Oxford United's desperate season went from worse to worst tonight, as they ignominiously bowed out of the FA Trophy at Tonbridge Angels. [@news]2239[/@news][@opponent]tonbridge[/@opponent]The 1-0 win for the home side in this first round replay earns them a lucrative home tie against AFC Wimbledon, and leaves United boss Darren Patterson scratching his head, as the side extended their run without a goal to five games.

United started the game brightly, but it wasn't long before debutant goalkeeper Sam Warrell was called on to make his first save. No blame was attached to the keeper when Tonbridge took the lead in the 29th minute, as neat interplay around the Oxford penalty area led to Hamid Barr cracking the ball home. United had a couple of chances to equalise before half time, but efforts from Ashley Barnes and Phil Trainer failed to stretch Matt Reed.

The Us really went at Tonbridge at the start of the second half, but once again the attack was guilty of failing to convert some decent chances. Rob Duffy's close-range shot was deflected over the bar, and Eddie Hutchinson should have done better with a header from an Alex Jeannin cross. Yemi Odubade was set free but, as so often has been the case when he's been one on one with the goalie, it was the custodian who came off the best. Despite the pressure, Oxford occasionally looked vulnerable to the counter attack, and it took a superb save from Warrell to deny Barr, with ten minutes remaining. There was one half-chance that Trainer shot tamely wide, before the game took an odd turn in stoppage time. First Scott Kinch was shown his second yellow card of the evening for tangling with Rob Duffy while waiting for a Matt Day long throw, then a minute later Barr was shown his second yellow for kicking the ball away. However, there were only seconds left, and not long enough for United to make their superior numbers count. Not that they would have anyway, the way they've been playing recently.

Prior to the game United's squad was further hit by injury, as Joel Ledgister pulled out with a hip problem. This led to Carl Pettefer playing wide right, with Hutchinson and Trainer in central midfield, and Gary Twigg again playing wide left. Apart from Warrell coming in for the suspended Billy Turley, the other change from Saturday's game was Barnes partnering Duffy up front instead of Yemi. Patterson realised his mistake at half time, when Yemi usurped Barnes, who will surely not be kept on when his loan ends. Twenty minutes into the second half another mistake was rectified, as Alex Fisher replaced Twigg, who has been disappointing to say the least since recovering from his injury problems. The final throw of Patterson's dice came with five minutes left, as Day came on for Pettefer. It will be interesting to see what the fall out from this debacle is, but one suspects that a number of the players on show today will not be taking much further part in United's season.

Tonight's referee was Oli Langford, who was in charge of United's 3-2 home defeat by Aldershot back in September. In addition to sending off two Tonbridge players, he also booked Barry Quinn for a foul and Duffy for his part in the scuffle that saw Kinch receive his second yellow. Tonight's attendance was just 642, which is just the fifth time since turning professional that United have played in front of fewer than a thousand spectators (according to our incomplete records). There were 57 United supporters there, allegedly, which is piss poor, really.

Apart from the body blow that this result will give United's already feeble confidence, this defeat is deeply disappointing because it means we miss out on a game against our good friends from AFC Wimbledon. Their supporters are equally gutted, which is no consolation, but if United's decline and the Wombles' rise both continue at their current rate, then it may not be too long before we cross swords with them as equals. By the way, we should remember that Tonbridge are not just two divisions below Oxford, they are actually third from bottom of the Isthmian Premier League. That makes them worse than Oxford City and Didcot Town (Edit: okay, it may not, but that doesn't reassure us). Rage Online is officially in a bad mood. And we will be a lot less upset than this should we lose at Aldershot in the Setanta Shield on Saturday (although hoping that we win, of course).