Oxford United 1 Cheltenham Town 3

Cheltenham Town became the first team this season to leave Oxford with three points after a 3-1 victory over a United side who played the majority of the second half with ten men.

Chris Wilder's side are in the midst of a challenging period and appeared to be suffering the effects of four straight defeats in a frustrating first half. Kicking into a strong wind, United surrendered possession too cheaply in the opening exchanges and were made to work hard to retrieve the ball from a technically impressive Cheltenham team, expertly controlled by former Portsmouth youngster Marlon Pack.

Having conceded two early goals at Crawley last week, the last thing Wilder would have wanted his side to do was repeat the trick. However, when things are going against you, they really go against you. Peter Leven blocked Sido Jombati's cross, only for the ball to fall back at the feet of the Lisbon-born right-back. Jombati cut back to swing a cross in with his left foot, only for the ball to sour over Ryan Clarke's head and nestle in the top corner.

Cheltenham are on a fine run of form away from home and it was evident why as they passed the ball around in a fashion more commonly associated with the home side. Former AFC Wimbledon winger Kaid Mohamed's direct running was causing problems for a home defence who were still missing Michael Duberry, whilst Steven Elliott made the most of the lenient refereeing of aerial challenges to keep the home side penned in their own half.

Leven headed a Simon Heslop cross over the bar, before the home faithful were enraged by a firm tackle on Rob Hall which went totally unpunished by 'elite referee' Jonathan Moss. The officials further irked the majority of the 8,037 in attendance by ruling that Lewis Guy had fouled Elliott before running clear as the MK Dons loanee looked to mark his return with a goal.

Moments before the interval, Clarke got down sharply to his right to prevent the visitors doubling their lead, whilst only a splendid block from Damian Batt prevented Darryl Duffy from tapping home from close range.

As the referee returned to his room with the choice words of Oxford fans ringing in his ears, Wilder attempted to remedy a very disappointing first half performance by replacing Paul McLaren with Deane Smalley as United changed to a 4-4-2 formation at half-time.

The change (and a probable half-time rocket) looked to have had a positive impact as the home side began to press the ball better, before a mad three minutes saw Liam Davis' afternoon cut short. Firstly, the full-back scythed down a Cheltenham counter-attack, before committing to a challenge with Jombati moments later. It looked as if Davis may have glanced the ball on his way through the man, but referee Moss swiftly sent him from the field. Harry Worley replaced Guy as Jake Wright was moved to left back, a position he had previously played at Brighton.

One minute later, United's afternoon went from bad to worse. A ball into the box was nodded downwards by Luke Summerfield, where James Spencer was on hand to apply the finishing touches.

2-0 down and a man light, you may have expected the home side to fade away, but Wilder's men deserve credit for mounting a spirited resistance. The immensely confident yet frustratingly talented Jack Butland had to remove himself from a war of works with the East Stand faithful to repel Leven's dipping free kick, before the Cheltenham stopper tipped Hall's rasping effort over the crossbar. James Constable was the next to be denied, as his low drive forced Butland into a fine fingertip save. When Butland was finally beaten by Harry Worley's header, he was saved by a defender on the line who hooked clear before the ball crossed the line.

However, on 82 minutes United finally found a way past Butland. After Constable was fouled by Elliott (funnily enough, for a challenge that was deemed legal in the first half), Leven stepped up to curl the free-kick across the goalkeeper and into the top corner for his third goal in three games at home.

As the home fans rallied themselves for a frantic end to the game, the visitors ended their ambitions with a soft third. A Mohamed free-kick was scuffed towards goal, only for a deflection off Leven to divert it past Clarke, who had flung himself in the opposite direction.

Despite a brave effort from the ten men, it was well and truly game over.

This was a disappointing afternoon for Oxford United, where a flat first half performance allowed a good Cheltenham Town side to stamp their authority on the match. Wilder's side can consider themselves unlucky to have seen their toughest run of fixtures (having played the top three sides in the last three home games) coincide with injuries to key players, but there is little hiding from the fact that the last two league performances have not been good enough. There is no doubt that United will get better, but they need to do so quickly in order to avoid being left behind by the promotion chasing teams.

Wilder had made two changes to the team that started at Crawley Town, with Lewis Guy replacing Danny Philliskirk and Simon Heslop coming in for Harry Worley as the team returned to a flat four at the back.

Jonathan Moss is a referee who has refereed in the Premier League this season, but won't stick around for long judging by his performance here. Wilder refused to comment on the performance of the officials, while Leven said that he felt as if the game was controlled by a school teacher. As a Headteacher, at least Moss has another career to fall back on. Consistency is a key quality in a football referee and can be used to justify most decisions. Once a referee is awarding different decisions for similar offences, he's fighting a losing battle.

Moss reduced Oxford to ten men with Davis' two bookings and he was joined in the book by McLaren for a cynical foul in the first half. Marlon Pack and Russell Penn also saw yellow for a foul and a dive respectively.

United find themselves in 9th place in the table, still only two points behind Gillingham in the final play-off spot. Southend remain at the top of the league on goal difference despite a 1-1 draw with Bristol Rovers. Crawley Town capitalised on this with a 2-1 victory at Rotherham, whilst Cheltenham occupy the third automatic promotion place. At the bottom of the table, Plymouth Argyle thumped the rapidly capitulating Northampton Town to move within four points of their visitors. Dagenham & Redbridge remain in the relegation zone after a 3-0 defeat at Accrington Stanley.