Oxford United 1 York City 2

United's season has effectively ended in the space of around 36 hours. Following yesterday's five-point deduction by the Conference, ending any faint hopes the Us might have had of sneaking into the play-offs, tonight the side limped lamely out of the FA Trophy, leaving just the Oxfordshire Senior Cup as the only silverware that might end up in United's somewhat bare trophy cabinet.

Far from galvanising the team into a fight against adversity, the recent events seem on tonight's evidence to have knocked any fight out of them. Although, to be fair, with three debutants in the side there was always the likelihood of a somewhat disjointed performance. What the sparse crowd witnessed instead was no kind of performance whatsoever. The defence resorted to the old staple of the hoof to the front line, which generally displayed a singular lack of movement or vision. When the midfielders got into promising positions the final ball was always missing, with an astonishing number of crosses either going astray or not making it past the first defender. York had the better of the first-half chances, without ever looking likely to capitalise on them, and United almost took the lead in the final minute of the first half, when Luke Foster's snap shot from a deflected Adam Chapman free kick was straight at Michael Ingham.

York took the lead in the 48th minute, when Daniel McBreen latched onto a long ball that split the Oxford defence, evaded the non-existent tackling, and then scored with a shot in off the post, which Billy Turley ought arguably have saved. Just on the hour Oxford equalised when James Constable scored for the fifth consecutive home game, making room for a shot after Ricky Sappleton played him in after retrieving a Lewis Haldane header. With United not having lost in any game in which Constable had scored, things were looking good for United, but lacklustre defending again undid them with just nine minutes remaining. Andy McWilliams evaded two tackles that were, to say the least, half-hearted, and slipped the ball wide to Richard Brodie, whose curling shot beat Turley at the far post. United failed to look like earning a replay, which may not be such a bad thing, and now Chris Wilder can spend the next seven months preparing for next season.

Wilder was forced into two changes, with both Chris Willmott and Adam Murray suspended. This opened the way for Chapman and Shane Killock to make their debuts after joining on loan. Ricky Sappleton had his first start for United, replacing Jamie Guy, who has returned to Colchester United, but he looked a shadow of the player who came off the bench against Salisbury to turn the game. Phil Trainer was left on the bench as Yemi Odubade was preferred in the starting line-up. The first substitution had a galvanising effect, when Joe Burnell came on for James Clarke and immediately made United's midfield look stronger and less error-prone. Shortly before York's winner Chris Carruthers replaced Chapman.

Tonight's referee was R P Whitton, about whom the less said the better. The last time he was in charge of an Oxford game was when United won 2-1 at Woking in April. He showed a deserved yellow card to Eddie Hutchinson, a more contentious one to Carruthers, and a totally bizarre one to Clarke. Still, the decisions that he made against York were equally strange, so at least he couldn't be accused of bias. Tonight's attendance was 1,958, the 15th lowest attendance to watch an Oxford home game. York brought just 82 of them, which is fair enough, considering.

In other FA Trophy ties, Kidderminster Harriers won 5-3 at Ilkeston Town, so at least Oxford don't have to visit Aggborough again this season. Other Conference clubs who made it into the fourth round were: Wrexham, who won 2-1 at Basingstoke Town; Ebbsfleet United, 2-1 winners over Stalybridge Celtic; and Stevenage Borough, who won 2-1 at Farnborough Town. Lewes were held to a 3-3 draw at home by Havant & Waterlooville, while Barrow went down 3-0 at home to Workington. [@news]2444[/@news] [@opponent]york city[/@opponent]