Bantamweights vs Heavyweights (Bradford L2)

Apart from the customary Kassam wind, nature was fairly kind to today's match. No snow, no fog, no torrential downpour. Which was nice as I had to park in the far car park - the east Stand carpark being full before 2 pm. I know there are lots of good things about having increased numbers of supporters, but why do they have to nick my parking place! :)

A decent crowd of over 7,000 were treated to an excellent match (from an Oxford perspective) which looked for a long time as if it might be the most one sided 1-0 defeat ever. The team was unchanged from the one that started at Aldershot - it's a while since that has happened - which meant Beano was on the bench, alongside the perhaps surprisingly recalled Sam Deering. Oxford started like a train, pushing Bradford back. A couple of early half chances went begging before the Bantams surprisingly took the lead. A corner was swung in, the Oxford defence stood stock still, a Bradford player headed the ball down and another poked it in. Hmm. I wasn't at the Southend match, but there were rumblings around me that it was similar to the first goal we conceded in that game. It was a poor goal to give away, and shows that work is still needed in that department. And as far as bad things about the match go, that's about it!

Roared on by a supportive crowd, the Us then took total charge. I don't know if the wind had an effect, but we gave up the hit and hope style we have slid into at times and played the ball on the floor. It won't shock anyone to know that we immediately looked like a top three team rather than a midtable one. The passing was crisp, the movement good. Batt and Tonkin (whose form is picking up very nicely) got forward and crossed the ball, the forwards looked lively, the midfield (marshalled by Mclaren) put their foot on the ball and controlled the pace of the match. The ball went wide of the Bradford goal, it went across the goal, it went everywhere but into the goal. 35 minutes of sustained pressure with no end product. But it will give you some idea how well we played, that a team losing 0-1 at home was given a standing ovation at the half time whistle. We had outplayed Bradford in every way (apart from actually scoring) for most of the half. Every player had done well, every player had made an effort. Had the half time break come at exactly the wrong time for us? I had flashbacks to the match away at Macclesfield where we looked excellent in the first half, and eleven blokes who looked like a football team but weren't had emerged from the dressing room after half time.

Half time. I didn't win the 50/50 for a change. Half of the youth of Oxfordshire have been bunking off their geography lessons judging by the half time hit the crossbar competition. It was supposed to be for people coming from outside Oxfordshire, half the contestants were from Banbury and Abingdon. It was chaotic in the extreme.

Second half, with Oxford kicking towards the East Stand, our preferred way of doing it. Any nerves about how we were going to play soon evaporated, with us taking charge at once. The pattern was very much the same as the end of the first half. Whether we were pressing Bradford back, or if they were trying to defend a lucky one goal lead for 81 minutes, I don't know. Probably a bit of both - but I don't think many teams in our division could have lived with us today. However, time went on and it was still advantage to the visitors. Clarke rushed out of his goal to make a good save at the feet of Omar Daly - I think - in a rare Bradford attack. After an hour, Beano came on for Midson (who had held the ball up and laid it off very well) and Heslop replaced Hall. Hall is a player that I seldom notice somehow. That doesn't mean he is doing anything wrong - it might well mean that he is doing his job in a throughly professional way, but I must admit when we signed him I though he was more of a goal scoring midfielder than he has turned out to be. Whatever, the midfield looked good with him in it. Hall doing the donkey work, Clist keeping the whole thing ticking and Mclaren protecting the back four and distributing the ball effectively.

I'm not sure I would ever have thought of Beano as an impact sub who plays out on the right (and of course he is much more than that), but he does the job very well. He gave new impetus to the attack, and Craddock moved into a more central role. Steve Maclean (possibly playing his last game for us) is such a good player - whoever he works with up front, he can adapt to their style and make intelligent choices about what to do with the ball. The pressure we were putting on the Bradford defence was now almost cruel - wave after wave of attack that they seemed powerless to stem. But still the ball wouldn't go in. Heroic defending by the Bradford back four and the goalkeeper kept us out. Surely though - they had to crack eventually?

They did. A scrappy 75th minute goal, Maclean's shot being saved by a naughty Bradford defenders hand. The ref blew for a penalty (and presumably a sending off) but the ball dribbled over the line anyway so he ignored his own decision and awarded the goal. A sensible decision really, if a bit unorthodox! Before we scored, the conventional wisdom in the stands was 'if we score one, we'll score two'. It's a way of consoling yourself when you haven't actually scored any at all of course, but in this case it looked inevitable - and so it proved. Bradford having sat back trying to protect their lead, now found it hard to generate much forward impetus, and looked as if they were now settling for a point (or trying to).

As long time OUFC watchers will know, this is an almost certain recipe for disaster. Ten minutes later and this footballing cliche also proved true, when another scramble in the Bradford penalty area lead to Tom Craddock heading (or side-of-the-facing) the ball into the same bottom corner as the equaliser. Bradford then tried a late rally but, after a sloppy backpass almost gave them an undeserved lifeline, they couldn't do anything about the result. Jimmy Sangere made his debut for the last few minutes and made a couple of important headers. A great ovation at the final whistle sent us all home happy.

A splendid team peformance, probably the best of the season really. We looked like a top three team for much of the match.

Thoughts afterwards -

What a one-sided match! The most comprehensive one goal margin win I have ever seen.
It was an excellent team performance - everyone played their part.
Our defence at corners still needs work - and we didn't look terribly dangerous from many of the 13 corners we had ourselves (although Beano missed a glorious chance from one).
Mclaren has improved our midfield by being in it, and our defence by protecting it.
Maclean. I hope he stays, but not at the expense of busting the budget, or upsetting the wage structure now in place.
We still over-play the ball in defence sometimes. Occasionally, a 'hoof' to get it out of danger or into the stands is a good idea.
18 matches without a clean sheet, but we have won six of the last seven. That doesn't really make much sense!
Fifth match in a row I've been to that I have worn the yellow shirt. Fifth match we have won 2-1.

Next match: Northampton away. Although for me it's the closest match of the season, just 20 minutes down the road. I'm expecting a 2-1 win, and a lot of space around me as the unwashed lucky polyester gets another outing. ;)