Histon 5 Oxford Untied (sic) 2

Oxford went down to their worst defeat since losing 5-0 at Rushden & Diamonds last season, a game that cost Jim Smith the manager's job. Whether this defeat will see the same fate befall Darren Patterson remains to be seen, but it is clear that his side is underperforming to a serious degree, and is finding itself sucked into what could prove to be a fatal relegation battle.

The game against a tough, physical Histon side started in the worst possible fashion, as Nat Knight-Percival pounced on the rebound after Billy Turley had done well to save his initial shot. Quarter of an hour later, Jack Midson broke clear to double the lead, and it looked like the game was effectively over. If only it was. Nine minutes later Chris Willmott rose to head home a ROS Sam Deering corner, and for a while it looked like Oxford might mount an unlikely comeback, but just four mintes later, after Eddie Hutchinson had seen his header cleared off the line from another corner, Knight-Percival restored Histon's two-goal advantage with United's defence static.

The second half started with Oxford looking for a way back into the game. A Luke Foster headed was scrambled clear, with Oxford appealing that it had crossed the line, while Hutch had another header cleared off the line. Ben Hinchliffe, on for the injured Turley, saved well from Daniel Wright, but with 18 minutes to go it was Wright who gave Histon an uncatchable lead after a Willmott clearance cannoned into the net off his shins. Histon made it five when Willmott failed to clear a corner and Mat Mitchell-King fired home. As it looked like Histon could score at will, and give the watching Leeds United scouts something to ponder, Hutchinson finally did get a header into the goal as he latched onto a Phil Trainer cross to fail to give the scoreline any semblance of respectability. This could well be United's darkest hour since their early days as a Southern League club, and it's going to take something special from the management, whoever it might be, to turn it around.

Darren Patterson made three changes to the side that beat Dorchester Town in the FA Cup on Tuesday, bringing in the two goalscorers, Willmott and Hutchinson, to replace Jamie Clarke and Joe Burnell. In addition, Trainer came into the side in place of Lewis Haldane. The first substitution took place at half time, with Hinchliffe coming on after Turley received a neck injury. Just after the hour Yemi Odubade replaced Jamie Guy, to little effect. Surprisingly, and unfortunately as it turned out, Clarke stayed on the bench while Willmott stayed on the pitch.

The man in the middle was R Merchant, who took charge of United's 1-0 win over Droylsden last February. He showed an early yellow card to Willmott, but generally his display was okay, and certainly didn't give United much cause for complaint. The attendance was a lowly 1,242.

United remain 17th in the Conference, but are now just three points off the relegation places. Histon, in contrast, have gone top of the Conference and are looking good for promotion. Lewes remain bottom, despite beating second-bottom Grays Athletic 2-0, with Michael Standing scoring from the penalty spot. Northwich Victoria are third from bottom after drawing 1-1 at Salisbury City, who are 14th. Forest Green Rovers are top of the relegation zone after beating 19th-placed Mansfield Town 1-0, while 20th-placed Woking gave Torquay United a scare by taking a 2-0 lead, but the Gulls came back to draw 2-2 and dropped a place to third. Eastbourne Borough are 18th after they lost 2-0 at 10th-placed Rushden. United's next opponents, Kidderminster Harriers, have gone up to fourth place after beating eighth-placed Wrexham 1-0.[@news]2411[/@news][@opponent]histon[/@opponent]