Matt Bruce

A 32nd-minute goal from West Ham loanee Robert Hall was enough to secure Oxford's third consecutive away win against Hereford United. The away side started brighter and forced an early corner, James Constable rising above the Hereford defenders to head wide. Neither side presented much of an attacking threat in the early exchanges, with Oxford's passing game being bypassed in favour of some ineffectual long balls, which were easily scooped up by Hereford goalkeeper David Cornell.

Hereford also lacked creativity up front, relying exclusively on striker Delroy Facey using his strength in the air to flick the ball onto the lively Sam Winnall. They did, however, force Ryan Clarke into making a good save, Oxford's number one flinging himself across the goal to prevent Winnall's header from creeping in at the back post. At the other end, Liam Davis unleashed a long range shot that fizzed across the face of the Hereford goal, which should have warned the home side of the threat posed by Davis.

The first piece of real quality resulted in the game's only goal, as Davis embarked on a mazy run down the left flank, beating three Hereford defenders before delivering a precision cross directly to the lurking Robert Hall to nod into the roof of the net. The Hereford fans watched on in stony silence as the yellow-clad Oxford supporters celebrated noisily. Oxford comfortably saw out the first half with little additional incident, the only opportunity of note coming from an attempt by Hall to emulate Davis' jinking run down the right flank, though he was unable to finish the move with a cross.

Oxford again looked the stronger side in the second half and with the hosts searching for an equaliser the match began to open up, though it was Oxford who created the chances. The first of these fell to Constable, who was picked out in the six-yard box by Simon Heslop, though he was unable to bring the ball under control. Despite his goal, Hall had at times struggled to get into the match in the first half, but found his stride in the second, looking very dangerous on the ball. After some brilliant work on the wing by the young loanee, he fired a dangerous ball across the face of goal but no Oxford player was able to capitalise. The best chance of the second half fell to Alfie Potter, who latched onto a long ball from Peter Leven after beating the offside trap, but shot wide of the post after being one-on-one with the 'keeper.

With Oxford attacking towards the visiting supporters, the noise in the away end began to intensify, as the rickety temporary stand behind the goal was used as an improvised percussion instrument by the Oxford fans. Oxford's last real chance came as Michael Duberry headed over from a corner, and in the final minutes it was the home side who did all the pressing, though they were unable to carve out any clear-cut chances. Oxford sat deep to protect the lead, with Potter and Hall continuing to provide a counter-attacking threat. When Oxford did get on the ball in the final ten minutes, possession was often surrendered cheaply, but the struggling hosts were unable to capitalise and the match ended with a deserved away victory for the Yellows.

Oxford named an almost unchanged eleven for this match, with captain Jake Wright returning from suspension to replace Andrew Whing in central defence. Paul McLaren and James Constable made way for Andrew Whing and Deane Smalley respectively on 77 minutes, and Asa Hall replaced Simon Heslop five minutes from the end.

Refereeing the match was David Coote from Nottingham, who also oversaw Oxford's 3-0 defeat away at Bury last season. It was fortunate that the match wasn't particularly difficult to referee, as Mr Coote did make some unusual decisions at times, though his performance did not disrupt the flow of the match. The referee was not required to intervene much in a match that was generally good-natured, though he drew the ire of both Oxford and Hereford fans by failing to play advantage in two almost identical situations either side of half time. Towards the end of the match he seemed to favour the home side and began to give some bizarre decisions against Oxford, waving away appeals for what appeared to be a penalty, as Robert Hall was bundled over in the box. One thing Mr Coote should be commended for is his tough stance on time-wasting, which many of his fellow referees seem to struggle with, though as a result of this tough approach Ryan Clarke was booked rather harshly. Robert Hall also found his name in the book in the second half, again somewhat harshly. 2,502 spectators turned up at Edgar Street, 930 of a yellow persuasion, which was Hereford's biggest home gate so far this season.

The victory puts Oxford sixth in Division Four, their highest position since October 2005. Oxford moved above Rotherham United, who lost away to Port Vale; and Gillingham, who lost away at AFC Wimbledon