Oxford United beat Witney United 2-0 in tonight's friendly at Marriotts Stadium, in front of an impressively sized crowd of 628. Despite the win, it is unlikely that Darren Patterson or Mickey Lewis will be too happy with the performance of Oxford, who struggled to come to terms with the poor light and bobbly pitch, and whose passes too often went astray. However, the scoreline could have been greater but for a Justin Richards penalty that was saved by United's reserve goalie Sam Warrell, playing for Witney for the first hour. United were without Barry Quinn, missing with an illness, and Matt Green, who has had a hamstring problem.

United were definitely the stronger side, and had the Blanketmen on the ropes for much of the game. In only the second minute, a Richards shot went narrowly wide, and after 11 minutes Craig McAllister should have done better when one-on-one with Warrell, but he sliced his shot wide. Goalscoring chances were at a premium in the first half, and McAllister should have done better when he headed an Adam Murray corner over the bar from six yards. United eventually made the breakthrough after 35 minutes, when a fine pass from Jamie Hand found McAllister, who neatly lobbed the advancing Warrell to give the Us the lead. Hand, who played for United when on loan from Watford three years ago, signed on loan from Lincoln City earlier this afternoon, and had hit the post only moments before McAllister's goal. However, Oxford were rarely able to string any passes together, with James Clarke and Eddie Anaclet on the right particularly guilty of losing possession too often.

At half time Phil Trainer came on for Luke Foster. Oxford continued to threaten, but without troubling Warrell too often. On the other hand, Billy Turley was virtually a spectator throughout. Fourteen minutes into the second half United had a glorious opportunity to double the scoreline, when Michael Blackwood was felled in the penalty area. Justin Richards answered the question as to who would take penalties with no Rob Duffy, but his tame kick was well saved by Warrell, who was immediately substituted for James Foster, who is Oxford's youth-team goalkeeper, while Warrell went up the other end in place of Turley. This was one of a spate of substitutions on the hour mark, with United making a number of changes. Yemi Odubade and Matt Taylor came on up front in place of McAllister and Richards, Sam Deering replaced Anaclet, Ian Sampson came on for Clarke, Eddie Hutchinson was Murray's replacement, and Danny Rose took up his place on the left, instead of Blackwood. Oxford continued to look lively, with Deering impressing on the right. It was his cross, after 65 minutes, that was met by Hutchinson, whose header looped over Foster and into the net to complete the scoring. United did create more chances, but Spilman, Yemi, and Taylor were all guilty of snatching at their shots.

As a performance this left a lot to be desired, although the exercise was nevertheless worthwhile for giving players a competitive run out, and for allowing Patterson the opportunity to watch McAllister and Richards play together up front. In addition, it allowed Hand to meet his new teammates, precisely none of whom was at the club when Hand was last here, although he did play alongside Quinn on four occasions. The match did highlight that a dedicated right winger is the piece missing from the jigsaw, although with the rules regarding loans that will have to wait until the summer to be rectified. [@player]hand, jamie[/@player]