Ramon Diaz and Giuliana Iacoppi were both in attendance for this game, which saw a United side with a blend of youth and experience take to the

field in a 4-4-2, with Paul Wanless partnering Angus Mackay at centre-half and Rob Wolleaston and Mark E’Beyer in the middle of the park. The scene was very nearly set as early as the 4th minute when a cross from the left saw Wanless make a sliced clearance which, fortunately, lost enough pace to allow Bradie Clarke to comfortably prevent an Own Goal.

After this, Oxford had the best of the early exchanges. On 6 minutes, Terry Parker had a good shot from 25 yards which was too close to the keeper and was easily held. Then, a minute later, a cross from Josh Kennett on the left wing whipped into the box and narrowly missed the outstretched boot of Mark Rawle. Kennett was in the thick of it again 14 minutes in, when some good approach play took him through the Crawley midfield and he launched a good shot which was parried by the keeper, the ball falling to Rawle who scuffed his shot, allowing it to be easily cleared.

Mark E’Beyer had an encouraging game in the centre of the park and on 26 minutes, he won a good header from a Crawley goal kick. He fed the ball through to Danny Morgan who advanced on the keeper for a 1-on-1, but the keeper dived at his feet and cleared.

After half an hour, Crawley started to take more control of the game. Their first significant attack coming on 32 minutes when an intelligent pass saw play switched from left wing to right, allowing their striker to get behind the defence before putting a shot wide from the corner of the penalty box. Two minutes later, Crawley’s Allan Tait had a long shot saved by Clarke, but Charlie MacDonald pounced on the rebound to put the Reds 1-0 up.

Oxford had a quick attempt at a counter when, two minutes later, Danny Morgan brought the ball through midfield and laid it off to Rawle who turned and

shot from outside the area, lashing the ball well over the bar. Then Billy Beechers (on for the injured Paul Burton) made a good run into the box from the right wing, but his cross was easily intercepted by the keeper. Moments later, Rawle received the ball in the middle of the park with his back to goal, made a good turn and took the ball forward before playing it through

to Morgan whose shot was blocked, going for out for a corner.

Just as the fourth official raised the board to indicate a minute extra at the end of the first-half, a great Crawley through ball saw Tait’s pace surge between Wanless and Mackay before lashing a shot from 15 yards

past Clarke to put them 2-0 up.

The half-time entertainment was the finest I’ve seen for a long time and consisted of observing an ex-Argentina international queing at the refreshments kiosk to partake in coffee, hot dog and chips. Who says South Americans don’t understand English football culture?!

The second half progessed in much the same way, with Oxford making heavy going of the chances which came their way. On 51 minutes, a good run by

Kennett was ended by a foul 10 yards outside the box. Wolleaston shaped to shoot the free kick but then played it square to Wanless whose shot went well wide of the left hand post. Oxford did get back into the

game 5 minutes later when another good run by Kennett saw him play the ball to E’beyer who squared to Wolleaston on the edge of the box. Wolly’s shot seemed to take a deflection and, to be generous, the greasy conditions allowed the shot to squirm past the Crawley keeper. 2-1.

Instead of using this as a spur to up the tempo and take control of the game, Oxford continued as before and allowed Crawley to maintain control. On 66 minutes, the failure to win the ball in midfield saw Crawley pick it up and play a good ball to trialist Darren Wheeler, whose pace saw him get round the back of the defence and past Clarke to pass the ball into an empty net. 3-1.

Again, Oxford nearly made a quick reply, with Wolleaston playing a through-ball to Morgan giving him just the keeper to beat, but he put his shot straight into the custodian’s arms. Then, with just over 15 minutes to go, a smart ball released Crawley’s Tait wide on the right. He took the ball past Wanless and played it into Wheeler who was given far too much

time in the middle to place a shot through a crowd of players and Clarke’s legs. 4-1.

On 84 minutes Oxford again gave possession away far too cheaply in the middle of the park, allowing a quick ball to be played through to Tait, who lifted the ball over the onrushing Clarke to make it 5-1.

This time, Oxford did manage a quick reply with good approach work by Rawle down the left seeing him get into the penalty box before laying the ball off to Ryan Brooks whose shot through a crowd of players also beat the keeper to reduce the deficit.

Your correspondent then missed the final five minutes of the game as the Oxford management team were significantly impressed by the Crawley trialist, Darren Wheeler, and Snr Iacoppi dispatched yours truly to find

out who he was. Moments later Snr Iacoppi was exchaning phone numbers with Wheeler’s agent. You heard it here first!

Overall, this was a disappointing performance with a couple of notable exceptions. Josh Kennett looks a very lively player and gets past defenders well, but needs to work on delivering the final ball. Also, Mark E’beyer was the creative spark in midfield (as much as there was one) and more than outclassed the, in theory, bigger talent of Rob Wolleaston (who was largely anonymous).

Many thanks to Myles Francis for this in-depth report, and a bit of a scoop!