At last - some football! (vs Macclesfield - L2)

Snow is quite beautiful. I can now officially not stand the stuff.

First it causes a load of postponements. Then it messes up my Christmas plans, then it melts in time to cause me to reinstate my Christmas trip, but moved to New Year. Rubbish.

But at last - a match to go to. Due to a sterling effort by groundstaff and supporters and a rise in daytime temperature to the nearly subtropical, we took on and beat Macclesfield today 2-1. The bare facts are that Heslop and Constable scored for us before a late and decidedly odd goal by Oxford old boy Ricky Stappleton made for a nervous finish. The reality is a bit more interesting.

The car parks were still very slushy (bad mistake to wear canvas topped DMs) but the stadium looked fine, and the pitch in reasonable condition considering what's been thrown at it. The major prematch surprise was the appearance of Jack Midson on the bench. Back from his loan at Southend - apparently they aren't going to extend it. He made no appearance in the game however. The other oddity was the total non-appearance on bench or pitch of Wotton. Does that signify that his time is up and that we will not extend his loan? If so then we need another combative ball winner somewhere on the park. We didn't have one today, and as a result, we weren't terribly combative and didn't win the ball very often!

Macc started like a train, very much carrying on from where they left off in our last encounter ( we were 2 up at the break, only to lose 3-2 if you recall). They have only one real mode of attack, which is to lob the ball out wide for their players to run onto and cross. Now I wouldn't have said that was a terribly complex tactic, but our players might as well have been trying to speak Chinese as hard as they found it to produce any effective counter measures. Time and again, our defence let them do it. They let them catch the ball, they let them look up, turn and cross the damned thing. Again and again and again. It's a good job they haven't got a decent striker, or we we have been behind quite early.

We hadn't really started, and it took a horrible tackle from the Macc number 14 on Beano to get us all going (team and support alike). The referee had already given some stupid decisions and not given other quite blatant fouls, but apparently a two footed tackle in the air with studs showing into the side of someone's ankle is a yellow card offence. Not in my book it isn't, you pink shirted little fool. Still, Beano was OK and it got the team fired up. The referee and his useless South Stand linesman were laughable all game. The lino didn't know the offside rule (but then again, does anyone?) and was constantly behind play. I hoped when we emerged from the wilderness that the standard of officiating would improve. Oh foolish, foolish me.

We then scored, a lovely move opening up the Macc defence for Heslop to slot home. Lovely. We needed to score and we did. The mist then started to turn into fog, getting thicker and thicker before half time - the architectural magnificence of the Bowlplex disappearing before our eyes. Half time came, and brought the crossbar challenge - blokes with a bald spot, this time - most of whom seemed to support Chelsea. Really. Then here's a suggestion. Go and support them. Or have the decency to say you support Oxford when asked. Otherwise - thanks for the entrance money - sit down, shut up. I hate people who 'apologise' for supporting Oxford by saying that they 'really' support Chelsea or Arsenal or some other prem team. I actually find that worse than someone who honestly supports Luton, or even the scum. The other halftime highlight was the brass band. Of which nobody in the East Stand could hear a single note. If only someone had invented some way of amplifying sound...

The fog lifted somewhat, revealing the neon paradise opposite, and the game restarted - carrying on much as it had previously. Macc were threatening down the flanks, we were threatening on the breakaway. Both teams looked fragile in defence, Macc were better in midfield. For long periods, we appeared to be playing basketball rules. If the opposition have the ball, we just let them have it. We might try to intercept, but tackling is out of the question. You have to let them have a shot, or a header. Batt and Kinniborough might as well have not been there - they just let the ball be crossed or for the Macc attacker to walk past them into the penalty area.

You got the feeling that the next goal might settle it, and so it proved. Down at the foggy end of the ground with about 20 minutes to go, Beano eventually got the ball in the net after a couple of attempts, having been aware enough to pick up on a loose ball resulting from a save. The Macc heads went down and both their supporters looked a little crestfallen. However a bizzare goal 12 minutes later gave them hope. Ricky Stappleton (who now looks like Ricky Stapple-several-tons) lumbered into Ryan Clarke, the ball bobbled up and into the net over Clarke's head. Every one in the east stand waited for the free kick. But apparently thats not a foul in Mr Pink Shirt's book, so the goal stood. However, Macc couldn't find a way though (and didn't really look like doing so) and we finished just about worthy winners.

So, the third game on the trot that I have ditched the blue stripey abomination for a proper yellow shirt, and the third game we have won 2-1. Spooky, huh?

What did we learn from today?

We need, need, need a tackling midfielder.
Futcher can't or won't jump. He is no improvement on Creights really. I just hope that when Jake is fit, he takes Futcher's place, not that of the excellent Worley.
Beano and Maclean are an excellent partnership - and getting better.
Maclean isn't necessarily going to score a hatful, but we are going to score a hatful more because of him.
Our left and right back positions are both still a bit problematic as far as defence goes (although Batt is excellent going forward at times).
League 2 is an oddly inconsistent league.

I'll miss the next two games - so you're on your own. May I take the opportunity to wish anyone reading this a very happy New Year, and to thank fellow supporters and all at the club for what has turned out to be a throughly entertaining and eventually successful year!

Outwitting Jack Frost vs Barnet (League 2)

A herculean effort by the club and groundstaff got the match on today. One of only two to survive in League 2. Only one survived in League 1. So credit where it's due.

I set off early expecting a longer drive than usual, but that didn't happen. So I got a longer sit in the car park than usual instead. Forgetting the lessons of history, I succumbed to a portion of the catering van's chips. It is a marvel how they can make something that is so hot on the outside, yet so uncooked on the inside. Great if you are making a baked Alaska (reference for fans of 70's cooking), not so good for chips. They went mostly uneaten, and yet again I vow never to have them again.

The snow had mostly gone, being washed away by torrential rain which carried on for the majority of the match. Sitting in my car, picking though fried potato pieces in an attempt to find an edible bit, my thoughts turned to the match. Of course it would be just like Oxford to beat the League leaders away and then succumb to the bottom team at home, but surely we could beat Barnet?

We lined up in a 4-4-2, with Maclean and Craddock taking the strikers positions. Batt, Worley, Futcher and Kinniborough were the defence and Heslop, Wotton, Clist and Hall made up the midfield. The truth is that for the first half we didn't really get out of first gear at all. We were slow and passive, and made few chances. There were good saves from both Clarke and the ex-Oxford Jake Cole in the Barnet goal before Barnet went ahead after half an hour or so. The goal was actually fairly embarassing. Barnet went down the right, beating Kinnibrough fairly easily (not for the first or last time in the afternoon), and it was simply passed across the face of goal and then into the net. Like a hot knife through butter. Although it was too cold for a hot knife and the butter would have been frozen solid, but still... We struggled to the half time break and looked very poor. So why didn't the 4-4-2 work as well as it did at Chesterfield? Well at Chesterfield we went on the attack, as we were already a goal down. Today both sides looked petrified to concede a goal - understandable given their situation in the league table, but a completely different circumstance. Half time came and 1-0 down was probably fair.

The half time entertainment was the hoary old crossbar challenge. This time for 'anyone wearing glasses'. It was as disorganised as the team had been for the previous 45 minutes. Either organise something reasonably interesting or just leave it out altogether. Can't we have five people from the North Stand vs five people from the East Stand perhaps? It would give us something to cheer, maybe. Or maybe not.

We switched back to a 4-3-3 for the second half, with Potter replacing Hall. Alfie added some much needed speed into what was a fairly ponderous attack, and Barnet were soon being pushed back. That became much more apparent when Beano came on for Craddock after about 10 minutes. Some of the invective being directed towards Craddock from the East Stand was fairly laughable. He isn't Beano, he is a completely different type of player who has scored some important goals already this season. He didn't have the best of games, but chanting 'Beano, Beano' when Craddock did something wrong is fairly dense. Probably the same people that were chanting for the departed Midson, when Green missed the other day.

But Beano made a huge difference. The first thing he did was to foul the big Barnet center half, and from then on he was in the action at both ends of the pitch. He harried the defenders, almost scored (it went in anyway), scored, cleared a ball off our line and ran about like the Beano of old. It was great to see and I hope that the current rumours of him going to pastures new are just Chinese whispers. They must be.

Beano and the excellent Maclean were again linking up well, and apart from Beano's goals (lets be generous and credit him with both!) Maclean hit the post and the bar. At the other end, Clarke made a few good (one excellent) saves and we ran out worthy winners in the end.

Best players on the pitch? Clarke, Clist, Maclean and Beano.
Points of concern? As always, rubbish free kicks and corners. Throw ins that a team of 12 year olds could defend. Lack of challenging for 50/50s. Letting the opposition get down the flanks and cross the ball far, far too easily.

But six points from 2 games is good. To come back from a goal down both times shows character. If the team would just get the ball on the floor and play as they did at times in the second half then we would be even higher than the 12th place in the table we now occupy (I'd like to put on record that my prediction on the Yellows forum before the season startred was that we would finish up between 10th and 12th in the table. Let's see if that pans out). It would be good if we could play two decent halves of football in the same game!

Next - Lincoln. I'm intending to be there.