Oxford United 0 Dorchester Town 0

Oxford United were unable to break down a resilient Dorchester side in today's FA Cup first round tie. Oxford had some excellent chances to take the lead, but in the end they were thankful for the intervention of the assistant referee to earn a replay.

United started strongly, and were obviously determined to lay to rest the spectre of their poor performances against part-time teams. The first effort on goal was from James Constable, whose shot was deflected wide off Lewis Haldane's bollocks. Dorchester were restricted to speculative long-range efforts. The best chance of the whole game was created by Haldane, whose burst of speed took him past the Dorchester defence and whose perfect cross was met six yards out by the unmarked Constable, who inexplicably headed wide. Chris Willmott then headed over from a ROS Sam Deering free kick when it was (probably) easier to score, but the assistant ref had already flagged for offside. Constable was then played in by Haldane, but his first-time shot was well saved by Gareth Stewart. It looked like United's best chances would come from the wide positions, as Haldane, Deering, and Phil Trainer had the beating of the Dorchester full backs, but inevitably Oxford failed to exploit this outlet as much as they should have. As the first half ended there remained a sneaky feeling that the Yellows were going to rue not finishing them off.

United started the second half on the up, and almost immediately Trainer shot over from 12 yards. Dorchester then started to get back into the game, and Billy Turley was tested for the first time 20 minutes into the second half, diving to his right to palm aside a long-range drive from Jamie Mudge. United's attacking momentum started to fizzle out, and only a couple of long-range Deering efforts brought Stewart into further action. In the third minute of added time the Us had a real scare when Mudge converted a long cross, but the assistant referee spotted a handball from the Magpies' striker and the joy of the superb travelling support was cut short.

Darren Patterson's search for his ideal front-line partnership continued today, with Haldane starting up front alongside Constable, with Jamie Guy relegated to the bench. Eddie Hutchinson resumed his rightful place in central midfield (as opposed to central defence), with Joe Burnell starting at right back (although, interestingly, Turley retained the captain's armband). Matt Day and Chris Willmott became the slowest central defensive partnership since Matt Bound played alongside Andy Crosby. Just before the hour mark Yemi Odubade came on for Trainer and Guy replaced Constable, and with six minutes to go James Dobson replaced Haldane.

Today's referee was Jock Waugh, last seen in this manor when Burton thrashed Oxford 3-0 at the tail end of last season. He showed yellow cards to Chris Carruthers and Adam Murray, who surprisingly didn't give his away to a Dorchester player. Today's attendance just surpassed the hoped for target of 3,000 by 196. There were 376 from Wessex.

The draw for the second round takes place tomorrow lunchtime, with United (and Dorchester, obviously) being ball number 6. The replay will be on Tuesday 18 November. There were a number of other Conference sides involved in today's FA Cup games, of whom the biggest plaudits must go to Histon, who did everyone a favour by humiliating Swindon 1-0. Other winners were Torquay United, for whom Tim Sills scored both goals in their 3-0 win over Evesham, while Justin Richards scored the penalty for Kidderminster Harriers that beat Cambridge United. Others who didn't win but are still in the draw for the next round are United's next opponents, Grays Athletic, who ended their zero per cent away record by earning a 1-1 draw at Carlisle United, Eastbourne Borough and Barrow, who shared no goals at all in their long-distance tie, Kettering Town, who drew 1-1 with Lincoln City, and Altrincham, who gave Luton Town an insight into next season by drawing 0-0 at Kenilworth Road. Those who were down among the dead men were Mansfield Town, who went down 3-1 at Chesterfield, Ebbsfleet United, who lost 1-0 at Crewe Alexandra, and Stevenage Borough, who were thrashed out of sight 3-0 at Leicester City. And did we mention that Histon beat Swindon? [@news]2403[/@news][@opponent]dorchester town[/@opponent]