| RESULT | 3 - 2 to the Magpies. (Oxford led 2-0 at half-time. Bah.) |
| TEAM |
Robertson, Richardson, Linighan, Brown Weatherstone S, Andrews, Murphy, Beauchamp Gray, Lilley |
| SUBS | Jarman (for Weatherstone, 55)
Hackett (for Lilley, 82) Cook, Glass, Whitehead (not used) |
| GOALS | 1 - 0 MURPHY (41) - County keeper
Gibson dropped Joey's corner, leaving a tap-in for Murphy.
2 - 0 MURPHY (45) - The ball ballooned off a defender, and Murphy reacted most quickly for a nicely taken goal. 2 - 1 Allsopp (49) - Hamilton played in Allsopp as Oxford backed off, and he shot through Knight's legs. 2 - 2 Allsopp (85) - Penalty. Murphy needlessly fouled Pearce after giving him the ball. 2 - 3 Newton (87) - Newton was left in acres of space at a corner, and his deflected shot easily beat Knight. |
| PERFORMANCE | Oxford somehow led 2-0 after a dire first half, but failed to match County's second half improvement. |
| MAN OF MATCH | KEITH ANDREWS - Impressive enough to be top of a not very good pile. |
| BOOKINGS | Phil GRAY (71) |
| ATTENDANCE | 4,765 - A very small away support. The home crowd ain't what it used to be either... |
| REFEREE | Phil Prosser (Innsworth, Glos) - Terribly fussy and not at all inspiring. |
| REPORTS | Oxford sites
From The TerraceNotts County sites Magpie ManiaFootball sites Football NewsNewspapers Nottingham Evening Post |
County fightback stuns U's
A brace from Matt Murphy wasn't enough as the U's surrendered a two
goal lead to slip to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Notts County.
It was the visitors who made the early running with Richard Knight
forced into a couple of early saves to keep David Kemp's men level.
The first meaningful attempt saw Phil Gray's effort deflected wide,
before on-loan star Keith Andrews' effort was blocked.
The U's did take the lead with a couple of quick goals just before
the break when Matt Murphy crashed home on 41 minutes after a Joey Beauchamp
corner was only half cleared. The same pair combined four minutes into
injury time when Murphy pounced on a blocked Beauchamp effort to stab the
ball home.
County began their fightback just after the interval when on loan Danny
Allsopp smashed the ball home from just outside the box. The Magpies grew
in confidence with Sean Farrell going close to grabbing an equaliser.
However it was in the dying stages that the game caught fire with Murphy
pulling down Dennis Pearce allowing Allsopp, on loan from Manchester City,
to slam the ball home from the penalty spot.
The turnaround was complete when talented youngster Adam Newton, on
loan from West Ham, saw his shot on the turn deflect past U's keeper Richard
Knight to give County all three points and a 3-2 win.
This page is maintained by James Beard.