Oxford United 2 Manchester United XI 2

[@opponent]manchester united[/@opponent]Oxford's first home game of the pre-season ended all-square, after United had taken a two-goal lead. Yemi Odubade opened the scoring in the 16th minute, converting after Manchester United goalie Conor Devlin didn't clear properly from an Adam Murray corner. United doubled the lead seven minutes into the second half, when an excellent through-ball from Yemi set Jamie Guy free. Guy dummied a visiting defender and his shot beat Devlin, but was chested clear off the line by David Gray. The ball fell kindly for Guy, who made no mistake with the follow-up.

It took just two minutes before the Manchester side pulled a goal back, with Daniel Drinkwater charging forward, then setting Magnus Eikrem free on the right. His cross was met by the onrushing Drinkwater, whose header was over the diving Ben Hinchliffe, who is now a United player until the end of August, at least. The Manchester equaliser, with quarter of an hour remaining, was also created by Drinkwater. This time his pass to the right found Gray, and his cross was met by Sam Hewson, whose header was beyond the reach of Hinchliffe.

That wasn't the only action. Hinchliffe pulled off a couple of excellent diving saves, but it was really United who looked the likelier side to grab the win, as Guy was clean through only to fluff his pass to the unmarked Constable and then screw the rebound hopelessly wide, and a long-range drive from Joe Burnell was deflected narrowly wide. United looked comfortable against a young Manchester side full of quality, and which had recently won 3-0 at Conference rivals Altrincham.

However, the important thing from this game wasn't the result (although in some respects a draw might be more useful than a win, with the accompanying euphoria that would have engendered), but what Darren Patterson might have learned from what was probably largely his first-choice side. On the negative side, he will have been disappointed that both Manchester goals came from crosses from United's left that weren't defended very well. He may also have been concerned that on a few occasions, especially in the second half, Manchester midfielders were allowed to advance deep into Oxford's territory without being closed down. On the plus side, Patto will have been pleased with the way that United attacked their visitors from the off, with Burnell shooting narrowly over in just the second minute after being set up by Yemi. That set the pattern for much of the first half, with Yemi and Lewis Haldane both looking threatening on the wings and Guy and James Constable linking up well up front. Burnell and new captain Adam Murray bossed the midfield for large periods, while the defence looked particularly solid, with Hinchliffe virtually a spectator before the break. The full back pair of Chris Carruthers and James Clarke both supported the midfield well, and generally looked strong defensively, although Clarke did lose his man on a couple of occasions, but got back to tackle well both times.

Patto may be concerned that the side appeared to tire later in the game, although that may have been due to the sweltering conditions. United's substitutes didn't look out of place, although new triallist from Southend, Peggy Lokanda, will need more pitch time to really get into the game. Diminutive winger Sam Deering had a fine home debut, while Craig Reid defended well from the front. However, it was disappointing that Patto didn't give more of the substitutes a run, especially Rob Davies, Wayne Corden, Alex Fisher, and new goalie Gareth Stewart, on trial from Bournemouth.

Any neutrals, or fair-weather Oxford fans in attendance, should have been reasonably impressed with what they saw from the Yellows. Patto has certainly assembled a strong first team, but as we have mentioned previously, there is still a concern about the strength of the squad as a whole. Should Patto award longer contracts to Davies and the current crop of triallists, that will go a long way to addressing these concerns, but with the season less than a fortnight away, time is starting to get tight.