United were knocked out of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup by Thame United tonight. The holders were beaten 1-0 from a Darren Moore goal after 36 minutes, by the worst team in the Southern League Western Division.

Although Oxford dominated the first half, with Tom Winters looking particularly lively, they were unable to make the breakthrough, and rarely troubled Paul Searl in the Thame goal. Despite being a goal down, United couldn't make any inroads in a scrappy second half, and never looked like equalising. This was much to the relief of the crowd, who braved the freezing conditions but couldn't bear the thought of an extra 30 minutes of extra time.

Oxford fielded a very young side, with only Winters, a very disappointing Jamie Brooks, and a rather anonymous Mark E'Beyer with any first-team experience. The side was grateful to Gareth Tucker, who made a couple of very brave blocks in the second half to keep the tie alive. He was not to blame for the Thame goal, a well struck shot after Moore had broken clear of the Oxford defence. No-one on the Oxford side really impressed, although Jerome Anderson looked lively after coming on as a second-half substitute.

Despite reports to the contrary, Lee Bradbury didn't feature tonight, after the Oxford top brass got cold feet about whether or not this match counted as a senior fixture. It is possible that if Bradbury played then he could argue that it would count as a proper game, and therefore the clause in his contract allowing him an extension for next season would be automatically invoked. In addition, neither Yemi Odubade nor Tim Sills were eligible to take part. E'Beyer was booked for a challenge borne of frustration as Thame played out time in United's half.