Oxford went down to their first defeat of 2005, and their first away defeat under Ramon Diaz, with an emphatic 3-0 reverse in Lincoln this afternoon. After a spell of early pressure Simon Yeo scored a penalty in the 31st minute to give the Red Imps a half-time lead. Twelve minutes after the break Gary Taylor-Fletcher doubled the home side’s lead with a long-range shot, while Yeo finished the scoring in the final minute. Oxford failed to muster a single shot on target.

Ramon Diaz and Horacio Rodrigues kept faith with the same line-up that started against both Bristol Rovers and Kidderminster, but this didn’t look like the same team. In a vain attempt to turn things around Billy Beechers was given his debut, coming on for Chris Hackett on the hour. Three minutes later Ray Bradbury made way for Lucas Cominelli, but it was all to no avail.

Today’s referee was Kevin Friend, although he wasn’t particularly friendly towards Tommy Mooney, Craig Davies, Hackett, or Mateo Corbo, to whom he showed yellow cards. He was the same person who refereed United’s home defeat to Kidderminster, so he really doesn’t like us! The attendance was 4,535. We hope to be able to provide a match report tomorrow.

United have dropped one place to 14th as a result of this defeat, while Lincoln stay 6th. It was Bristol Rovers who leapfrogged the Us, thanks to their 3-0 win over Grimsby, who stay 17th. Cambridge stay bottom despite their 2-2 draw at Northampton last night, which result sees the Cobblers drop to 8th, out of the play-off zone, although they do visit Oxford next week. Kidderminster are still the penultimate side in the league, after their 2-1 defeat at Scunthorpe, who have gone second, above Swansea who were held 1-1 by 5th-placed Southend last night.

League leaders Yeovil surprisingly lost 3-1 at Macclesfield, who have gone 4th, while Darlington’s 1-0 win at Bury takes the Quakers into the final play-off place, six points ahead of Oxford. Rushden are third from bottom after losing 3-1 at Chester, but Shrewsbury stay 4th from bottom despite their excellent 4-1 win over Orient. Notts County lost 1-0 at home to Mansfield, and Cheltenham beat Rochdale 2-0.