Oxford United 1 Hayes & Yeading United 0

Oxford advanced to the second round of the FA Trophy with a fairly comfortable 1-0 win over Hayes & Yeading this afternoon. The win came from a Jack Midson header in the 26th minute, and Midson even had the luxury of smashing a second-half penalty against the post as Oxford rather demolished Hayes. At the other end Billy Turley can rarely have had such a quiet game.

As expected, a number of regular first-team players were rested, with Turley replacing regular 'keeper Ryan Clarke, Rhys Day coming in for Mark Creighton, Jack Midson taking James Constable's place, and starting berths for both Onome Sodjy and Franny Green. This meant that Oxford played with a more traditional 4-4-2 formation, with Adam Murray and the superlative Simon Clist pulling the strings in midfield, with Sodje and Alfie Potter out wide. Potter frequently tormented the Hayes defence, but lacked the final killer touch, and Sodje looked dangerous on the other wing.

Hayes had former-U Steve Basham up front, but he hardly had a touch of the ball, while goalkeeper Simon Overland would be grateful that Oxford's finishing was too often wasteful, or that the approach play broke down too often. In the first half Franny Green, Potter, and Sodje all went close, before Midson opened the scoring following some great wing play by Clist. In the second half Potter and Franny Green again had good chances, but Oxford should have taken the lead after Overland conceded a penalty after he brought down Sam Deering as they both chased a loose ball. Midson's spot-kick hit Overland's left-hand post as the 'keeper dived right. Deering had come on for Potter, while Matt Green also got some game time at Sodje's expense.

Today's referee was Stuart Burt, who took charge of Oxford's 3-0 win at Eastbourne Borough last season. He showed yellow cards to Clist and Murray, the latter's fifth of the season, but otherwise had an okay game. The attendance was just 1,663, with 140 from west London, making it the ninth-lowest home attendance for a competitive game for which records exist since 1949. The draw for the second round takes place on Monday, or maybe tomorrow, who cares?[@news]2612[/@news][@opponent]hayes & yeading united[/@opponent]