Oxford United 1 Woking 0

Oxford moved into the third round of the FA Trophy for the first time in their history thanks to a hard-fought win over a fairly decent Woking side. Matt Green scored the only goal after quarter of an hour, latching on to a brilliant through-ball from Rhys Day with a perfectly timed run and slotting the ball past Ross Warner.

United fielded a largely experimental side, with Dannie Bulman at right back initially before Day moved over ten minutes after the break. Chris Wilder also experimented with formations, with 442 being seen later on as Jack Midson accompanied James Constable up front. Woking put some decent moves together, causing some problems for the Us, with Jake Wright having to clear one effort off the line and a few speculative efforts flying over, while Asward Thomas headed straight at Ryan Clarke in the last minute when a foot either way would probably have secured an unwelcome equaliser.

United also had their chances, with Constable and Alfie Potter both shooting wide in the first half when they should have done better, and Kevin Sandwith heading narrowly wide from a corner. In the second period, for all their decent passing and movement, United had precious few opportunities until close to the end, when Warner saved well from Constable and was up quickly to deny Potter the rebound.

Chris Wilder kept faith with Clarke in goal, and this was rewarded with an assured performance that made it clear that his blunder from Saturday has now been forgotten. Bulman took to his new right-back role with aplomb, while both Day and Wright looked solid in central defence. Sandwith had possibly his best game for United at left back, while Lee Fowler hardly put a foot wrong on his Oxford debut apart from a few misplaced passes, but everyone else was guilty of that too. Potter sparkled on the right, and the only real disappointment was Franny Green who, one sparkling run apart, looked off the pace. This was made more evident when he was replaced by Sam Deering ten minutes after the break, a move that gave Oxford some real bite and purpose.

Tonight's referee was A Hendley, who was in charge of United's 1-0 defeat by Weymouth last season, and also coincidentally of last season's 0-0 draw with Woking at the Kas. He didn't have a bad game at all, considering, and sensibly showed no yellow cards. The attendance was 1,581, with about 150ish from Woking way, making it the 9th-lowest home attendance since 1949 for which records exist, but nevertheless the highest attendance of all tonight's second round games.

The win gives United a trip to Chelmsford City a week on Saturday, which will necessitate the rearranging of Oxford's home game against Wrexham. Next Tuesday's scheduled match at home to Cambridge United will also need to be changed, as Cambridge were foolishly held to a 2-2 draw by Eastbourne Borough in their FA Trophy game this evening, meaning that they will replay next Tuesday. The biggest second-round win belonged to Stevenage Borough, who beat Vauxhall Motors 6-0, while AFC Wimbledon beat Altrincham 3-1. Tamworth were unable to repeat Saturday's scoring feat, held to a 0-0 draw at Gainsborough Trinity, and Chippenham Town's long trip to Gateshead was in vain as the Heed won 1-0. A Craig Farrell goal wasn't enough for Rushden & Diamonds, who lost 2-1 at Workington, while former Us triallist Gavin Caines popped up with a last-minute winner as Kidderminster Harriers beat Lewes 3-2. Phil Bolland scored the only goal as Barrow won 1-0 at Maidenhead United, while Histon finally made it through the first round with a 3-0 win over Maidstone United, played at Ashford Town.

In the Conference there were two games played tonight. Chester City, playing possibly their last game before facing a winding-up order, were beaten 1-0 at home by Salisbury City. Kettering Town moved up to fifth place with a 2-1 win at third-bottom Ebbsfleet United. More significantly, Carterton Town played Kidlington tonight in the third round of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup, with the prize for the winners a home tie against United. Kidlington won 3-1 after going 1-0 down. [@news]2639[/@news][@opponent]woking[/@opponent]