Buoyed by their comfortable away win over Morecambe last week, Oxford started the brighter of the two teams with dangerous right-back Damian Batt finding much of the ball on the right flank. However, it was Hereford who struck first with their sole attack of the half. A whipped cross by the lanky Harry Pell was expertly guided past Ryan Clarke by Stuart Fleetwood. This momentarily stunned the home side and it took Oxford ten minutes to find their feet again. Once the home side had regained their composure, they battered their Welsh opponents, but were unable to make their pressure count.
It was incredible to watch. Oxford had all the possession, yet could not find a way to break down the steely and determined defence in front of them. After the interval, as Oxford became even more desperate to find the equaliser they so rightly deserved, Hereford resorted to even more extreme negative tactics. For the vast majority of the second half, Hereford had eleven men behind the ball with the sole aim of holding on to their unjust lead. If they won possession of the ball, they simply leathered the ball as far into the Oxford half as possible. At the same time Oxford were still trying to play their pass and move football that has been drilled into them by manager Chris Wilder. Unfortunately, it was the unambitious, negative football that won the day.
Despite this, Oxford must take some responsibility for the numerous chances they squandered, particularly in the second half. The best two opportunities fell to centre-back Harry Worley and substitute Simon Hackney, who both failed to hit the target two yards from goal.
To add insult to injury, as Oxford pushed for the equaliser in stoppage time, Hereford hit them on the counter attack, scoring their second of the afternoon. A scuffed shot bobbled across the six-yard box and was met by striker Fleetwood for his second goal. This capped off a thoroughly frustrating day.
Those Hereford fans went home the happier this afternoon, but they are destined for many miserably depressing afternoons if they continue to adopt such appallingly unambitious tactics. The Oxford fans, on the other hand, ought to feel positive as their team produced another impressive performance that, on another day, would have swept aside such a dour outfit.
There is no doubt that Oxford United are heading in the right direction and thankfully they have a game this Tuesday night away at Lincoln to quickly this game behind them.
I still firmly believe that we’ll be occupying one of those play-off places come May.
Man of the match: Paul McLaren
Crowd Watch:
Today Dad and I found ourselves seated in front of ‘the man with the stick.’ I have spotted this gentleman on a number of away trips with the yellows, such as in the away pub prior to the Crewe match. He is an old fellow, who carries a limp and shuffles along aided by his stick. He is also very loud. He reminds me of one of those irritating toys children receive on Christmas Day that launch into song when they are switched on and which the child continues to play throughout the day against everyone's wishes. Every ten seconds or so this gentleman would bark in his thick Oxfordshire accent (similar to the West Country one, but not quite as strong) ‘come on you fuckers’ or rage at the ‘Sunday league’ referee.
I also spotted a man in the crowd who was wearing a quite hilarious outfit. His bottom half was nothing spectacular (just denim jeans). On his top half, though, he was sporting the Oxford United replica shirt underneath (and this is the best bit), an unbuttoned formal shirt. This is the first time I have ever seen this combination on show and it really was something to behold.
Come on lads, let’s get three points on Tuesday for goodness sake.
