Oxford United 1 Barrow 1

A controversial penalty decision by the referee was the main talking point from today's FA Cup second-round game at the United Stadium, and arguably robbed Oxford of a deserved victory. United had taken a ninth-minute lead through a deflected Jamie Cook shot and were cruising when the official intervened three minutes before half-time.

A long ball over the top set Robin Hulbert on his way, with Luke Foster chasing him. Hulbert could have shot, but instead went sprawling in the penalty area after Foster had made minimal contact with him, if any at all. To compound United's sense of injustice the referee determined that Foster was the last man and so showed him the red card for a professional foul, setting off wild celebration among the away fans, who obviously thought that Christmas had come early. The spot kick was despatched with aplomb by Andy Bond, despite Ryan Clarke diving the right way, and more wild scenes followed from the away contingent, with substitutes pouring onto the pitch.

Barrow had started quite brightly, with their wingers getting past Steven Kinniburgh and Adam Chapman more than once, although like in the league game last weekend their final delivery was very poor. Oxford took the lead after Adam Murray chased down the ball and crossed to the far post for Cook. He controlled the ball, cut inside, and shot under Stuart Tomlinson, the ball taking a deflection on its way.

Although Barrow had a couple of chances, Oxford dominated the remainder of the half, with Alfie Potter going close on a couple of occasions and Barrow penned back for long periods. The penalty decision came against the run of play, but Oxford weren't put off their stride and Mark Creighton almost renewed the lead with a superb shot on the volley.

Barrow made their intentions clear at the start of the second half, as they took their time over every set piece and recommenced the niggling fouls that had characterised their performance last Saturday. Despite being reduced to ten men United were still the stronger team and made the better chances, but lacked the spare body to take advantage of them. Crosses flew across the face of the Barrow goal, with Adam Chapman and Simon Clist both not quite getting on the end of them. Midson went agonisingly close with a flicked header and Damian Batt also headed narrowly wide. At the other end the closest Barrow came to scoring was when Mark Boyd took advantage of some uncharacteristic hesitation from Clarke, but could only chip the ball over the keeper and the goal.

While a draw was possibly the worst result for Oxford in terms of their league campaign, they will visit Holker Street on 8 December knowing that they have the beating of Barrow, while both sides will know the prize for progression as the draw for the third round is tomorrow, with the Us (and Barrow, obviously) ball 58.

Chris Wilder made five changes to the side that beat Forest Green Rovers 1-0 on Tuesday. Batt, who took a knock in that game, was benched with Chapman taking over. Kinniburgh replaced Kevin Sandwith at left back, while Murray resumed his usual place in the centre of midfield at the expense of Ross Perry. Up front Cook came in for the cup-tied Francis Green, while an injury to James Constable gave Potter his chance. United's first substitution saw Perry replace Potter after Foster's dismissal. With quarter of an hour remaining Batt came on for Kinniburgh, who had been injured a few minutes earlier, and in stoppage time Sam Deering took Murray's place, although this was a change that possibly should have been made earlier.The hapless official was Jock Waugh, who took charge of United's first-round goalless draw against Dorchester Town last season. As well as dismissing Foster, he also showed a yellow card to Clist. The attendance was 6,082, of whom 390 were from the wrong side of Birmingham.

While Oxford were engaged in cup action, a number of sides already out of the tournament were fighting for league points. Second-placed Stevenage Borough closed the gap on Oxford to just two points after winning 1-0 at Salisbury City, who are sixth from bottom. Mansfield Town, in fifth place, were unable to take advantage, going down 2-1 at second-bottom Ebbsfleet United, with the Stags' goal scored by Rob Duffy from the penalty spot. Eighth-placed Kidderminster Harriers went down 1-0 at home to ninth-placed AFC Wimbledon. Also at the bottom, 21st-placed Grays Athletic beat Tamworth 1-0, while United's opponents on Tuesday, Crawley Town, lost 2-1 at Gateshead. [@news]2603[/@news] [@opponent]barrow[/@opponent]