Oxford United 1 Rushden & Diamonds 0

Oxford United moved three points clear at the top of the Conference this evening thanks to Adam Chapman's late penalty against Rushden & Diamonds at the KasStad. Chapman's was the second spot-kick of the evening awarded to Oxford, as James Constable had previously blasted his penalty over the bar at the end of the first half.

Chris Wilder made just one change to the side that beat Histon 2-0 on Saturday, bringing in James Constable after his two-game suspension for Alfie Potter, who injured his hamstring in that game. Just after the hour mark Matt Green came on for Jack Midson, and six minutes later Chapman replaced Dannie Bulman, who limped off injured. In stoppage time Sam Deering was replaced by Franny Green.

United started on the front foot, and it took Constable less than 10 minutes to get his first sight of goal as he latched onto a Deering through-ball, but Diamonds 'keeper Dale Roberts came out quickly to save at Constable's feet. United were all over Rushden for the first half hour, and the Diamonds' only chance was one gifted to them by Rhys Day, whose poor back header fell straight to Rushden's Lee Tomlin, but his finish was as rubbish as the header that set him up and he could only pass the ball back to Ryan Clarke. With the first half entering stoppage time, an Oxford free-kick saw the ball launched into the penalty area, where Jake Wright was put into a headlock and the referee awarded United their first penalty. Unfortunately, Constable had obviously been having spot-kick lessons from Chelmsford City's Dave Rainford and he placed the ball firmly two yards over the bar.

Oxford had a good opportunity at the start of the second half, but Midson's shot went over. A Damian Batt error allowed Tomlin to burst clear, but Wright clattered into him to give away a free-kick that failed to trouble Clarke. The teams slugged it out in midfield, but the game looked to be drifting towards a disappointing, but not devastating, goalless draw. Then Matt Green was hauled down inside the area and United had their second penalty, coolly converted straight down the middle by Chapman. It remains a mystery how Diamonds' goalie Roberts escaped a yellow card for his rather blatant time-wasting, as he sought out ex-U Craig Farrell to ask in vain which way Chapman would take the penalty. As the referee signalled five minutes of stoppage time many people's thoughts turned to the same scenario at Kenilworth Road one week ago, but this time the Us held firm, and Matt Green even spurned a decent chance to score when he cut inside and shot over. A great, a very important, three points which will surely be significant in the final mix-up.

Tonight's referee was Steve Creighton, last in charge of a United game when they won 1-0 at AFC Wimbledon on 29 August. Mr Creighton had a poor game, allowing Rushden's time-wasting tactics to pass unchallenged and missing various other offences and misdemeanours by both sides. He booked Wright for the foul that stopped Tomlin and also showed Batt his tenth yellow card of the season, meaning a two-game ban presumably. The official attendance was 7,625 which isn't too shabby for a Tuesday night, although that would include those who bought a ticket for the original Boxing Day fixture but who hadn't sought a refund after the postponement but failed to attend tonight. A reasonably healthy 382 of those came from the hamlet of Irthlingborough.

The win sends United three points clear of Stevenage Borough at the top of the Conference, and Oxford still have one game in hand over Borough, who didn't play this evening. Rushden, whose seven-game unbeaten run in the league came to a stuttering halt tonight, dropped one place to fifth. This is because third-placed York City were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Luton Town, who climb to fourth. York are now six points behind Oxford having played a game more, while Luton are a further four points adrift, with one point more than Rushden.

In tonight's other Conference games, Altrincham moved to 11th place with a 3-0 win over sixth-bottom Eastbourne Borough. Salisbury City went up to 16th with a 1-0 win over Tamworth, while at the bottom Gateshead beat Barrow 2-1 to leapfrog the Barrovians and move out of the relegation zone, with the Heed now fifth from bottom, one place above Barrow. [@news]2659[/@news][@opponent]rushden & diamonds[/@opponent]