Oxford United's first game under Darren Patterson's latest stewardship saw them ease through into the second round of the FA Cup, beating fellow Conference outfit Northwich Victoria 3-1.[@news]2214[/@news][@opponent]northwich victoria[/@opponent] United had a great start, with a goal after just seven minutes as Alex Jeannin headed home at the far post from an excellent cross by Kieran St Aimee, making his home debut. Billy Turley was later forced to tip over a long-range shot, but after that Oxford looked reasonably comfortable. That was until six minutes before half time, when Matt Day was bamboozled by a routine step over, and the resultant cross was steered home by Danny Williams for the equaliser. United's heads were starting to drop, until the ball fell to Yemi Odubade just inside the visitors' penalty area. He stepped inside but was tripped by Dominic Taylor, and coolly converted the resulting penalty, chipping the ball straight down the middle as Scott Tynan dived to his right.

Buoyed by going ahead again, Oxford dominated much of the second half, although in truth neither goalkeeper had much to do. Oxford's build-up play was usually pretty decent, but the final ball was always lacking, while Northwich looked to break quickly, but found former United striker Lee Steele well marshalled by Barry Quinn and debutant Paddy Collins.[@player]steele, lee[/@player] United eventually made the game safe with four minutes to go. Carl Pettefer, who practically controlled the midfield, played a short ball to substitute Alex Fisher, who ran at the Northwich defence. He took the ball wide and his hard, low cross was missed by Yemi, but Eddie Anaclet was following up and he smashed the ball home from close range. Game over.

Patto's first team selection was hampered by injuries, and he only had enough players to fill the team and the bench. He handed Collins his debut in a back three, alongside Quinn and Luke Foster, with Day and Jeannin at wingback. Stefan Bailey and Phil Trainer played either side of Petts in midfield, with Yemi and St Aimee up front. The first substitution came on the hour, as Eddie came back from injury to replace Day, wide on the right. With 15 minutes to go, Fisher replaced St Aimee, with devastating effect.

Today's referee was our old nemesis