Raging Fever 4 This is United 1

Report filed by Rob Muskett

In a desperate bid to arrest Fever's poor run of form, a game was arranged against a team who had never played together before, and which had been made up of various posters on the Thisisunited.co.uk fans forum. Expecting a team made up of kids in Star Trek t-shirts, this reporter was somewhat surprised to see some players who looked like they could play a bit.

After a talk from John Matthews about playing the game in the right spirit, no nasty tackles etc, and helped by the fact that James Simpson was missing, the game was played in a good spirit from the start. This extended to Fever allowing Mark Perkins a free header after about 10 minutes to take the lead, despite Gary Butler pleading with his defence to mark the man instead of following the ball – sorry Gary. This was perhaps unsurprising, as Fever again started with a new defensive formation which had never played together before; as Oxford have shown this season consistency at the back is the key!

With a heavy pitch underfoot it was hard for either side to play much football, and with Fever fielding the five-foot Duncan Wells up front for his debut, they weren