AFC Wimbledon 0 Oxford United 1

Picked up the result in Tesco in Ledbury, sounds fortuitous but hey ho. Yours, live from a field near Trumpet, Herefordshire.


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Oxford United 2 Stevenage Borough 1

Buses, those of you who attempt public transport to the home of Oxford United will no doubt be aware of the general dilemmas of bus choice and location. Since the Oxford Bus Company stopped running the 601 from the centre of town the writer and his loyal band have had to struggle with a range of options - none of which are entirely suitable. We are also now challenged by the local council playing musical chairs with the bus stops (sort of thing) .. bus stops are now scattered randomly around the City Centre. Thames Travel have now added the Kassam Stadium to their 106 route, buses arrive on a Saturday at 2 minutes to the hour - leaving the hardy traveller either an hour to kill or a 2 minute sprint, we can infer that this is not intended to be a football bus. Anyway we ended up getting the 5 to the game, I got the 1 back colleague 1 with a pass got a 5 back (and still moaned about it) and colleague 2 used his bike and car as he is still on sprog delivery alert - who cares? You, dear reader, do not - what of the game you say.

Bad tempered affair with 2 good goals for Oxford, followed by a late Stevenage goal (Yemi) and a nervy finish. Oxford struggled to get control in midfield but patience was rewarded, they need to work on keeping a clean sheet - the Stevenage goal came during a spell of Oxford jitters.

The Stevenage players followed the lead of their manager who spent a lot of time berating the ref and generally waving his arms about - in the photo you can see all 4 of the away dugout looking unhappy - they got what they deserved from the game.

Oxford United 4 Chester City 0

Evening kick off and a balmy August evening at the Kas Stad, by the end of the evening we'd be in top spot for the first time for a couple of years plus (Boxing Day 2006, having spent 18 games in top spot a minor slump in form led to second spot and play off hell). Stop reminiscing and get back to the point - a good performance against an out of condition side. Oxford showed good patience and with better finishing would have scored a couple in the first half, Potter looks tricky and got into the box several times only to discover he had no shooting boots.

Midfield worked really well, Murray was excellent and they all ran hard and closed down right through the game - something that was missing last year. Defence still a bit iffy but Beast is improving, talking more and Day was excellent. Up front Constable shaded Green, both good but Green could have passed more often.

Chester faded fast in the last 30 minutes, but kept playing and did not let their clear frustration lead to fouls and bad temper, I felt for them, they looked shattered.

We were four, absentee said he was working - good for him as Chester brought a drummer or two and absentee has made it clear he thinks they should only be seen next Tuesday.

Histon 3 Oxford United 4

"I wasn't at the game, Jerome" - regular absentees from Oxford's away games may be familiar with this phrase, used in the post match phone in by those with detailed and deep analysis on a game they haven't seen. Much like this post.

Anyway the joys of Saturday afternoon DIY were this week lifted by the full force of Nathan and Jerome of BBC Oxford, their enthusiastic and, how can I put it, spirited commentary from a range of broadcasting facilities around the Conference is one of the highlights of following the Us.

Away win - good words to use, but a close thing as the defence crumbled, lets hope Wilder sorts that out and quick before Tuesday's potential banana skin visit of Chester City.

Kettering Town 1 Oxford United 1

Too busy looking for shooting stars a day too soon, a point away, unbeaten and 6th; no complaints here. Must check the sky tomorrow.

Oxford United 2 York City 1

So first game of a brand new season, always seems to come round far too early especially as this Saturday it was actually sunny rather than lashing down as it seems to have done for the rest of the off season.

Pre-game found us in the Chequers, which served well as the meeting place; we shunned the bus as 4 squeezed in a taxi and met the 5th at the ground, the 5th’s wife is expecting so he had planned various fast getaway routes which involved at least 3 forms of transport.

Shock – horror the beer at the ground is now cheaper and marginally less gassy and rubbish.

Anyway onto the game, a pretty evenly matched affair with neither side making many chances, York made 2 and scored 1, Oxford made 2 and scored 2 and that is pretty much the game summary – however the timing of the Oxford goals added some level of excitement with an equaliser on 88 and a winner on 90 – Wilde starting as he left off last season with creative and reasonably courageous substitutions which definitely turned the game enough for Oxford to equalise, and this spurred on the Yellows enough to scrape a winner.

York fans will be justifiably disgruntled, but we’ll take what we can get.

I think I’ll avoid player reviews at this stage, some had better starts than others but overall positive.

Next Kettering away …

PS - post match atmosphere spoilt by watching England continue to collapse in spectacular fashion in the 4th test