Oxford United secured another away point following a hard-fought 0-0 draw at Stevenage Borough this evening.[@opponent]Stevenage Borough[/@opponent] A win for either side would have sent them top of the table, and it was Stevenage who came closest to scoring, but for some excellent goalkeeping by the Setanta man-of-the-match Billy Turley. In fact the home side dominated the first half, with Alan Julian in the Stevenage goal hardly troubled.[@news]2168[/@news]

Oxford changed their game plan slightly in the second period, playing higher up the field and keeping tighter to the Stevenage wide men. This enable them to make more chances, and Rob Duffy, Eddie Hutchinson, Carl Pettefer, and Phil Trainer all went close. At the other end Turley pulled off a fantastic save from Steve Morison, and Eddie Anaclet made one superb goal-line clearance, but Duffy should have won the game for Oxford with a couple of minutes remaining, but he pulled his shot wide, from the angle of the goal area. At the final whistle both sides would have been happy with a point, and a clean sheet.

Jim Smith made just one change to the side that beat Stafford Rangers 2-1 two days ago, bringing in Pettefer for Michael Standing. Standing was a surprise substitute, as originally Luke Foster and Marvin Robinson were both named for the bench, but were sent home after arriving 45 minutes late. United needed to use their first substitute after just half an hour, when a nasty tackle on Gary Twigg saw the striker injure his ankle, and he had to be replaced by Duffy. With quarter of an hour remaining, Danny Rose replaced Hutchinson, and Oxford used their final substitute in the final minute, when Arthur Gnohere, another who wouldn't have been on the bench, came on for Anaclet.

Today's referee was P Gibbs, who was in charge of both of Oxford's Conference games against Halifax last season. He had a pretty good game, all things considered, booking Anaclet and Michael Corcoran for late challenges, and letting Matt Day off with a nasty-looking tackle. The attendance was 3,024.

The point sees Oxford drop three places to ninth, while Stevenage also drop a place, to fifth. All of the top three sides drew, with Chris Hargreaves giving Torquay United the lead at Forest Green Rovers, but the game ended 2-2 leaving the Gulls at the top, and Rovers in sixth place. Cambridge United stay second, but they needed yet another 90th minute goal to earn a 1-1 draw with Ebbsfleet United. Third-placed Exeter City were held to a 0-0 draw by ten-man Weymouth, for whom Simon Weatherstone was cautioned. Salisbury City moved up to fourth place after beating Woking 2-1.

Stafford Rangers picked up their first point of the season with a 1-1 draw at home to third-bottom Altrincham, but it wasn't enough to lift them from the foot of the table. Northwich Victoria are second from bottom after they lost at home to a last-minute goal from York City. Droylsden occupy the fourth relegation place after they were thrashed 3-0 by Oxford's next opponents, Halifax Town, for whom Andy Campbell somehow scored a hat-trick. Burton Albion are now seventh thanks to a 1-0 win over 20th-placed Farsley Celtic, while Aldershot lost 1-0 at home to Crawley, from whom David Woozley announced his retirement earlier this week. Andy Burgess made his full debut for Rushden & Diamonds today, but they lost 1-0 at home to Kidderminster Harriers, while Grays Athletic also lost 1-0 at home, to Histon.