A very late equaliser from Danny Sloma earned Conference leaders Dagenham & Redbridge[@opponent]Dagenham and Redbridge[/@opponent] a barely deserved point from their top of the table encounter with Oxford this evening. The first half started fairly evenly, with both sides creating the odd half-chance, until after 16 minutes United conceded a goal from a corner, as has happened so often this season. Billy Turley did well to block Jake Leberl's shot from the edge of the area, which came to Turley through a lot of legs, but Paul Benson followed up to score from a narrow angle. It was looking now like Dagenham's game plan of man-marking the quicker Oxford players and hustling the others off the ball, quickly closing down the defenders, and hoofing the ball as far and as hard as they could, was going to work. United failed to make any clear-cut chances throughout the first half.[@news]2094[/@news]

This all changed right from the start of the second half, with Andy Burgess hitting the bar from five yards out, with the goal at his mercy, after being set up by Yemi Odubade, who skinned the Daggers' left back, the first of many occasions that was going to happen. This was the prelude to what was possibly the best half yet seen this season, as United pushed Dagenham further and further back. Burgess again came close to scoring, after being set up by Luke Foster, but his excellent angled header was palmed for a corner by Tony Roberts. Twenty minutes from time, United scored the inevitable equaliser as Yemi latched onto the ball on the edge of the area and shot low and hard past Roberts into the far corner. Two minutes later, Yemi gave United the lead after Roberts charged out of his area to try and clear the ball from Yemi, but who sliced his clearance nicely for Yemi to lob the ball over Roberts and gracefully into the net. Three minutes later and Yemi came close to his hat-trick, his speculative right-wing cross sliced onto his own bar by Scott Griffiths. A goalmouth scramble followed the resulting corner, but somehow neither Rob Duffy nor Marvin Robinson were able to turn the ball home, and Dagenham eventually cleared. Yemi did have the ball in the net again shortly afterwards, but Robinson had already been flagged for offside. Then, a cruel blow, but United have only themselves to blame for dicking about with the ball at the back, instead of booting it clear at the earliest opportunity. In the final 20 seconds of normal time, Barry Quinn's clearance fell neatly for Sloma, who slotted the ball between Turley's legs for the equaliser, although there was a suspicion that Quinn was fouled as he went to clear. A Robinson shot went narrowly over the bar in added time, and that was that.

Jim Smith made four changes to the side that drew at the Shay on Wednesday evening, with Phil Gilchrist returning to the heart of the defence in place of Michael Corcoran, and Gavin Johnson coming in for Rufus Brevett at left back. Burgess came back into the midfield in place of Chris Hargreaves, while Yemi was preferred to Robinson up front. Smith made his first change at half-time, bringing on Hargreaves in place of the rather ineffectual Danny Rose. Three minutes prior to Yemi's equaliser, United made a double substitution, with Robinson replacing Carl Pettefer, and Rob Duffy coming on for home debutant Chris Zebroski, who had run himself into the ground.

This evening's referee was no stranger to Oxford this season, Gavin Ward already having reffed United's televised 1-0 win at Crawley, plus both the home and away games against Aldershot. Bless him, he didn't book any Oxford players, but he didn't really stamp down on Dagenham's time wasting or more rough-house tactics either. The attendance tonight was 6,836, of whom more than 6,200 were Oxford supporters. This was the third best Conference attendance of the season, and the 15th best all-time Conference crowd. We will endeavour to publish a match report tomorrow, work permitting.

The point sees Oxford now four points clear of third-placed York City, who play their game in hand tomorrow night at home to ninth-placed Stevenage Borough. United's next opponents, fourth-placed Burton Albion visit tenth-placed Kidderminster Harriers, while Exeter City, who are fifth, travel to Forest Green Rovers. Morecambe, who are just outside the play-offs on goal difference, travel to fifth-bottom Northwich Victoria, while seventh-placed Gravesend & Northfleet visit fourth-bottom Tamworth. Eighth-placed Weymouth travel to Aldershot, who are 11th.