United get shrimped

The Us tumbled to their first home defeat of the season against a somewhat unadventurous Southend side thanks to a defensive lapse, an inability to take their chances and a resilient Southend back line. The sucker punch came after 20 minutes when David Oldfield gave the ball away and from the resultant right wing cross an unmarked Mark Rawle headed home from close range. Oldfield had already hit the bar with a long distance shot from which Andy Scott should have scored with the rebound. Darryl Flahavan also saved well from Oldfield and Manny Omoyinmi, whilst Scott, James Hunt and Chris Hackett all had chances that they should have done better with.

United started, disappointingly, with the same defensive line-up that began the game at Darlington last Saturday. The first substitution took place ten minutes into the second half when Bobby Ford replaced the ineffective Dave Waterman. With fifteen minutes to go Ian Atkins decided to inject some pace into the attack by introducing Omoyinmi to replace Steve Basham, who had held up the ball well but never looked like scoring. The final substitution with five minutes left saw Hackett on for an inspired Dave Savage.

Referee Andy Penn had a poor game, although both sides suffered from his wayward decision, possibly Oxford more than the visitors. Waterman was booked for a late challenge and Omoyinmi for a body charge on Flahaven, who ruined an otherwise fine game by throwing a punch at the United striker, fortunately for him it was missed by Penn, who didn't even talk to the goalie. The attendance was a lowly 5,162, boosted by a healthy Essex following with an annoying drum. A match report is online here.

United have now slipped to tenth position in the table, although just two points behind the leaders, Rushden & Diamonds, who drew 1-1 at Shrewsbury, and Wrexham, for whom Hector Sam scored again in their 1-0 win at Macclesfield. Boston United have boosted their points tally to one, following their 2-0 win over Lincoln; Simon Weatherstone scored the opening goal. Martin Thomas was on target for Exeter, putting the Grecians 2-0 up before they eventually succumbed 4-3 at Kidderminster. United's next opponents, Bournemouth, lost 2-0 at Swansea

Nicky Banger scored twice for Woking in their 3-0 win at Kettering and Howard Forinton scored Yeovil's winner as they beat Morecambe 2-1 up north. Dave Morley also found himself on the scoresheet, scoring the first of the game as Doncaster drew 4-4 at Telford United.