Oxford United 1 Kidderminster Harriers 0

A James Constable penalty against his former club was enough to give United the three points tonight in a desperately poor game in the freezing cold in front of the lowest crowd at the United Stadium for a Conference fixture. United defended well in the second half, if a bit too deeply, and showed decent character to bounce back from Saturday's Histon humiliation.

Oxford started the game in a positive frame, and after ten minutes Lewis Haldane shot over. Shortly afterwards James Clarke burst forwards from the back and got away a decent shot that unfortunately was straight at Adam Bartlett. Midway through the first half Constable, spotting that Yemi Odubade had strayed offside, took the ball forward himself. He was just about to shoot when he was clumsily tackled by Mark Creighton and the assistant referee flagged for a penalty. However, the referee lacked the balls to show Creighton the red card his challenged deserved and he was just booked. Constable blasted the penalty straight and high, giving Bartlett no chance. United's defence went to sleep shortly afterwards, but Darryl Knight could only find the outside of the post as Billy Turley, who had been a spectator until then, rushed out to close him down. At the end of the first half Yemi burst clear on the left, but instead of passing to the unmarked Constable and ROS Sam Deering, he opted to shoot over the bar.

Kidderminster took the game to United in the second half but, one decent stop aside, rarely troubled Turley as the defence stood firm. Oxford looked threatening on the break, with Yemi and ROS LSD causing problems down the right-hand side, and Haldane went close with a flick from a Yemi cross. That was about the only thing that Haldane did in the second half in a disappointing performance from the Bristol Rovers loanee, especially when he dithered in the area when well placed to shoot. The other concern for United was the inability of the central midfield, comprising Adam Murray and Eddie Hutchinson, to impose itself on the game, allowing the Harriers far too much space. However, the visitors never looked superior to the Us, and it defies belief how they lie fourth in the table if this showing is anything to go by.

Darren Patterson made three changes to the side that started in the Histon debacle. Clarke returned to the defence, allowing Matt Day to revert to his more comfortable centre-back position and Chris Willmott revert to his more comfortable substitute position. Haldane was chosen ahead of Phil Trainer on the left wing, while Yemi started the game with Jamie Guy on the bench. The first change took place in the 74th minute, although perhaps should have happened much earlier, as Trainer took over from Haldane. With eight minutes left Guy replaced the clearly knackered Yemi. Both substitutions were the right ones, but the timing could have been better, especially for the first.

The man in the middle tonight was Amy Rayner, who isn't actually a man at all, and is the first woman to officiate at an Oxford game. She was possibly far too lenient, especially in failing to send off Creighton when he was the last man as he fouled Constable for the penalty, and also in several other decisions where other referees might have produced cards. She did book Clarke for his participation in a bit of a brawl, although to be fair he has previous in his dealings with Kidderminster. The attendance was a pitiful 3,690, of whom 3,500 were there to follow the Yellows. This is United's lowest home league attendance since relegation from the Football League, and in fact the lowest crowd for a league match since the move to Minchery Farm. The last time United played a league fixture at home before a smaller crowd was when 3,676 turned up at the Manor to watch a goal from the then ROS Jamie Cook beat Bury 1-0 on 16 September 2000.

Tonight's game was the only taking place in the Conference, the original game having been postponed from last week to allow United to beat Dorchester Town in the FA Cup first round replay. Kidderminster remain fourth, while Oxford have leaped over Barrow, Salisbury City, and York City into 14th place. The Harriers had won their previous three games 1-0, while Oxford are now unbeaten in their last seven home games. Unfortunately, they're not at home again until 20 December, when Stevenage Borough come to town.[@news]2414[/@news][@opponent]kidderminster harriers[/@opponent]