Oxford United 2 QPR 2

Oxford twice came back from behind to secure a well-earned draw against QPR's first team, under the charge of Manor legend Jim Magilton. As you'd expect from a side three divisions higher, QPR looked more composed on the ball and were the better passing side, but they lacked punch in front of goal and, for all their little pieces of individual skill, they often lacked the guile to break Oxford down.

United looked strong at the back, despite the absence of Damien Batt and Luke Foster, and composed in midfield, while the pace up front of Matt Green always posed a threat. In goal Ryan Clarke played the full game and made a couple of excellent saves, including one superb stop at the end of the first half from Rangers' best player, Wayne Routledge.

Rangers took the lead in the tenth minute when Gavin Mahon somehow found himself with just Clarke to beat, which he did with aplomb. However, any thoughts that the visitors might have held that this would be another cakewalk, following their 2-0 win at Forest Green Rovers last weekend, were quickly dispelled by some committed tackling from Mark Creighton and Rhys Day, with Dannie Bulman also doing his bit in central midfield.

United equalised in the 54th minute when Green collected a pass from Adam Chapman and saw his cross hit the arm of Kaspars Gorkss. Green won the tussle with James Constable for penalty-taking rights and calmly put the ball into the corner of the net. There followed some ostentatious badge kissing from the ex-Us striker demonstrating his true love of the club.

Parity lasted nine minutes before Routledge grabbed the goal that he deserved after picking up a through ball from Rangers' new loan signing from Spurs, Adel Taarabt. He rounded Clarke and, although pushed wide, managed to squeeze his shot into the net. It took just six minutes before United leveled the scores again as Jack Midson, who had replaced Green just a couple of minutes earlier, caught Matthew Connolly napping and nipped in to flick the ball past Radek Cerny for his third pre-season goal.

There was still time for Alessandro Pelicori to shoot against the post with Clarke beaten, but a Rangers winner would have been harsh on United, who often posed problems for Rangers, especially when going forward at pace. A long-range shot from Simon Clist was beaten out by Cerny, and Bulman shot over also from long range.

This was a positive performance from the Us against a side tipped to be among the challengers in the Championship. There were some areas for concern, obviously, but this was a decent workout in an entertaining game. [@opponent]queens park rangers[/@opponent][@connection]queens park rangers[/@connection]