| RESULT | 2 - 1 to the rather jammy Oxford boys. |
| TEAM |
Robinson, Davis, Whelan, Powell Beauchamp, Tait, Fear, Murphy Jemson, Russell |
| SUBS | Lilley (for Russell, 72)
Anthrobus (for Tait, 84) Lewis (for Beauchamp, 90) Arendse, Shepheard (not used) |
| GOALS | 1-0 FEAR (10) - A superb move culminated
in Fear lashing in Russell's right wing lofted cross. Superb strike.
1-1 WILLIAMS (59) - A missile of a volley from the edge of the area, from a cross by Tony Carss. 2-1 LILLEY (89) - Blatherwick completely missed the ball, and Lilley pounced, chipping the advancing keeper. |
| PERFORMANCE | The late winner rescued a turgid encounter between two uninspiring teams. |
| MAN OF MATCH | Peter FEAR - A commanding midfield performance. Is he showing his undoubted talent at last? |
| BOOKINGS | None. |
| ATTENDANCE | 5,146 - and there was not a lot of atmosphere at either end. |
| REFEREE | D Pugh (Bebington) - A reasonable match, with only a few strange decisions. |
| REPORTS | Oxford sites
From The Terrace ("Lilley in the pink")Chesterfield sites Aspire! ("Late winner is hard to bear for Blues")Football sites Football NewsNewspapers Derby Evening Telegraph ("Duncan hits a new low") |
Last-gasp Lilley secures Oxford win
Derek Lilley's 89th minute strike gave Denis Smith's side a
crucial win over Chesterfield at the
Manor Ground.
Peter Fear had put the U's in front with his first goal of the
season after ten minutes to set up
back-to-back victories for the first time this season. A dull
first half was lit up by the former
Wimbledon man's goal after good work by Craig Russell.
Oxford were the better side, playing the better football with
The Spireites offering very little in
terms of goalscoring chances.
Chesterfield did improve in the second period and equalised
through Ryan Williams' sweetly
struck volley after 59 minutes. John Duncan's side then rallied
and it looked like the game was
heading for a draw until Lilley popped up.
Capitalising on a mistake in the Chesterfield defence, Lilley
rounded off a good all-round
performance with his fourth league goal of the campaign to send
the U's fans home dreaming of
survival which not so long ago had seemed highly unlikely.
This page is maintained by James Beard.