Oxford's reserves went down 1-0 against Northampton's second string at Didcot Town's Loop Meadow this evening, thanks to a last-minute goal from Jerome Watt[@news]611[/@news]. Following a somewhat tepid first half, during which Chris Tardif made a couple of routine saves, and Billy Beechers twice forced Chris Dunn into action, the second half burst into life.

United manager Jim Smith still hadn't taken his seat after the interval when Beechers burst into the area, sped past two defenders, and brought a nervy save out of Dunn, who gathered at the second attempt. The remainder of the half was an end-to-end affair, unlike the first half when the ball got stuck in midfield for long periods, although neither keeper was troubled until after Tardif was replaced by Gareth Tucker, United's second keeper limping off midway through the second half.

Dan Meade was needed to clear the ball off the line after Tucker was beaten by a header from man-mountain Liam Dolman, and five minutes from time Tucker was at full-stretch to keep out James Quinn. Beechers remained United's main threat, but the Northampton defence was able to keep him at bay. Seconds before the final whistle, a Quinn cross was met by the unmarked Watt, and his shot easily beat Tucker to earn the Cobblers the points, which was rather harsh on an inexperienced Oxford side.

Tardif was the only Oxford player with extensive first-team experience, and the only player over 20 in the United side. Many in the crowd of just under 100 were hoping to see new Latvian international signing Kristap Grebis, but unfortunately his international clearance still hasn't been received, and it's possible that it may take longer than hoped for this piece of bureaucracy to be completed. It can take up to a month for clearance to be received, although it is often much quicker than that, but there is a lengthy paper trail, going from Oxford to the FA, to the Latvian FA to Metalurgs, and back again. Of the remainder of the young reserves, it was Beechers and Andy Gunn who stood out, and the worry has to be that the reserves are unable to add depth to a fairly thin first-team squad. Still, they are learning with every game, and they matched Northampton for most of the game this evening.