Dale bashed

United produced one of their best home performances of the season today as they beat Paul Simpson's Rochdale 2-0 with a goal in each half. After just 17 minutes James Hunt put Oxford ahead with a sweetly struck shot from twelve yards and United rode out the first half quite comfortably. Steve Basham then showed how deadly he can be after 70 minutes, getting in front of his marker to head home a good Scott McNiven cross. Andy Woodman redeemed himself with some excellent handling and positioning and some good shot-stopping too. The main difference between this and previous performances was United's willingness to keep the ball on the floor and pass it neatly and swiftly.

David Oldfield declared himself fit this morning and he partnered Basham up front, whilst the rest of the team was the same as began against Aston Villa, with Dean Whitehead justifiably keeping his place in midfield. Dave Waterman came on for Dave Savage five minutes after half-time and Paul Powell replaced Whitehead four minutes after Basham's goal. The final substitution saw Jefferson Louis come on for Basham with just five minutes remaining.

Referee G Hegley had a good game, although he did book Whitehead for a late tackle in the first half. The attendance was a miserable 4,547, the third highest in the Division today but United's lowest of the season so far. You can read a match report here.

This victory lifts United one place to eleventh, just one point off the play-off places and four points below Bournemouth in the automatic promotion zone. League leaders Hartlepool won 2-1 at Exeter while Rushden beat Darlington 2-0 to keep up the pressure. Bournemouth lost 3-2 at Wrexham and Torquay won 1-0 at Bury to lift themselves into fourth spot. United's next league opponents, Kidderminster, lost 2-1 at home to Carlisle to drop to sixth place and Cambridge, in seventh, lost 3-1 at Shrewsbury, for whom Nigel Jemson scored a brace.

Swansea stay bottom despite a goal from Matt Murphy being enough to beat Macclesfield, with Boston going down 2-0 at Scunthorpe to drop into the relegation places. Bristol Rovers dropped to fourth from bottom after going down 1-0 at home to Southend. Other results saw Leyton Orient lose 3-2 at York whilst Lincoln and Hull drew 1-1. Marc McGregor scored Nuneaton's goal in their 1-1 draw with Scarborough.