Back on track?

From the Rage Online newsdesk Wednesday, March 17th, 2004  

United ended their run of six winless games with a comfortable win over an appalling Cheltenham side this evening. The narrowness of the 1-0 scoreline, gained thanks to an Andy Crosby penalty after 25 minutes awarded for something or other, shouldn’t detract from the fact that United dominated the game and Andy Woodman in goal was hardly troubled throughout the 90 minutes. It remains to be seen if this result kick-starts United’s season and lets them push on, or whether it’s just a blip in their recent downward spiral.

In an unexpected, but welcome, change from the side that lost at Carlisle on Saturday, Steve Basham returned to the starting line-up, with Mark Rawle not even making the bench. At half-time Dave Waterman came on for Barry Quinn, who presumably had picked up a knock, and with about quarter of an hour remaining Richard Walker replaced Basham to make his debut for United. In the short amount of time he had on the pitch Walker did enough to show that he has a good touch and good vision, as well as a bit of strength.

This was referee Phil Joslin’s first Oxford match of the season, and he had a very good game (unless you’re a Cheltenham fan, that is). He even remembered to give Julian Alsop his customary booking, for persistent fouling, and showed a yellow card to Paul McCarthy for good measure too. The attendance was a better than expected 5,916, boosted by a healthy turnout exiled from the gee-gees. We might get it together to post a match report tomorrow.

The three points lifts Oxford back over Torquay and into fourth place, just a point behind Huddersfield and two above the Gulls. United now also have a healthy six point advantage over sixth-placed Mansfield, who have two games in hand on the Us, and which makes Saturday’s fixture somewhat massive. Cheltenham remain 12 points below the play-off zone.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 17th, 2004 at 12:00 am and appears under 2004, News Items, OldNews. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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