Dorchester Town 1 Oxford United 3 (aet)

Oxford struggled at Conference South side Dorchester this evening, but eventually their superior fitness took them through to a second round FA Cup tie at Torquay United on Saturday week. It looked bleak for United when Jamie Mudge put the home side ahead in the 22nd minute, and for much of the first half the Yellows huffed and puffed without seeming to achieve anything. However, James Constable equalised with 12 minutes of normal time remaining, and after Dorchester had Jamie Gleeson dismissed in the seventh minute of extra time that was pretty much it for the part-timers' challenge. Goals from Phil Trainer five minutes into the second period, and Yemi Odubade in added time at the end of extra time, sealed the result for Oxford and earned them the much-needed prize money.

United started strongly, with ROS Sam Deering having a shot blocked by Romayne Marsh-Brown in the opening minute, and Jamie Guy brought a save out of Gareth Stewart a few minutes later. However, United had looked uncomfortable at the back, with Luke Foster hesitant after his return from injury, and in the 22nd minute Mudge was on the end of Mitchell Nicholson's cross to shoot home from 18 yards. United struggled to recover, and rarely looked like threatening Stewart, with the home side looking threatening on the break.

After the interval, having survived a couple of early scares, United started to turn the screw as the Dorchester players tired. Jamie Guy had a header excellently saved by Stewart, and shortly afterwards a typically blustering run from James Clarke ended with the fullback shooting narrowly wide. With 12 minutes to go a Deering corner found Constable unmarked at the far post and he had the simple task of heading the equaliser (perhaps not so simple, bearing in mind the header he missed in the first game). Almost immediately afterwards Constable was brought down in the penalty area, but the strong appeals for a penalty were turned down. Shortly before the final whistle Deering wriggled his way through the massed ranks of the Magpies defence, but his shot was blocked on the line, and the game moved into an additional half hour.

The first period of extra time was mainly dominated by United, and after seven minutes Gleeson was shown a second yellow card for a stupid lunge at Deering. Three minutes before the interval Eddie Hutchinson's 25-yard shot was excellently tipped around the post by Stewart, who then saved a Constable shot moments later. Five minutes after the restart it was Deering, sponsored by Rage Online, who unlocked the Dorchester defence, his chipped cross to the far post headed home by Phil Trainer. With the home side pushing forward in desperate search of an equaliser to take the game to penalties, a quick break saw Yemi Odubade go through one-on-one with Stewart, and for once he didn't bottle it but calmly finished the game off. This was an important game for Oxford to win, not just financially, but for morale and possibly even for Darren Patterson's job.

Patterson made four changes to the side that surrendered so meekly at Grays Athletic on Saturday. With Barry Quinn injured Clarke started at right back, with Matt Day moving into central defence. Foster came back into the defence, with Chris Willmott on the bench. In midfield, Joe Burnell paid the price for his error and was replaced by Hutchinson. Up front, Guy started alongside Constable, with Yemi on the bench. The first substitution took place with 20 minutes to go, when Yemi came on for Guy. With seven minutes to go Lewis Haldane was replaced by Trainer. With both subs subsequently on the scoresheet, one could argue that they were inspired changes by Patterson.

Tonight's referee was B Malone, who took charge of Oxford's Boxing Day 1-0 win over Crawley last season. He showed yellow cards to Foster, Guy, and Constable, but also kindly sent off Gleeson. Tonight's attendance was 1,474, with the usual healthy showing from United supporters.

In the other FA Cup games tonight, Kettering Town had the best result of the Conference sides, winning 2-1 at Lincoln City. Barrow beat Eastbourne Borough 4-0 at Holker Street, while Altrincham held Luton to a 0-0 draw, but went out 4-2 on penalties. Grays Athletic were beating Carlisle United 1-0 when their dodgy floodlights failed for the second time in a fortnight and the game was abandoned.

In the Conference, United's next FA Cup opponents, Torquay United, went top after beating bottom side Lewes 4-1, with Tim Sills scoring twice. United's next Conference opponents, Histon, went second following their 3-1 win at ninth-placed Stevenage Borough. Cambridge United have gone fourth after beating 15th-placed York City 1-0, while 10th-placed Weymouth were held to a 1-1 draw by fifth-bottom Woking. Elsewhere, Alan Judge played in goal in Oxford City's 3-2 win at Yate Town in the Southern League Premier Division.[@news]2408[/@news][@opponent]dorchester town[/@opponent]