Reserves all square

United's reserves played their Cambridge equivalents at Court Place Farm this afternoon in their first home fixture since October. United started brightly, with ROS Chris Hackett banging home the first goal after just 16 seconds. Oxford's superiority in every department was reinforced with Jefferson Louis' rasping 16 yard drive to double their lead after about 15 minutes. Lloyd Opara pulled a goal back for Cambridge, giving Ian McCaldon no chance with his shot, but this seemed just a blip as Hackett scored his second with a clinical finish about ten minutes before the break. Unfortunately poor marking led to Opara grabbing his second with a powerful header just before half-time.

The second half started much like the first, only this time it was Cambridge with the early goal. Tony Scully's cross was deflected past substitute 'keeper Simon Cox by Simon King to bring the scores level. The second half then descended into a somewhat scrappy affair, with United never displaying the same dominance that they had shown in the first period. It looked like the Us were going to be punished when a good finish from David Bridges gave Cambridge the lead for the first time, but with only five minutes left a long ball over the top was chased by Manny Omoyinmi who lobbed Martin Brennan to equalise, and complete what was otherwise a very disappointing display from Omoyinmi.

Hackett was undoubtedly United's key player, although he was suffering with a chest injury for much of the second half, and his effectiveness was also diminished when he moved from right wing to forward midway in the second half, after Dwight Ciampoli replaced Dexter Blackstock. Louis also had a good game and was replaced with quarter of an hour left by Michael Alexis, presumably because he may feature at some stage on Saturday. Paul Powell, playing at left back, looked up for the contest and got in some excellent challenges and some good probing runs, particularly in the first half, although Dean Whitehead in the centre of midfield failed to stamp his authority on the game. Triallist Dan Self, a third year trainee from Norwich, did quite well at right back and was instrumental in creating Louis' goal, so could well be worth another look. United's reserves will next be in action in a week, when QPR are the visitors.