Chelmsford City 1 Oxford United 3

Two second half goals from Jack Midson and a late first-half strike from Franny Green were enough for Oxford to knock Chelmsford City out of the FA Trophy at Melbourne Park and advance into the quarter-finals. The home side pulled a goal back from the penalty spot after Damian Batt had been penalised for handball, Dave Rainford blasting an unstoppable shot past Ryan Clarke. Deep into added time the home side were gifted a second penalty by the assistant referee when Rob Edmans was adjudged to have been pushed, but this time Rainford's effort was blasted over the bar, rugby style.

Chris Wilder kept faith with the central defensive pairing of Rhys Day and Jake Wright, while Kevin Sandwith came in for the cup-tied Anthony Tonkin, with Batt at right-back. Alfie Potter, Dannie Bulman, and Simon Clist comprised the midfield trio, while Franny Green and Sam Deering played either side of the impressive Midson up front. Matt Green came on for the injured Alfie Potter just before half-time, with Potter having to be carried from the field. Chris Hargreaves took to the field just after the hour mark for his second United debut, replacing Franny Green, and with five minutes to go Mark Creighton came on for Deering for a real little and large moment.

The first half was a fairly turgid affair, only enlivened by a scramble in the Oxford goalmouth that concluded with Clarke making an excellent save from Anthony Cook, touching the ball onto the crossbar from close range. Before that, Ricky Holmes, looking a couple of yards offside, broke clear but a superb covering tackle from Day thwarted a golden opportunity for the home side. Oxford's first opportunity came when Potter outstripped a defender, but he pulled his shot wide with only Ashley Harrison to beat. Shortly afterwards, five minutes before the interval and against the run of play, Oxford took the lead with the best move of the half. Bulman touched the ball down the line for Sandwith to run onto, and his delicately chipped cross to the far post was met acrobatically by Franny Green to hook in on the volley for his first senior goal for the club. Overall, though, the home side looked the better team in the first period.

The second half opened with Oxford looking stronger and more purposeful, and more inclined to keep the ball on the floor. The first chance came after Midson had played in Matt Green. He squared the ball into the path of Deering, but he blasted over from just eight yards out. Matt Green then once again set up Deering after he'd received a superb long pass from the returning Hargreaves, but Deering's effort failed to really test Harrison. United's second goal, which effectively made the game safe, came from a Clist corner that Sandwith nodded down for Midson to stoop and head home. Three minutes later and Midson scored his second of the afternoon, this time latching onto a long clearance from Day before coolly lobbing the advancing Harrison and then taking a bow before the travelling supporters.

Twelve minutes from time Chelmsford were awarded their first penalty as the ball bounced up on the hard surface and Batt batted it away with his arm. The second penalty was more contentious, but it didn't matter anyway as Rainford bottled it. And so United march into the quarter-finals, two stages from Wembley and with many fans now starting to take the competition slightly more seriously.

Today's referee was Ian Smedley, who also took charge of Oxford's 1-0 win at Forest Green Rovers on 25 November last year. He was as inconsistent as we've come to expect from Conference officials, but no worse than many we've suffered. He did book Batt for a shove on Ricky Modeste eight minutes from time. The attendance was a rather poor 1,347 of whom about 300ish or so were supporting United.

One bit of bad news is that in the delayed second round tie Salisbury City beat Maidstone United 2-0, meaning that Salisbury now play Cambridge United in the third round on Tuesday, so Oxford's proposed game against Cambridge has had to be postponed to 13 April. Three of today's third round ties were postponed because of the freezing conditions, with Barrow v Gateshead, Guiseley v Tamworth, and Worcester City v Kidderminster Harriers all now rescheduled for Tuesday. The big shock of the round was AFC Wimbledon's 3-2 home defeat by Workington. Elsewhere, United's rivals for the Conference title both won, with Stevenage Borough beating Dover Athletic 4-1, Tim Sills scoring the first and Yemi Odubade the fourth, and York City beating Corby Town 1-0. The prize money for this round is