Bolton v OXFORD

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OUFC4eva
Grumpy old git
Posts: 2369
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2008 5:57 pm

Bolton v OXFORD

Post by OUFC4eva »

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Looking forward to a trip to the Macron Stadium.Did not go in October '98
as I was invited to watch Reading
v Gillingham (the Madejski had opened a few weeks earlier).

Oxford team that day at what then was called the Reebok Stadium
in what is now the Championship:

Phil Whitehead; Les Robinson, Brian Wilsterman, Phil Gilchrist, Simon Marsh;
Christophe Remy, Martin Gray, David Smith, Matt Murphy;
Andy Thomson and Dean Windass.

Att: 17,064

Scorer: Equaliser from Andy Thomson, left footed volley from
inside the penalty area from a Christophe Remy right wing cross.Danish midfielder
Per Frandsen gave the Trotters the lead.

Head to head: The teams have only met 21 times and Oxford have 6 wins
to Bolton's eight with seven draws. You have to go back more than 32 years
for United's last victory over the Trotters - Easter Saturday 1984 when Jim Smith's
Oxford defeated their opponents from Greater Manchester 5-0 in front
of 9,788 at the Manor Ground.

Bolton have some talented strikers, Zach Clough, Crystal Palace
loanee Keshi Anderson, Jamie Proctor, Max Clayton and Gary Madine.
Saturday's referee is Mark Haywood from West Yorkshire
who last reffed the U's at Cambridge last Easter Monday.

Played for both: Jim Phillips who signed for United in August 1988

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SmileyMan
Middle-Aged Spread
Posts: 1637
Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2006 5:39 am

Re: Bolton v OXFORD

Post by SmileyMan »

Cracking result today - I know they've fallen on hard times recently, but they must still be one of the 'big' clubs, especially in terms of League One, so to go to their place and win convincingly is a really strong indicator that after the shaky start, this is going to be a solid season.

They were pretty woeful though. 3 shots, none on target, over 90 minutes. I wouldn't want to be a Bolton fan watching that rubbish.
OUFC4eva
Grumpy old git
Posts: 2369
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2008 5:57 pm

Re: Bolton v OXFORD

Post by OUFC4eva »

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Wow - what an away day!

The U's deserved their victory at Bolton and secured their first
success against the Trotters in Greater Manchester since March 1976 -
when incidentally a Max Briggs goal gave the U's an unlikely
win at Burnden Park - in front of more than 22,000 as Wanderers
surged towards promotion under Ian Greaves.

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Second half goals from sub Wes Thomas - volleying in a pinpoint cross from fellow
replacement Alex MacDonald - and a close range effort swept in by Maguire
after Hemmings saw a close range shot parried gave the scoreline
added gloss. In truth the U's were excellent and restricted the hosts to
half chances and Eastwood went largely untested.
His handling though, was excellent again. The back line looked strong and organised
solid in midfield and as it wore on one only team
looked the victors.

Superb stadium, good facilities, easy parking, great weather, loads of U's fans,
cheap beer and a good win oop north. What more could one want?

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Kairdiff Exile
Mid-life Crisis
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Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:59 pm

Re: Bolton v OXFORD

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

Smashing day out. Great to hear the grumbling northerners on the way out of the ground, complaining about losing to "the likes of" Oxford. I've always thought that the third tier is probably about our natural level if you look at our support and infrastructure - with the odd season in the division above and the odd season in the division below. But some of the bigger fish in this league clearly see us as jumped-up nonleague upstarts, and it's great fun to deservedly take points off them.

Particular credit on Saturday to Dunks and Eastwood, both of whom looked immense again, whilst up front I thought Hemmings had one of his best games for us (that I've seen anyway) and is starting to really show some quality. Fair play to Wes Thomas as well, who just knows how to make a bloody nuisance of himself.
OUFC4eva
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Re: Bolton v OXFORD

Post by OUFC4eva »

Kernow Yellow
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Re: Bolton v OXFORD

Post by Kernow Yellow »

Kairdiff Exile wrote: I've always thought that the third tier is probably about our natural level if you look at our support and infrastructure - with the odd season in the division above and the odd season in the division below.
I think our support and infrastructure is League 1 at an absolute minimum right now. I think I'm right in saying that we've taken over 1,000 fans to every single weekend away game for the last ten months, with the exception of Morecambe (a still creditable 500+) and Wimbledon (900+, which was all they gave us). That's mighty impressive, including as it does trips to Carlisle, Plymouth and now Bolton. Better than many Championship teams manage. Also, although we've spent the last 15 years in League 2 and Conference, before 2001 we hadn't been in the bottom tier since the mid-1960's. I really hope that it is the last decade and a half that prove to have been the aberration, rather than the previous three and a half!

Bolton obviously think they're bigger and better than where they are at the moment. Time will tell whether they're right. Losing the plot when they're 8th in the league and one point off the play-off places isn't going to help them though. By the way, what happened to their financial issues? Weren't they £200m in debt a few months ago?
Kairdiff Exile
Mid-life Crisis
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Re: Bolton v OXFORD

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

Kernow Yellow wrote: I think our support and infrastructure is League 1 at an absolute minimum right now. I think I'm right in saying that we've taken over 1,000 fans to every single weekend away game for the last ten months, with the exception of Morecambe (a still creditable 500+) and Wimbledon (900+, which was all they gave us). That's mighty impressive, including as it does trips to Carlisle, Plymouth and now Bolton. Better than many Championship teams manage.
Whilst that's all true, the flip side is that our home crowds both at Grenoble Road and The Manor have been pretty static at the 8,000-odd mark even in the second and third tiers*. If you compare that to the home attendance of other clubs at the same level, it's really not that great - particularly given all the satellite conurbations around Oxford from which we should theoretically draw support.

I'd hypothesis that the difference between our good away following and average home following is largely a reflection of a relatively soulless ground, stuck on a science park with poor public transport links and few good bars, right next to a sewage works, and some long spells of poor home form over recent years (even during the most recent promotion season!). In contrast, our form on the road has often been very good and we have a track record of generating good atmosphere.

* - EDIT: yes, I know we never played at Grenoble Road in the second tier, but you get my drift
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