Not such a bright one

In a scrappy game in windy conditions United's reserves were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton this afternoon at Court Place Farm. After an uneventful first half United took the lead on the hour mark after Manny Omoyinmi turned neatly on the half-way line and ran strongly at the stretched Brighton defence before slipping the ball neatly to Chris Hackett who slammed the ball home from ten yards out. Oxford maintained their advantage until five minutes before the whistle when a mistake by Richard Knight, who let a shot squirm under his body, allowed Rupert Sansom in to slot home after the ball rebounded from the post.

Hackett was replaced by Jorden Holder shortly after he scored and Kelvin McIntosh came on for Jamie Brooks, who was taken off with 15 minutes remaining, possibly in readiness for Saturday's match. Holder was himself substituted for Josias Carbon with about ten minutes to go following a knock.

Also in attendance this afternoon were scouts from Arsenal, Brentford and Bristol Rovers as well as Cheltenham Town manager Steve Cotterill, who could have been looking at Jon Richardson. Mark Wright wasn't there, but he did attend the Gillingham v Millwall Worthington Cup match last night where he saw Paul Moody score Millwall's goal in their 2-1 defeat. Wright also watched Moody play for Millwall's reserves last week, but it is thought that he is slightly put off by the Lions alleged asking fee of £150,000 for the 34 year old injury prone striker. Another former United player on the scoresheet last night was Nicky Banger, who scored Plymouth's second as they beat Swansea 3-1 at Home Park.