Oxford United 1 Wrexham 0

Talk about leaving it late. James Constable scored the winner against Wrexham with the last kick of the game, four minutes into added on time, with a header from a Craig Nelthorpe cross that hit the underside of the bar and bounced over the line. On Tuesday at York City, Constable's last minute shot hit the bar and bounced over. There you go.

United started with a statement of intent, winning a corner in the first minute, and piling on the pressure on the visitors for much of the opening period. United's best effort came from a long-range Constable drive that Gunnar Neilsen just managed to tip over. This came after Constable had to leave the field after a Wrexham defender had found the hidden zipper in his shirt. At the other end there were a couple of nervous moments for Billy Turley, who spilled the ball from long-range shots, and on one occasion almost got caught in possession. But at half-time, apart from the boos for yet another poor refereeing performance, the noise was applause for a good Oxford performance.

In the second half, United became increasingly edgy and, as they pushed forward looking for the winner they needed, they started losing their shape and leaving gaps at the back. Fortunately, Wrexham were poor going forward and missed a couple of decent chances, with John Curtis shooting wide when he should have scored. Needless to report, Jefferson Louis was as crap for Wrexham as he had been at Oxford. There was a decent chance for Oxford to take the initiative when Neilsen went off injured, leaving centre-half Ashley Westwood between the sticks. It appears that the Danish custodian dislocated his thumb when clearing under pressure from Lewis Haldane. Unfortunately, United failed to take advantage of the change in circumstances, and didn't put Westwood to the test. Until, that is, the fourth minute of added time. It's almost certainly too late for the play-offs, but it's an enjoyable ride nonetheless.

Chris Wilder made just one change to the side that drew 0-0 at York, recalling Yemi Odubade to the starting line-up in place of Nelthorpe. At first, it looked like Yemi's pace would have the desired effect, but Yemi was replaced by Craig Farrell on the hour as Oxford changed to a more traditional 4-4-2. With 12 minutes remaining Nelthorpe came on for Chris Willmott, with Adam Chapman dropping back into central defence. This was the change that turned the match, eventually.

Today's referee was Rob Merchant, who was also the man in charge of Oxford's humiliation at Histon. He showed everyone how the art of refereeing should not be performed, giving wrong decisions, taking up wrong positions, and apparently losing the plot on a regular basis. On one occasion he blocked an Oxford clearance to set up a Wrexham counter-attack, which Chapman halted by elbowing the ball out, right in front of the ref in the penalty area. He refused the blatant penalty (thankfully), presumably because of his guilt at blocking the clearance. He showed yellow cards to Constable and Adam Murray, both for dissent at his embarrassing display. Still, moaning about the rubbish referees is becoming a bit old now. So we (probably) won't do it much more. Today's attendance was 5,832, of which just 253 were boyos.

While the play-offs are almost certainly out of reach, this win leaves United still in seventh, now just three points adrift of those elusive, tantalising play-off places. This was because of Histon's 3-1 defeat at top-of-the-table Burton Albion, leaving the Cambridgeshire club in fifth place, having played just one game fewer than Oxford. Wrexham remain tenth, 11 points adrift of the play-offs with four games left. Kidderminster Harriers also failed to win, thanks to a 95th-minute penalty at Altrincham, who drew 2-2. This leaves Kiddy fourth, four points above Oxford but with two games in hand. Stevenage Borough were able to win, dammit, beating Ebbsfleet United 1-0 to stay sixth, level on points with Histon. Stevenage have also played one game fewer than Oxford. Torquay United stay third, despite losing 2-0 at home to Crawley, meaning Crawley are one place below United, four points behind but with two games in hand. Cambridge United beat Eastbourne Borough 2-1 to go back up to second, nine points below Burton with three games remaining. Kettering Town lost 1-0 at Rushden & Diamonds, leaving them in ninth place, five points below Oxford with two games in hand.

At the bottom, relegated Lewes beat Weymouth 1-0 to drop the Terras, finally, into the relegation zone. Second-bottom Northwich Victoria won 2-1 at York, leaving the Minstermen third from bottom and their own survival hanging on a knife's edge; Northwich are 12 points from safety with four games left. United visit Woking on Monday, and the Cards did their survival prospects a lot of good with a 2-0 win at 17th-placed Forest Green Rovers, climbing to fifth from bottom. Grays Athletic also earned a vital three points with a 3-1 win over Salisbury City to rise to 18th, leapfrogging Barrow, who required a 94th-minute goal to scrape a 2-2 draw at Mansfield Town. [@news]2492[/@news][@opponent]wrexham[/@opponent]