For the [@report]287[/@report]third home game in a row United dropped two valuable points, as they were held to a scoreless draw by Morecambe [@opponent]Morecambe[/@opponent]this afternoon. This result was all the more disappointing considering that the side has appeared to be coming out of the injury crisis on which the defeat at Exeter had been blamed.[@news]627[/@news] In fact, the performance, especially in the first half, wasn't that poor, and credit has to go to the opposition for the way they prevented Oxford from playing. Morecambe looked appropriately dangerous on the break, especially after half time, while in the first half United had restricted the Lancashire outfit to ineffectual long-range shots, none of which really troubled Billy Turley.

The closest that Oxford came to scoring was in the 8th minute, when a Rob Duffy shot hit the bar, via an extended defender's arm, and Yemi Odubade steered the rebound over the bar. In the second half the game was much more even, and in normal time Oxford only really had a long-range free kick from debutant Danny Rose that troubled Steven Drench. At the other end Turley had to deal with a couple of routine efforts from Michael Twiss, but it was in the three minutes of stoppage time that the Us burst into life, with Duffy having an excellent opportunity, but which he shot straight at Drench, who also had to deal with a shot from Gavin Johnson, while a Yemi shot was blocked. This was a frustrating game for United, who desperately need to change their luck to get the season back on track.

Jim Smith gave debuts to both his new signings, Rose slotting into midfield in place of Chris Hargreaves, and Georges Santos playing on the right of the back three, replacing Matt Day. In addition, Johnson was preferred to Rufus Brevett at left wingback, while Duffy and Yemi replaced John Dempster and the injured Steve Basham up front. Eight minutes after half time Phil Gilchrist limped off to be replaced by Day. Rose took some time to settle, but got more into the game the more it went on, while Santos looked like a class defender right from the very start, if a bit slow.

Today's referee was I Smedley, who by Conference standards had a reasonable game. He didn't book any Oxford players, although both Duffy and Santos might consider themselves fortunate for that. The attendance was just 5,489, United's second lowest crowd of the season, of whom 202 were away fans. We may well provide a match report for the missing fans in the next day or so.

The dropped points have allowed Dagenham & Redbridge to pull three points clear of United, following their 3-2 win over Woking, in which they were twice behind. The departing Mackail-Smith scored twice for the Daggers, so let us hope that his departure is sooner rather than later. Morecambe are sixth as a result of their point. York are now just four points behind Oxford after they thrashed Crawley 5-0, with Clayton Donaldson scoring twice. Crawley are back in the relegation zone, in 21st place, as a result. Gravesend & Northfleet are fourth, three points behind York, despite their home game with Halifax being called off because of a waterlogged pitch. Burton Albion's game at Weymouth also fell victim to the weather, leaving the Brewers in fifth place, and the Terras in seventh.

Tamworth are back on the bottom of the league as they were involved in the FA Cup third round, losing 4-1 at home to Norwich City. Southport went above them after winning 3-1 against the freefalling Grays Athletic. Rushden & Diamonds are third from bottom after they lost 2-1 at Altrincham, while St Albans are 20th after they went down 3-1 at home to Northwich Victoria. All other matches in the Conference were either postponed or abandoned because of waterlogged pitches. Also being called off was the match involving United's next opponents, Lewes, who were due to play at Basingstoke. They visit Oxford on Tuesday in the replay of the first round of the FA Trophy.