Woking 0 Oxford United 2

Despite winning comfortably at Woking this afternoon, United still have it all to do if they are to gain an unlikely play-off place, as other important results failed to go their way. The end to the season is getting to be a bit like wading through treacle, not that we've ever done that, as the finishing line remains, like the proverbial low-hanging branches of Tantalus, just out of reach.

The game, which was delayed for an hour because of the difficulties the home side had with housing the Oxford fans safely, turned out to be fairly routine for Oxford, who failed to fire on all cylinders but rarely looked troubled by the Woking strike force. United stormed into a two-goal lead, courtesy of a scorching free-kick from Adam Murray in the fifth minute, followed less than quarter of an hour later by a sublime finish from Simon Clist, having been set up by Craig Farrell. Thereafter neither side looked like adding to the score, and in a relatively uneventful second half, Oxford saw out the game professionally, if a little boringly for the gathered multitudes. The last-gasp winner against Wrexham on Saturday looked to have taken its toll a bit on the Oxford side, many of whom looked a bit leggy and, with the exceptions of Clist, James Constable, and occasionally Murray, looked bereft of pace or creative ideas. Not that it mattered as Woking looked doomed to relegation. Never has a team been seen at this level which so consistently concedes possession, misplaces passes, or fails to read the play. The fact that former-U Joel Ledgister looked a decent player when he came on after 62 minutes speaks volumes about the calibre of his teammates. United, on the other hand, lacked width and pace until the last few minutes, by which time both teams seemed resigned to the result.

As anticipated, Chris Wilder started with Farrell accompanying Constable up front, while he surprised just about everybody, maybe even himself, by choosing to start with Chris Carruthers wide on the left wing, yet kept three recognised wingers on the bench. And with United crying out for some width and pace, the first substitution turned out to be Eddie Hutchinson replacing Adam Chapman with the second half just four minutes old. Bizarre. Some normality was restored seven minutes later, when Lewis Haldane replaced Carruthers, and with seven minutes remaining Yemi Odubade came on for Constable, who limped off. Yemi was probably lined up to replace the disappointing Farrell until Beano's injury.

Today's homme au noir was A R Hendley, last in charge for United when they lost 2-0 at Wrexham and he sent off Luke Foster. There was no repeat of that episode today, and the only card shown to an Oxford player was a deserved one to Hutch. Not a bad game for the official. The attendance today was 3,791, with an estimated 2,100 Oxford fans in attendance. Difficult to tell because the big stand looked about two-thirds full of Oxford in addition to all the official away supporters. Whatever, a damn fine turnout for the Yellow Army, with the home stadium seemingly unable to cope. Let's hope they're more efficient at Burton Albion on Friday.

Oxford remain seventh, still three points off the play-offs, while Woking stay fifth from bottom, above the drop zone on goal difference. The big disappointment from today was the fact that results elsewhere weren't too favourable to Oxford, with both Stevenage Borough and Kidderminster Harriers picking up maximum points. The biggest disappointment was Kidderminster's 2-1 win over top-of-the-table Burton Albion. Not only does the win leave Kiddy four points above Oxford with one games in hand, it also means that Burton have yet to be crowned champions, and they're Oxford's next opponents, this Friday. At least Stevenage's 2-0 win at Crawley Town had one positive, as it eliminated eighth-placed Crawley from the play-off race. They are now seven points behind Oxford with two games in hand, and are 10 points behind fifth-placed Stevenage. Borough are three points above Oxford, but have played one game fewer. One good result today was Histon only able to get a point at home to Rushden & Diamonds, meaning the Stutes are now just one point above United. Unfortunately, they still have two games in hand and have yet to play Weymouth. Cambridge United are now the only team that can catch Burton after they won 2-1 at Kettering Town, a result that pretty much eliminates the Poppies from the play-off picture, as they are now 11 points adrift of Stevenage with four games to play. Cambridge are six points behind Burton with two games left. Torquay United are also four points ahead of Oxford after they were held to a 2-2 draw at Salisbury City; Torquay, too, have played one game fewer than United. [@news]2494[/@news] [@opponent]woking[/@opponent]

At the bottom end, Lewes, already relegated, lost 2-1 at Ebbsfleet United, which virtually guarantees their safety. Second-bottom Northwich Victoria are still hoping for unlikely salvation from relegation as they beat Mansfield Town 2-1, leaving them nine points from safety with three games to play, their last one being, of course, at Oxford. The big six-pointer at the bottom ended up goalless as third-bottom York City held onto a point at 18th-placed Barrow. This leaves York one point below fifth-bottom Woking, but they have played two games fewer. Barrow are three points above the drop. Weymouth picked up their first point in 12 games today, drawing 1-1 with Forest Green Rovers to draw level on points with Woking with two games in hand on the Cards. Grays Athletic dropped to 19th, three points above the drop zone, after losing 2-1 at Eastbourne Borough.

There was only one inconsequential boring mid-table game; in that Wrexham were beaten 1-0 at home by Altrincham.