the club’s accounts for the season.

Kudos must be paid to Sam Long, whose defence-splitting pass found Siriki Dembélé in space on the edge of the area. His shot was blocked and the ball fell within reach of Brodie Spencer. His touch cannoned off a defender and fell kindly at Harris’s feet. He swiveled and shot home first time without thinking. Perhaps that was key.

Unfortunately, as at Orient the previous weekend, a good start for the U’s petered out and the oppo came back into the game. Their game plan – typical of Warne and Wimbledon – was to launch crosses into the box for their giraffe-like players to try to get their noggins to the ball. And, it has to be said, it worked a treat.

Less than 10 minutes after taking the lead, MK launched a flurry of shots and crosses, which the beleaguered U’s defence half cleared. That was until a left-wing cross was sent to the back stick where Charlie Goode, an imposing central defender, tried to nod the ball back across the goal. Unfortunately he got his angles wrong and it sailed over Jamie Cumming and into the net, via Sam Long’s head.

For some reason, Goode decided to celebrate by winding up the East Stand fans, as though there was some kind of beef between him and the United faithful. Bad Goode.

Oxford were still trying to recover their equilibrium when MK took the lead five minutes later. Again, the visitors pummeled the United area with crosses, half cleared. Dembélé then came back to help out the defence, but his kind-of clearance only came out to alleged Oxford target Ryan Wintle. His cross from the byline was excellently weighted for Aaron Collins to come steaming in and head home.

Fair to say, there was some muttering going on in the concourse at half time. It was difficult to see where a goal was coming from and many were of the opinion that there were no game changers on the bench. How wrong we were.

The second period started much as the first, with both teams sharing possession and trading misplaced passes. Oxford again playing the football and MK again going long into the channels. However, something was different. Ramsey had made a tweak or two and Oxford were playing a few yards further up the pitch.

But it was those substitutions that changed the game and brought United some joy. First, forward Gatlin O’Donkor replaced defensive midfielder Jamie McDonnell. This allowed Harris to drop into the #10 role, with Tyler Goodrham dropping to be level with Cameron Brannagan.

And then, the bravest substitution of them all: a minute after Peter Kioso replaced Brodie Spencer at right back, Dembélé was replaced by left-winger Mo Missanga for his Oxford United debut. The 17-year-old home-grown academy product immediately seemed at home, not afraid to try to dribble his way past defenders or have a pot shot to see which way the ball might fall.

United were now on the front foot and those Bucks boys were reeling. It seemed to be almost inevitable that a goal would come, and it could have done when Goode done bad (sorry for recycling that joke) and scythed down O’Donkor, allowing Harris a free run at goal. Unfortunately, ref Ollie Yates had already prematurely blown his whistle for the foul, depriving Sparky of an opportunity to test Craig MacGillivray.

Goode was shown a yellow for sinning against GOD, although we suspect that he will suffer further punishment in the afterlife (if you believe in such rubbish), if not in the return fixture. Smite him, Gats!

Despite all the momentum being with the U’s as they laid siege to the MKGoal, it did seem like the team would be condemned to a second successive opening-day defeat as the clock ticked into six minutes stoppage time.

However, cometh the last minute, cometh the stern-faced countenance of Ciaron Brown. The central defender had already been announced as the man of the match by the sponsors (sorry, no idea who they were), when justice was done.

Mighty Mo and Gatlin OD combined neatly on the left of the MKBox, Missanga cleverly getting between Gatlin and a covering defender. This allowed GOD to drive into the box and drive in a cross that was perfect for Brown to guide home to produce the loudest cheer of the season (so far).

There was still time for Oxford to go looking for a winner, but alas Yates blew his whistle just before a late corner could be delivered, from which it was pretty damn obvious that the Yellows would have scored. Clearly.

An entertaining match and a Desmond of a scoreline isn’t too shabby for an opening day fixture. The late nature of the equaliser meant there were a lot of happy faces exiting from the ground despite the lack of victory. I mean, if you’re going to draw, that’s probably the best way to do it.

Talk in the pub after the game mainly centred around Ramsey’s chinos, although when it came to the match there was also a sense that we got away with it slightly. It’s true that the visitors hit the post when they were 2-1 up and they could have created a decent chance from a breakaway that they inexplicably screwed up, but that happens in every game – indeed, what-might-have-beens are what football is all about and it was MK’s poor finishing or bad decision-making that cost them, rather than United’s luck.

I think we can all be pleased that we didn’t lose the opening game, and also with a fair number of positives despite not picking up all three points (given that both Oxford and MK got a point each, where did that missing third point go?), including the excellent debut display from Missanga, the backs-against-the-wall attitude from the players, and the positive substitutions from Ramsey. Those chinos might just be a perfect fit.

LATE EDIT: Forgot to mention that the game produced two historic stats: this was the first draw between the sides in Oxford (as opposed to five draws from seven games in Buckinghamshire); and the crowd of 10,964 was the largest to watch a game between the teams in Gatlin’s own county.