Kettering Town 1 Oxford United 2

Oxford United brought themselves right back into contention for the play-offs tonight with an important win at Kettering Town. The Us had a perfect start and were 2-0 up within eight minutes. It got better for United after The Poppies were reduced to ten men when Craig Westcarr pushed Luke Foster in the face. And yet Oxford were unable to take advantage and had a very nervous last 15 minutes after Jean-Paul Marna pulled a goal back for the home side, especially after Kevin Sandwith was sent off for his second yellow card with nine minutes remaining.

Oxford took the lead in the sixth minute after a foul on James Constable on the edge of the Kettering penalty area. Adam Chapman had already shot into the defensive wall from a similar position, but this time Craig Nelthorpe took the kick, bending it around the wall and into the net at Lee Harper's near post. Two minutes later, Chris Willmott outjumped former United carthorse John Dempster to bundle the ball in off his shoulder from a corner. Craig Farrell then shot narrowly wide as the opening period belonged to Oxford. The first half then settled down, with Oxford still looking far more dangerous than Kettering but without coming close to scoring. Marna was lucky not to feel the wrath of the ref after stamping on Lewis Haldane, but his colleague Westcarr wasn't so fortunate when he tussled with Foster three minutes before the break.

If Oxford thought the second half was going to be a cakewalk they were sadly mistaken, as the home side took the game to the Yellows who never looked like they had a numerical advantage. That said, the Kettering shooting was rather abysmal, and Billy Turley had little to do other than the odd punch or goalkick. That was until the 77th minute when a poor defensive clearance fell to Marna, whose bobbling shot just sneaked in at the post, with Turley rather late to dive. Four minutes later Sandwith, who had already been booked for a rash tackle in the first half, cleared the ball with his hand as Alfie Potter looked to be about to race clear, and Sandwith was the filling in the ref's book. United managed to hold out until time, and despite the number of games they've played they've now given themselves a decent chance of challenging for the promotion places.

Chris Wilder recalled Nelthorpe after his three-game ban and he replaced Yemi Odubade on the wing. There was no place in the starting line-up for Adam Murray for the first time this season, with Farrell starting up front alongside Constable. This proved a tactical master-stroke, as on Setanta TV Mark Cooper explained how his tactics were to counter a 4-4-1-1 formation. There you go. With United under the cosh, Murray was brought on for Farrell to shore up the midfield. Following Sandwith's dismissal a double substitution saw the two wide men, Nelthorpe and Haldane, replaced by Chris Carruthers and Eddie Hutchinson.

The referee tonight was G Sutton, who last reffed an Oxford game in their opening day win over Forest Green Rovers in August 2007. He will certainly not be on Mark Cooper's Christmas card list, but we've seen much worse this season. Both dismissals were justified and all the other big decisions seemed to be correct. As well as Sandwith's two yellow cards, he also cautioned Willmott and Carruthers. The attendance was 1,716 with a magnificent 662 from the best County in the world (possibly).

Although this was a six-pointer, the win earned United only three points. That, however, is enough to take Oxford up three places to sixth, three points adrift of fifth-placed Stevenage Borough, although the Yellows have played two games more. Kettering remain tenth, three points behind Oxford. Oxford's next game is on Tuesday, at 11th-placed Rushden & Diamonds. [@news]2475[/@news] [@opponent]kettering town[/@opponent]