Following the euphoria of the Swindon match, Oxford United faced two testing away trips in quick succession. Up first were Shrewsbury Town, a side unbeaten at home this season. With Oxford having to cope with a mounting injury crisis, as well as the suspension of James Constable, the size of the task was immense.
Still, confidence and morale were high after the gripping and emotional victory at the weekend and United carried on where they left off at the Greenhous Meadow with inspired loan signing Lee Holmes netting inside the first minute. Minutes before the break, Holmes bagged his second with a classy chip over Chris Neal to double Oxford’s lead. United looked set to end Shrewsbury’s proud home record and seal a perfect four days, but a spirited Shrewsbury fightback spoiled the Oxford party. The home side drew level on 54 minutes through Mark Wright, after Oxford failed to deal with a Marvin Morgan cross. However, this did not lead to an Oxford capitulation and the depleted side dug deep in dogged fashion, determined to protect their unlikely lead. It required a stoppage time 35-yard bullet from Matt Richards to finally out-do the valiant away team, which left Shrewsbury in automatic promotion contention and the U’s scrapping for the final play-off spot.
United’s next outing was at Valley Parade, home of Bradford City, where Oxford had been thrashed 5-0 last season. Unfortunately, United failed to end their Valley Parade hoodoo, losing 2-1 to the struggling Yorkshire side. A reckless challenge from Damian Batt before the break saw Oxford reduced to ten men, leaving the U’s facing an uphill task. Matters were made worse in the second half when Andy Whing scythed down Marcel Seip in the box and former Premier League player Craig Fagan converted the resulting spot-kick. Soon after, James Hanson made it 2-0 with a header after a Bradford counter-attack. Thankfully, Oxford showed more resilience than the previous season and even pulled a goal back through Asa Hal. A Gillingham home defeat to Crewe Alexandra meant that Oxford fortuitously kept their play-off position, but Chris Wilder’s men can ill afford such defeats if they are to remain in the top seven.
After two matches on the road, Oxford faced Andy Scott’s Rotherham United at the weekend, who had defeated the Yellows on the opening day of the season at their temporary ground. Oxford had suffered a blow during the week following the news that the impressive winger Lee Holmes had chosen to join arch-rivals, Swindon Town, on loan until the end of the season in place of the U’s. To compensate for this, manager Wilder had brought in Cristian Montano from West Ham, who had incidentally played for Swindon on loan earlier in the season. He had already signed Dean Morgan on a month’s loan from Chesterfield to cope with United’s crippling injury list. The loss of Holmes was a sore blow, but it was softened by the return of the creative genius of Peter Leven to United’s starting line-up against Rotherham. The Scot was quick to make an impressive in his first game back, setting up Scott Rendell for Oxford’s first goal. Asa Hall then doubled United’s advantage five minutes later for his second goal in as many games. With ten minutes remaining, Oxford gave their fans a customary nervous finish after Lewis Grabban’s penalty. The Merry Millers almost stole a point at the end when Michael Duberry cleared the ball off his line, but Oxford managed to hold out for a crucial victory. United now have ten games remaining in what will be a grandstand finish to a compelling season.
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