Oxford United 1 Kettering Town 1

Despite a performance much improved from Tuesday, and gaining a point against a Kettering side with the best away record in the Conference, this still felt like a defeat. A spell of pressure that lasted most of the first half ended with just one goal to show for it, as Franny Green raced onto Sam Deering's through-ball before clipping the ball over Nathan Abbey for his first league goal for United. However, United's undoing was, once again, a corner as Marcus Kelly swung the ball in and James Dance got in front of Jake Wright to head home an undeserved equaliser.

Chris Wilder surprised many with his team selection, dropping both Matt Green and John Grant after Tuesday's defeat by Hayes & Yeading United, and giving Franny Green and Jack Midson starts up front. In addition, Anthony Tonkin returned to left-back, with Mark Creighton making way, and Lewis Chalmers made his first start for the Us to replace the injured Chris Hargreaves. Less than ten minutes into the second half Wilder made a double substitution, with Matt Green coming on for Simon Clist and Grant replacing Midson.

United started on the front foot, but were unable to create any clear-cut chances. One good run from Green ended with a superb cross that Midson was just unable to reach, but most of the half was spent with the Oxford players on the receiving end of some rather nasty tackles, both on and off the ball, punctuated with Kettering's obvious time-wasting, taking advantage of some ineffectual refereeing.

The equaliser seemed to knock the stuffing out of United and they found it difficult to achieve the same levels of commitment in the second half. The second half saw a bit of a return to the sloppiness of Tuesday night, with misplaced passes, hesitant defending, poor decision-making, and a general lack of urgency. Damian Batt and Rhys Day were particularly poor, as Batt has been for several weeks now, but United weren't helped by the state of the pitch or Kettering's tactics, which saw their yellow card count continue to rise, while Jean-Paul Marna was lucky to stay on the pitch after deliberately kicking out at Wright. United failed to force Abbey into a save in the second half, while Ryan Clarke had to be alert to block a long-range drive from Kelly.

As frustrating as today's game was, there were signs that United are starting to find their feet again. With the imminent return of James Constable to the front line and Adam Murray and Alfie Potter to the midfield, there is certainly no reason why Oxford can't turn things around and recreate their early season form.

Today's hapless official was our old friend Rob Merchant. Despite dishing out six yellows to Kettering, plus one to Wright, he still failed to cut out their gamesmanship and he was fairly weak and petty. Still, it probably wasn't his fault that United were unable to take advantage of their superior possession. The attendance of 5,836 included just 244 from Northants.

The draw leaves United one point behind Stevenage Borough, who beat Kidderminster Harriers 5-1 at Aggborough in the FA Trophy semi-final first leg, having now played the same number of games. Luton Town remain third, now just four points below Oxford, after beating Wrexham 1-0, while fourth-placed Rushden & Diamonds beat fourth-bottom Gateshead 8-0, including two goals from Jefferson Louis and one from Craig Farrell. Kettering remain in fifth place.

York City are sixth after drawing 0-0 at Altrincham, with AFC Wimbledon in seventh place after beating fifth-bottom Eastbourne Borough 2-0. Crawley Town are eighth after beating 18th-placed Ebbsfleet United 2-1, while Mansfield Town's 0-0 draw with United's next opponents, 17th-placed Tamworth, leaves them ninth.

Bottom side Grays Athletic held Hayes & Yeading to a goalless draw. Cambridge United's climb to safety continued with a 2-1 win over neighbours Histon. In the other FA Trophy semi-final first leg, Barrow won 1-0 at Salisbury City. [@news]2679[/@news][@opponent]kettering town[/@opponent]