Well - another nail biting afternoon listening on the Internet to the BBC Oxford commentary, heart sinks when Gateshead equalise so quickly then again when Grant came on - but I guess it worked. Caused enough confusion in the box to scramble the late second.
Stevenage still the form side and another good result today, but I feel all the pressure is on them on Tuesday and Oxford have nothing to lose - we shall see.
Luton 8 Hayes & Yeading 0 - what was going on at that game? Hopefully they'll show Oxford the same charity but with Basham back with that Oxford old boy knack of scoring you never know.
So that stats:
Max points: 97
Target points: 89
Form points: 85
A crucial win to break a run of 5 without a win, I'll be glued to the internet (how?) again on Tuesday.
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Rusden & Diamonds 1 Oxford United 1
OK - so this is from our correspondent - he has strong veiws, he was there and I was not - read on.
Total Possible 97
Total Target 88
Total Form 82
My prediction - 85, play off place.
"This was an awful game between two extremely poor sides. If I hadn't seen the table, I'd have thought it was a game between two teams who were already relegated. Yes, it was that bad. I thought Rushden were the worst side we've played this season with the possible exception of Chester. How they are where they are I've no idea (but then a neutral would have said the same about us).
It didn't help that CW decided we should play with 10 players. There was a bloke wandering around in a no. 23 shirt but he can't have been one of the players since he had clearly never met any of the rest of the team, and he spent the entire game trying to avoid going anywhere near the ball. On the odd occasion that he was unfortunate enough to have no alternative but to touch the ball, he had no idea what to do other than to fall over. To say he carried less goal threat than Garry Smart does the Wizard of Wokingham a disservice. I gave John Grant the benefit of the doubt when he was dreadful at Cambridge, as it was his first game, but last night he was actually worse than useless. We would have been better off without him, as at least then he wouldn't have got in the way of other players. If he ever pulls on a yellow shirt again, I hope it is of the high-visibility type, perhaps collecting trolleys at Asda.
Apart from that and the dreadful traffic on the M25, M1 and A509 it was a great evening...
Clist was okay, and Beano looked reasonably sharp. Deering took his goal well and should have played from the start. Clark's kicking was terrible. There was a lot of miscommunication at the back, particularly between Batt and Day, and Wright tried to play too much football for a centre half. You could see that the players are frustrated as there was a lot of moaning and finger pointing. Jefferson Louis was his expected donkey-like self, fortunately.
If Rushden can beat Gateshead 8-0 then the Abroath v Bon Accord record is in the bag this Saturday."
Well there you have it, however 6 points from the next two really would change things.
Total Possible 97
Total Target 88
Total Form 82
My prediction - 85, play off place.
"This was an awful game between two extremely poor sides. If I hadn't seen the table, I'd have thought it was a game between two teams who were already relegated. Yes, it was that bad. I thought Rushden were the worst side we've played this season with the possible exception of Chester. How they are where they are I've no idea (but then a neutral would have said the same about us).
It didn't help that CW decided we should play with 10 players. There was a bloke wandering around in a no. 23 shirt but he can't have been one of the players since he had clearly never met any of the rest of the team, and he spent the entire game trying to avoid going anywhere near the ball. On the odd occasion that he was unfortunate enough to have no alternative but to touch the ball, he had no idea what to do other than to fall over. To say he carried less goal threat than Garry Smart does the Wizard of Wokingham a disservice. I gave John Grant the benefit of the doubt when he was dreadful at Cambridge, as it was his first game, but last night he was actually worse than useless. We would have been better off without him, as at least then he wouldn't have got in the way of other players. If he ever pulls on a yellow shirt again, I hope it is of the high-visibility type, perhaps collecting trolleys at Asda.
Apart from that and the dreadful traffic on the M25, M1 and A509 it was a great evening...
Clist was okay, and Beano looked reasonably sharp. Deering took his goal well and should have played from the start. Clark's kicking was terrible. There was a lot of miscommunication at the back, particularly between Batt and Day, and Wright tried to play too much football for a centre half. You could see that the players are frustrated as there was a lot of moaning and finger pointing. Jefferson Louis was his expected donkey-like self, fortunately.
If Rushden can beat Gateshead 8-0 then the Abroath v Bon Accord record is in the bag this Saturday."
Well there you have it, however 6 points from the next two really would change things.
Tamworth 0 Oxford United 0
Hmm - not much help from upstairs then - slumped to 3rd.
Total Possible 99
Total Target 89
Total Form 83
Ho hum.
Total Possible 99
Total Target 89
Total Form 83
Ho hum.
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Oxford United 1 Kettering Town 1
Max - 101
Target - 90
Form - 84
Stating the obvious but current form is not going to cut it for automatic promotion. The game was a frustrating affair without a clear leader on the pitch, woeful waste of dead ball situations and too many nearly there performances. Earlier in the season any 11 with Murray and Beano in it seemed unable to lose - they were sorely missed in this game.
Still hopeful but with the next 2 away games a real test of metal - can Wilder turn them round? Will Tamworth prove tricky as the team spend the morning at Sunday School (why Sunday? Anyone?).
Are Stevenage likely to wobble towards the end of the season - another 5 goals yesterday in their demolition of Kiddie in the cup can't hurt their confidence - beating them at the end of March away - too much to hope for?
Highlight of the day - getting the 106 back to town - and I mean that.
Target - 90
Form - 84
Stating the obvious but current form is not going to cut it for automatic promotion. The game was a frustrating affair without a clear leader on the pitch, woeful waste of dead ball situations and too many nearly there performances. Earlier in the season any 11 with Murray and Beano in it seemed unable to lose - they were sorely missed in this game.
Still hopeful but with the next 2 away games a real test of metal - can Wilder turn them round? Will Tamworth prove tricky as the team spend the morning at Sunday School (why Sunday? Anyone?).
Are Stevenage likely to wobble towards the end of the season - another 5 goals yesterday in their demolition of Kiddie in the cup can't hurt their confidence - beating them at the end of March away - too much to hope for?
Highlight of the day - getting the 106 back to town - and I mean that.
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Oxford United 1 Hayes & Yeading United 2
Well 2 old Oxford boys really sticking the knife in tonight, 2 from Bash and a hat-trick from Yemi not only puts Stevenage back on top, gives them a better goal difference by 10 goals but continues relatively poor form for the Yellows - 1.5 points a game for the second half of the season. Saturday's game against Kettering (who are on a 5 game unbeaten run) is now the proverbial "must win".
I failed to get to the game so can't report on the details, to the casual observer a continued lack of ability to convert pressure into goals (against 10 men for most of the second half) speaks volumes.
So - back to the stats - I'll be putting a range of predicted end points in the posts from now on - max points to be gained, target points (my wishful thinking at 2 points per game average) and form points - i.e. if form since half way continues at the same rate where will we end up.
Before last night:
Max - 106 (promotion certain)
Target - 93 (good chance of promotion)
Form - 89 (got to be a good total)
After last night:
Max - 103 (promotion still certain)
Target - 91 (good total, but makes me nervous)
Form - 85 (nasty)
Recall this previous post on totals that led to promotion - from 86 to 101 points, the next dozen games will define the season.
I failed to get to the game so can't report on the details, to the casual observer a continued lack of ability to convert pressure into goals (against 10 men for most of the second half) speaks volumes.
So - back to the stats - I'll be putting a range of predicted end points in the posts from now on - max points to be gained, target points (my wishful thinking at 2 points per game average) and form points - i.e. if form since half way continues at the same rate where will we end up.
Before last night:
Max - 106 (promotion certain)
Target - 93 (good chance of promotion)
Form - 89 (got to be a good total)
After last night:
Max - 103 (promotion still certain)
Target - 91 (good total, but makes me nervous)
Form - 85 (nasty)
Recall this previous post on totals that led to promotion - from 86 to 101 points, the next dozen games will define the season.
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Cambridge United 1 Oxford United 1
Well a win would have helped, and we certainly need to pick up some of the magic goal scoring dust that Stevenage have. I caught the end of the game on the radio and as they said "glad of a point at the end".
No game Saturday, lets see if Crawley can do us a favour and beat Stevenage - it is all getting rather tense.
No game Saturday, lets see if Crawley can do us a favour and beat Stevenage - it is all getting rather tense.
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