United dropped their first home points of the season this afternoon when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Mansfield. Leading scorer Steve Basham put the ball in the net in the first half but the flag had already gone up for offside, and Basham then saw a shot hit the inside of the post before Paul Wanless scored his second goal in consecutive games in the 64th minute. Wanless met a flick-on from a Danny Brown corner to power the ball into the net from close range. Unfortunately United failed to kill off the game and, for the third time this season, they allowed the opposition to rescue a point after going ahead. Neil MacKenzie was allowed too much time on the edge of the Oxford area and his shot beat Woodman with eleven minutes remaining.

United were forced to make one change from the side that beat Southend, as Julian Alsop was serving the first part of his two match ban. Mark Rawle was handed his first start for United in Alsop’s place. After just 25 minutes Us’ skipper Andy Crosby was forced to leave the pitch, to be replaced by Dave Waterman, and after that United were always going to struggle to be as dominant as in other games this season. The game turned in United’s favour in the 61st minute, when Dean Whitehead came on for an under-par Derek Townsley. Andy Scott made his first appearance of the season when he replaced Rawle with quarter of an hour left.

Referee D R Crick had a reasonable game, although unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for his assistant S P Beck, who flagged often and late. No United players received yellow cards, although Crick did award United a free kick on the edge of the area when Whitehead was brought down inside the box. The crowd was a very disappointing 5,625. A match report should appear tomorrow.

Despite dropping these two points, Oxford are still a point clear at the top of the table. Hull have moved into second place following their 3-2 win over Southend, and Bristol Rovers have gone up to third after beating Boston 2-0. Swansea dropped to fourth after being held 2-2 at Scunthorpe, while Yeovil go fifth, one place above York, after beating the Minstermen 3-0. Mansfield are now seventh.

Carlisle stay bottom, despite beating Rochdale 3-2, with the first goal being scored by Paul Simpson, player-manager at Carlisle and former Rochdale boss. Orient are 23rd, just below Southend and Boston, after drawing 0-0 at Lincoln who are fifth from bottom. Macclesfield continue to struggle, requiring a 90th minute equaliser to get a point at home to Kidderminster, and Torquay and Cambridge are settling into mid-table obscurity, sharing the points after a 1-1 draw at the Abbey. Huddersfield beat Northampton 3-0, while United’s next opponents, Cheltenham on Tuesday, drew 1-1 at Bury. Oh yeah, Darlingon beat Doncaster 2-1.

In the Conference there were a number of ex-United players on the scoresheets. Manny Omoyinmi scored for Margate in his first game on loan for them, but the Cards still lost 3-2 at Accrington Stanley, whose winner was scored by John Durnin. Wayne Hatswell set aside his (alleged) marital and managerial problems and scored Chester’s first in their 2-0 win over Halifax, and Paul Powell scored the opener for Tamworth in their 3-2 home defeat by Morecambe.