The second leg of the play-off semi finals takes place at the United Stadium this evening, with Oxford United holding a tenuous 1-0 lead from Friday's game at Exeter City.[@opponent]exeter city[/@opponent] United won that game courtesy of an Andy Taylor own goal, five minutes before half time, but the Us also had a couple of decent chances to extend their lead, which hopefully they will not be regretting later. All United have to do tonight is avoid defeat, and the Yellows have already beaten Exeter at home this season, Steve Basham's seventh-minute goal on 12 September enough to take the three points.[@report]268[/@report] United's best approach tonight, though, is to regard the game as still being goalless, otherwise the danger is that they will sit on their lead and invite Exeter on to them, which will undoubtedly happen anyway as the Grecians chase the one-goal deficit.[@connection]exeter city[/@connection] Hopefully, this will mean that they leave themselves exposed at the back, allowing the Us to exploit the resultant space.

Jim Smith has claimed that, all being well, he will be fielding an unchanged side from the one that won at St James Park on Friday. However, Smith has made similar claims in the past only for the actuality to differ slightly, so we're not necessarily expecting the same again. That said, it was an adventurous attacking line-up at Exeter, and the same again could be what is required. Gavin Johnson could be preferred to Rufus Brevett on the bench, and he may even play at left wing back, allowing Andy Burgess more of a free role behind the front two, with Danny Rose the likeliest to make way in this scenario. Georges Santos may return to the bench, as United may look to shut up shop if they are still leading in the final stages of the match. Should the game be looking like heading for a penalty shoot-out, god forbid, then Rob Duffy will almost certainly make an appearance beforehand.

Exeter will be fired up for this game, and will probably come out of the blocks at speed. United's defence is reliable, and will hopefully withstand any early pressure. The Grecians could be without Rob Edwards, who received a knock early in Friday's game and had to be substituted at half time. If he is unable to play, then former United defender Jon Richardson, who replaced Edwards at SJP, could well start in his place. Rage Online is reluctant to put ourselves in a prediction predicament, but we are going to predict a 1-1 draw, just because we know that United like to do things the hard way, and keep the fans fingernails as short as possible.

Whoever wins through tonight, Morecambe await. The Shrimps beat York City 2-1 last night, after the first leg was drawn 0-0, to earn themselves a place at Wembley. York took a 20th-minute lead through a Steve Bowey penalty after Clayton Donaldson was brought down by goalkeeper Steve Drench, who was lucky not to be sent off, but was less lucky in that he had to go to hospital with a dislocated elbow. However, Wayne Curtis equalised before half time when his header from a free kick looped over Tom Evans, clearly out of position. In the second half York's defence went to sleep when it allowed Curtis three attempts to score, shortly after the restart. Evans saved the first two shots, but Curtis's sublime chip beat him and the defender on the line to set up their place in the Final.