Oxford United sent a full-strength side to play Abingdon United at Northcourt Road this evening, in a rearranged benefit game for Abingdon's former United player Michael Alexis. Alexis had his leg badly broken in a recent match against Paulton Rovers, and so Oxford agreed to this match to raise money for him, as he faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Oxford's manager, Darren Patterson, knows Alexis from his time in United's youth team.

The game, played on a poor pitch, ended 1-1, with Oxford having to come back from a goal down to earn the hard-fought draw. The first half was goalless, although United came close to breaking the deadlock on a number of occasions. Phil Trainer was guilty of a particularly poor miss after some excellent set-up play by Matt Day and Justin Richards, while in the final seconds of the half Richards forced Simon Tricker into an excellent save. However, for all their possession and dominance in midfield, United rarely gave the Abingdon keeper anything other than goal-kick practice.

The second half was a continuation of the first, albeit with the Us looking rather more threatening. Debutant Michael Blackwood impressed on the left of midfield, linking up well with Michael 'the Duck' Howard, and also with Richards, whom he set up on a couple of occasions, but the Abingdon defence were bravely throwing themselves in front of just about every shot that Oxford were peppering their goal with. After 15 minutes, the home side made the breakthrough, as they broke swiftly, and a Ryan Curtin shot from the left wing beat Warrell. United struck back, but it took another quarter of an hour before they equalised, as Blackwood rifled home from a narrow angle after the ball broke to him through a ruck of players. Both sides seemed content with the draw, as lots of substitutions interrupted the flow of the game. Alex Fisher and Matty Taylor combined well, and Adam Lonsdale, who had replaced Tricker at half time, did well to keep out an Adam Murray shot, but there was no further scoring.

Oxford took a very strong squad to Abingdon, with only Billy Turley, Craig McAllister, and Matt Green of the regular first-teamers not involved. Matt Day, Luke Foster, Barry Quinn, and Howard formed the back four in front of Warrell, while the initial midfield trio were Murray, Eddie Hutchinson, and Trainer, while Yemi Odubade, Richards, and Blackwood started up front. The first change came shortly into the second half, when Eddie Anaclet replaced Hutch as United went to a more traditional 4-4-2. By the end of the match most of the starters had been replaced, as United fielded Ben Weedon, James Clarke, Carl Pettefer, and Danny Rose in addition to those already mentioned. The draw may have been a disappointing result, but it was a decent workout for the team in difficult conditions. And, more importantly, there was a decent-sized crowd there to provide income for Alexis.