Oxford United eased to their third successive victory this afternoon, beating play-off hopefuls Stevenage Borough 2-1 with an assured performance at Grenoble Road this afternoon. United took a first-half lead through Phil Trainer, found themselves pegged back by John Martin midway through the second half, and then shortly afterwards Matt Green scored the winner. United had the better of the opening exchanges, and of the two teams it was Oxford who looked more like the ones with something to play for, as the Us won almost every second ball and seemed generally more up for it. The opening goal came just before the half hour, when Eddie Anaclet collected the ball just outside the Stevenage penalty area. His initial foray was blocked, but he was first to the rebound, and showing superb skill he darted between the two covering defenders and then chipped a deft cross to the far post, where Trainer came charging in to head home. Oxford continued to be the more threatening side, with the visitors' only goal-bound attempt a soft shot from Jerome Anderson, formerly of this parish but displaying most of the reasons why Darren Patterson let him go. Trainer almost got a second just before the break, when he was left unmarked at the back of the area to latch onto a long ball from Matt Day, but his shot hit the post when he really should have scored.

Stevenage started the second half playing better than in the first, but United's defence, aided by the midfield, looked solid and unlikely to concede. However, after 68 minutes Borough scored a lucky equaliser, although United's defence weren't totally blameless. A soft headed clearance from Barry Quinn only reached Martin, and his hopeful shot from 20 yards looked to be covered by Billy Turley, but it took a huge deflection off Quinn's heel and the ball rolled apologetically into the net. The few Borough fans in the ground were still celebrating three minutes later, when Anaclet won a throw in deep in enemy territory. Day's long throw fell to the feet of Green, via a Craig McAllister flick. Green had his back to goal, but he turned superbly and smashed the ball past Alan Julian to send the United supporters wild. There was still 20 minutes to go, but the current OUFC incarnation is made of quite reliable stuff, and they saw out the remainder of the game with a few nervous moments, but ultimately without being unduly troubled. Following the 3-0 demolition of Halifax on Saturday, this has turned out to be a very germane Easter for the Yellows.

Patto made just one change to the side that beat Halifax two days earlier. Left back Michael Howard was on his way to Oxford when he received a call that his wife had gone into Labour. Being a staunch Tory, he obviously had to turn it around and hightail it home to prevent political calamity (don't tell him that Left is the new Right these days). He was replaced by Michael Blackwood, normally a winger, but who put in a very capable shift in defence. United made two substitutions, with McAllister replacing Justin Richards just seconds before Borough's equaliser, and Danny Rose coming on for Anaclet with a couple of minutes remaining.

Today's onanist in the black was Russell Fletcher, who was also in charge for United's goalless draw with Kidderminster Harriers on 29 December. He had a decent game overall, keeping his cards in his pocket for the most part and generally trying to allow the game to flow, although he wasn't helped by the United forwards propensity to drift offside at every given opportunity. However, his booking of Green for trying to score after being flagged for offside was rather petty. The attendance of 4,456 was okay, but the visitors surprisingly brought just 252 of them, despite their lofty league position and relative proximity.

The win lifts United back into the top half of the table, up to 12th place, while Stevenage have dropped two places, from third to fifth, 17 points above Oxford. Aldershot are 14 points clear at the top after winning 1-0 at Crawley, while Torquay United are now second after beating Forest Green Rovers 1-0. Burton Albion have moved up to third thanks to their 1-0 win at fourth-bottom Farsley Celtic. Cambridge United are in fourth place, and are playing at Ebbsfleet United as this is written. The half-time score is 1-1, with Wayne Hatswell scoring for Cambridge. Exeter City are now five points behind the play-off places after losing 3-1 to Weymouth, now in 18th place following Halifax's administration and subsequent ten-point penalty. Simon Weatherstone was on the scoresheet for the Terras.

Bottom club Droylsden heaped more misery on Halifax, beating them 2-0 to leave the Shaymen fifth from bottom, level on points with Farsley. Stafford Rangers, second from bottom, are now virtually doomed to Conference North football next season, losing 2-0 at Altrincham, who climbed to 19th place. Third-bottom Northwich Victoria, who visit the United Stadium on Saturday, visit York City tomorrow. In the various other matches, Histon and Grays Athletic drew 2-2, Kidderminster beat Rushden & Diamonds 2-0, and Woking beat Salisbury City 3-2.[@news]2293[/@news][@opponent]stevenage borough[/@opponent]