Oxford United 3 Cambridge United 1

A Tuesday night, live on Setanta TV, against high-flying Cambridge, United struggling both on and off the pitch, and one of the worst referees to have walked the Minchery turf. All the elements seemed to be conspiring against Oxford, yet they produced one of their best performances for a long, long time to overcome the odds and win on Setanta for the first time in 11 attempts. Amazing.[@news]2369[/@news][@opponent]cambridge united[/@opponent]

United started as they obviously intended to continue, taking the lead in the fourth minute. James Constable managed to head the ball forward to Jamie Guy, who turned and shot home for his first goal of the season. Oxford kept up the pressure, and for the first half hour were clearly the better team. Yemi Odubade brought a fairly routine save from Danny Potter, and Phil Trainer hit the bar with a long-range effort. It almost looked like the Us would rue these misses when a low cross from the Cambridge left found Danny Crow unmarked, two yards out, right in front of goal. Hilariously, Crow flew over the bar.

In the second period, Oxford continued where they had left off. Joe Burnell should have scored when put clean through by Constable, who was fouled as he made the pass. The referee gave United the advantage, but Burnell's shot was well saved by the harried Potter. Shortly afterwards Cambridge had their first shot, as Billy Turley flung himself to his left push aside a Lee McEvilly shot that was probably going wide anyway. Ten minutes after the break Cambridge controversially equalised as Turley was fouled at a corner. The ref failed to see the infringement, much as he had failed to see a lot else throughout, and Felino Jardim scored. However, whereas in Saturday's defeat by Crawley, United's heads dropped when they conceded an equaliser, tonight they upped their game and went back on the offensive. It paid off in the 72nd minute, when Lewis Haldane broke clear down the left and chipped in a cross that fell to Guy. His shot was saved by Potter, and the ball fell to the far post, where Yemi drove the ball back towards goal. Adam Murray deflected the ball goalwards, but his shot hit the bar. The ball rebounded to Murray who this time scored. Again Oxford attacked, and Guy was often the target. On one occasion he almost wriggled through the defence but was denied by a Wayne Hatswell tackle. At times Oxford looked to be defending too deep again, but when they broke they did so at pace and always looked threatening, while the centre-back pair of Luke Foster and Karleigh Osbourne were immense, as were the full backs James Clarke and Chris Carruthers. As the game entered stoppage time United broke clear again. Murray found Haldane on the edge of the area, the winger took a touch and then blasted the ball into the roof of the net to win the match for the Us.

Darren Patterson made a number of changes to the side that started on Saturday, and they were all the right ones. He bravely chose to drop the centre-back pair of Chris Willmott and Barry Quinn, who have both too often been found wanting this season. Instead he recalled Foster and switched back to the familiar 4-4-2 that we know and love. Yemi and Trainer were the two wide men, with Murray and Burnell in the centre. Guy and Constable played together in attack, and they worked together beautifully. Trainer was taken off just five minutes into the second half with a groin strain, to be replaced by Haldane. With seven minutes left, Levi Reid came on for Yemi in another like-for-like swap. The formation and line up were both exactly what was required, and while this was just one win after a disappointing start to the season, it will hopefully be the start of United's revival.

Tonight's official was Nick Kinseley, who was in charge of the corresponding fixture last season, when Cambridge won 2-1. To say that he was poor would be an insult to people living in poverty. Mr Kinseley was possibly the worst referee to have graced the Minchery pitch. It wasn't just the countless mistakes that he made (for both sides), but it was his appalling inconsistency. He booked Burnell in the opening minute when the midfielder clearly won the ball cleanly, and then failed to even blow his whistle when shortly afterwards Yemi was taken out much more cynically. That was just one of many examples, and it is to United's credit that they not only managed to keep eleven players on the pitch, but that they didn't resort to some of the petty gamesmanship shown by their opponents. Turley and Guy were both booked for dissent, Turley's coming after the Cambridge equaliser, Guy's after he was fouled and the referee gave the free kick the other way. Haldane was also booked, although we're not sure why. The attendance was vaguely respectable, with 4,170 in the ground despite the presence of the TV cameras. Three hundred and eleven of those were supporting the wrong side.

The three points lift United just one place, to 19th, while Cambridge dropped two places, to eighth. United's opponents this Saturday, Lewes, remain bottom after conceding a last-minute goal to draw 1-1 at fifth-placed Histon. Lewes had Danny Cullip sent off for two yellow cards. Northwich Victoria are still second from bottom, despite beating 14th-placed Barrow 2-1. Woking's 1-0 win over fourth-placed Salisbury City failed to lift them from third-bottom. Grays Athletic, who are now fourth from bottom, were without a game. Altrincham have reached the dizzy heights of 20th place following their 1-0 win over seventh-placed Mansfield Town.

Crawley Town remain top of the Conference, despite being held to a 2-2 draw at Weymouth. Simon Weatherstone opened the scoring for Crawley in the first minute, and was later booked. Kettering Town stay second despite suffering their first defeat of the season last night at home to ninth-placed Burton Albion. Kidderminster Harriers have crept up to third place after their 2-0 win over 12th-placed York City, with Justin Richards scoring the second deep into injury time. Mid-table games saw Ebbsfleet United held 1-1 at home by Eastbourne Borough, while Matt Green scored a very late winner for Torquay United, who won 2-1 at Forest Green Rovers. Meanwhile, sixth-placed Rushden & Diamonds won 3-0 at Wrexham.