Luton Town 2 Oxford United 1

United went down with a whimper as two late, late goals gave Luton a deserved win at Kenilworth Road last night. Matt Green had given United the lead in the 74th minute with a shot that deflected past Mark Tyler, but the Us then sat back and invited pressure on themselves. This allowed Luton the opportunity to score twice, both from poorly defended corners, both deep into injury time.

As expected, Jack Midson replaced the suspended James Constable up front. The only other change from the side that started in Saturday's 0-0 draw with Kidderminster Harriers was Jamie Cook being replaced by Chris Hargreaves, making his first start for Oxford since United were beaten by Exeter City in the play-off semi-final second leg on 8 May 2007. With Adam Murray out injured and Constable suspended, Hargreaves was handed the captain's armband. United's first subsitution was made in the 72nd minute, when Matt Green replaced Sam Deering, with Green going on to score with his first touch of the ball. Four minutes after the goal Adam Chapman came on for Alfie Potter, and with two minutes of normal time remaining Franny Green replaced Midson. Both of these substitutions were in effect defensive ones, and both contributed to the result.

Instead of a detailed match report – what can be said that isn't already known – a few observations. Despite an almost total change of personnel and management (only Billy Turley remains and Hargreaves has returned) the current season bears too many similarities to 2006-07 for comfort. The side seems to be buckling under the pressure, and this was only too evident once they had the lead yesterday. Instead of going for a second goal to kill off the game, the side dropped deeper and deeper and allowed the hosts to attack with impunity. Potter was Oxford's main outlet, and was a real worry to the Luton defence. When he went off their relief was almost tangible. Likewise Midson was the only player able to hold up the ball in attack, and once he departed there was no one up front able to win a header. As the game entered stoppage time and the Yellows defending got ever more desperate the result was, if not inevitable, at least predictable. This result can't be put down to a bad day at the office – the excuse for the Kidderminster draw and the Tamworth defeat – but was altogether more symptomatic of something going seriously wrong. Whether this is a tactical issue that can be easily rectified or something more fundamental within the make-up of the squad (reflected in the obvious disgruntlement of Mark Creighton among other things) is difficult to determine, but if United are to avoid yet another season of heartbreak, and christ knows we've had too many of those in the last decade, then something needs to be done to correct matters immediately.

A special mention for the referee, Robert Madley. Last time he was in charge of an Oxford game, the 3-1 win over Crawley Town back in September, he was very poor. Last night he was excellent, allowing the game to flow but pulling it back when necessary. Top reffing, although his booking of Potter looked slightly harsh. The attendance was 8,860 which, when you consider that 1,500 of those were Oxford supporters, isn't so bad.

Last night's other Conference results failed to improve the mood of the Oxford supporters, as Stevenage Borough pulled three points clear of the Yellows thanks to coming back from a goal down to defeat Mansfield Town 3-1, with Yemi Odubade scoring a brace as he continues to haunt his former club. This allowed Luton to climb above Mansfield into fifth place, with the Stags dropping to sixth. Rushden & Diamonds moved up to fourth place with a 2-0 win over 19th-placed Eastbourne Borough, the goals scored by Jefferson Louis and Mickey Corcoran. United's opponents this Saturday, Histon, won 1-0 at 18th-placed Ebbsfleet United to go 13th, while second-bottom Grays Athletic lost 4-0 at Hayes & Yeading, for whom Scott Fitzgerald was among the scorers. Elsewhere, Wrexham drew 0-0 with Tamworth, while Forest Green Rovers' home game against Chester City was postponed after the Chester players refused to travel in protest at the three months wages that they are owed. The consequences for Chester could be severe, although a fine is unlikely to have any effect on a club that is effectively broke anyway and a points deduction would be, literally, pointless as they don't have any points to be deducted and are as good as relegated already. The severest, and possibly only, punishment is expulsion from the Conference (which in itself might only predicate the winding-up order that Chester face in the High Court next month) with all the consequent knock-on effects that would produce; Oxford United and York City would both lose the three points they have gained (and Constable and Richard Brodie would both lose hat-tricks from their goalscoring records), but Stevenage would lose six points, thereby allowing the Us to regain top spot. As this is also the consequence that many Chester fans would like to see, we can only hope that this is the course that is followed.

In last night's FA Trophy third-round replays, Barrow won 3-2 at Gateshead to set up a home quarter-final against York City, and Salisbury City beat Cambridge United 2-1 to confirm their home tie against Tamworth. [@news]2653[/@news][@opponent]luton town[/@opponent]