Paul Parker is a buffoon.
Not really breaking news I know, but I wanted to state it from the beginning asI let him off quite lightly after our match at Wrecsam, so pre-occupied was I with our total lack of quality on that particular occasion.
Having recorded Thursday nights game, I fast forwarded through a few of the highlights this morning, and every time I stopped to play a bit of action it was accompanied by some kind of nonsense eminating from the mouth of the ex-Man Utd man. Leaving aside his bias against the mighty U's, it always amazes me how someone who gets paid to talk on television can mangle the English language so spectacularly. Here's a little tip for you Parks; learn some adverbs. He didn't do terrific, he did terrifically, he didn't do brilliant, he did brilliantly etc etc. Moron.
Never mind, at least the presence of Parks and his chums from Setanta didn't cause us to lose an entertaining varsity derby (sic). In fact we probably could have won, though by the same token we could have lost about by about five or six.
Our chances of getting three points would have been increased had we not decided to give the fake U's a free ten minutes at the beginning of the game to try and score, which they duly did. No one in an amber and black shirt seemed to be at the races in the opening moments, and Oxford, full of the confidence that a new manager inevitably brings with him, took full advantage. Pottsy did well to block an angled shot from Adam Murray, who also shot narrowly over from the edge of the box, while Luke Foster was off target with a close range volley. They could have had a penalty as well when Lewis Haldane was crunched in the area by a combination of Tonkin and Pitt, but referee Quinn turned down his appeals.
Haldane was the creator of the opening goal though, when he skipped away from Pitt and McMahon, and put in a cross which deflected into the path of James Constable. He produced a nice shimmy near the by-line to get away from Bolland, and drove in a cross which Murray converted from six yards. Not a good start, 1-0.
At least the goal drew a bit of a reaction from United, and we won a couple of corners before the Crow spurned a golden chance to equalise. Carden tried a shot from outside the area which took two deflections and landed at Crow's feet. But with a clear sight of goal he slid his shot past Billy Turley but saw it rebound off the post and away to safety. Other than that United spent the first half suffering from their usual problem of having tonnes of possession but doing very little with it, with neither Willmott nor Pitt getting into the match and the front two looking increasingly isolated. And in fact Oxford could have increased their advantage, with only the lunging toe of Bolland (they should so make that into a film) denying Constable a shot, and Potter racing off his line to foil Haldane.
The second half began with more aimless United possession, although Turley was finally given a couple of things to keep him occupied, plucking a couple of crosses out of the air ahead of the United front pairing. The flow of the match wasn't being helped by Mr Quinn, whose novel interpretation of the rules of the game involved giving the advantage to the defender every single time. So the four central defenders were free to push and shove the likes of Rendell and Constable till their hearts were content, knowing that if any striker tried to give them a bit back then they'd be immediately penalised.
Jon Challinor entered the fray in place of Pitt in the 68th minute, as the Brabinator changed things around, with Willmott going up front as part of a three. And for once his alteration paid dividends; Willmott started seeing more of the ball, and although (as usual) his final pass or shot was pretty useless, he warmed Turley's hands with a shot that the Oxford stopper turned over the bar. McMahon followed suit moments later, but Turley was again equal to the Irishman's shot, pawing the ball behind.
But the pressure was mounting, and United finally equalised in glorious fashion. Carden recieved a throw from Tonkin, drove towards the corner of the box, and from just outside the area curled a tremendous shot round Turley and into the top corner. I was right behind it in the Habbin and it was one of those fantastic moments where you're actually shouting "goal" as soon as the ball leaves the players foot. 1-1.
Now United were in the asscendency, but Willmott wasted our best chance to snatch a winner when he charged down the right, but with Crow and Rendell unmarked in the middle put in a woefully overhit cross that was too high for either of them. That effort about summed up the quality of our crossing during the entire game, something to work on at the training ground perhaps.
There was still time for substitute Odubade to be denied by a perfect last ditch tackle from Tonker before the match drew to a close. A draw was probably a fair result after our second half improvement, but at the end of the day it's only another point on the board. Time is beginning to run out if we are to finally click into gear and secure our play off place, and three points at Rushden tomorrow would be a welcome boost to our aspirations.
Man of the Match: Anthony Tonkin - Solid in defence and provided our only attacking width on either flank.
Pleasant surprise of the Match: My bacon roll, which was fairly hot and came in a non-stale bun. Someone was obviously trying to impress the students.
