United’s unbeaten record was emphatically demolished by an impressive Doncaster side today. The home side took the lead six minutes before half-time, the first time that Oxford have trailed in a game this season, when Tim Ryan smashed the ball home past an injured Andy Woodman while Matt Bound was off the field receiving lengthy treatment. Ryan normally plays in the centre of defence but today he was moved to left back, a tactic that paid dividends for Dave Penney. Two minutes into the second half and Julian Alsop, who missed the last two games due to suspension, received his second red card of the season for elbowing Steve Foster (not the ex-Oxford defender). As United were futilely pressing forward in a bid to salvage a point Donny broke away and after some neat passing the ball fell to Paul Green who shot home to make the final score 2-0, the second game in a row that the Us have failed to score.

Ian Atkins made two changes from the side that drew at Cheltenham, both up front. Alsop came back into the side in place of Mark Rawle, who had a virus, and Andy Scott made his first start of the season as Steve Basham was still suffering from the ankle injury that he picked up last Tuesday. Midway through the first half James Hunt came on as a straight swap for Derek Townsley, who stormed off down the tunnel in protest. Twenty minutes into the second half ROS Chris Hackett came on for Matt Robinson, with Matt Bound moving to right back as United switched to a flat back four, Hackett partnering Scott who had moved up front when Alsop was dismissed. Rawle came on for Dean Whitehead with thirteen minutes left in a vain attempt to rescue something from the team’s worst performance of the season.

Although referee Mike Pike probably made the right decision in sending off Alsop, he didn’t have a particularly good game otherwise. He showed a yellow card to former United man Dave Morley, but somehow failed to produce a card for a blatant body-check by Paul Wanless! He was also very inconsistent in interpreting certain rules, and rarely played advantage or allowed the game to flow. His assistants weren’t much better, one of them punching the air and smiling when Doncaster’s second goal went in. The attendance was 5,040, the third highest in Division Three today. A match report should appear later.

As a result of this defeat United have slipped to fourth in the division, while Doncaster have risen to twelfth. Swansea stayed top after beating Huddersfield 2-0 and Hull have gone second following their 2-0 win at Rochdale. Yeovil have climbed up to third after their impressive 1-0 win at Mansfield, while York’s 2-1 defeat of Bristol Rovers lifts them up to fifth, level on points with Oxford. Torquay are one point behind after drawing 2-2 with Darlington, while Mansfield are seventh.

Carlisle’s 2-2 draw at Southend wasn’t enough to lift them off the foot of the table, as the Shrimpers were the penultimate side. Third-bottom Orient also got a point thanks to a last minute goal at home to Scunthorpe. Kidderminster have slipped to fourth from bottom after losing 2-1 at home to Lincoln. United’s last opponents, Cheltenham, lost 3-0 at home to Cambridge, while their next opponents, Northampton, drew 0-0 with Macclesfield. Elsewhere Boston beat Bury 1-0.