Bristol Rovers somehow managed to keep the Oxford United juggernaut at bay in a game that ended goalless at the KasStad today. They mainly had goalkeeper Kevin Miller to thank for producing a man-of-the-match performance. He made two outstanding saves, firstly from a point-blank Julian Alsop header and later from an excellent shot on the turn from Steve Basham. Shortly after half-time Basham also headed over from a Dean Whitehead cross when he should have done a lot better, and soon afterwards he also hit the bar, but for all their possession and pressure United were unable to make their dominance count and make the breakthrough.

Basham overcame an injury scare, caused when he had to leave the pitch at York last Tuesday, to allow Ian Atkins to name an unchanged side from the team that drew at Bootham Crescent. During the game Atkins only made one change in an attempt to break the deadlock, bringing on ROS Chris Hackett in place of Scott McNiven. Jefferson Louis was ready to come on towards the end, but there wasn’t enough time for a change to be made.

Referee Mike Thorpe had a poor game, seeming to believe that he should blow his whistle every time someone fell over, but that handball was not an offence, especially when committed by a defender in the Bristol Rovers penalty area. He showed yellow cards to James Hunt and Matt Robinson. The attendance was 6,644, the third highest in the Third Division. A match report should appear online tomorrow.

Dropping these two points means that United have dropped one place to third, while Rovers have climbed up to 11th. Hull increased their lead at the top to four points after beating Lincoln 3-0, and Dave Penney’s Doncaster climb up to second after winning 2-0 at Kidderminster, who drop to second from bottom. Swansea stay fourth, now just one point behind United, after they won 1-0 at Rochdale, while Yeovil are fifth after winning 4-1 at Cambridge United. Mansfield are a further point behind after their 4-0 thrashing of Cheltenham, while Huddersfield’s 2-1 win over bottom club Carlisle sees them up to seventh. The only team in the leading pack to lose was Torquay, who were hammered 4-0 at Boston.

Southend moved out of the relegation zone after winning 2-1 in Macclesfield, while Darlington, who visit Oxford next Saturday, slipped to fourth from bottom after losing 3-1 at home to Bury. Elsewhere Leyton Orient rescued a point with a late equaliser at home to Northampton, while the mid-table clash between Scunthorpe and York City ended goalless.