| RESULT | 3 - 1 to the Royals |
| TEAM |
Edwards,Watson, Whelan, Powell Beauchamp, Robinson, Tait, Murphy Jemson, Russell |
| SUBS | Lundin (for Arendse, 37)
Lilley (for Edwards, 55) Francis (for Russell, 75) Weatherstone S (not used) |
| GOALS | 1-0 POWELL (8) - Another excellent
solo goal. Powelly danced through the defence and hit a right(!)-footed
swerving shot.
1-1 ARENDSE o.g. (11) - Lee Hodges was given loads of space, but hit the post. Sadly the rebound hit Arendse and went in. 1-2 HODGES (32) - Arendse spilled an easy catch straight at Hodges' feet. 1-3 CASKEY (61) - Powell should have cleared a pace-free cross, but he missed the ball completely and Caskey tapped in. |
| PERFORMANCE | Terrible, terrible, terrible. Despite a good start, the defending was inept, passing dire, and passion non-existent. |
| MAN OF MATCH | Derek LILLEY - Again came on and showed the others how to do it. They didn't learn anything though... |
| BOOKINGS | Paul Tait (89) - Foul. |
| ATTENDANCE | 7,638 - A bumper crowd, boosted by an away sell-out. It won't be this high again for a while. |
| REFEREE | T Jones (Barrow-in-Furness) - No complaints. A solid performance. |
| REPORTS | Oxford sites
From The Terrace ("New low reached")Reading sites Hob Nob Anyone? ("Excellent")Football sites Football NewsNewspapers Oxford Mail ("United crash to derby rivals") |
U's crash at home
Oxford's relegation worries deepened tonight after a 3-1 home defeat
against
Reading after Paul Powell had given the U's the lead on 8 minutes.
In a bright start to a typically frenetic derby clash it took Powell
just
eight minutes to put Oxford ahead after a penetrating run into the
Reading
box to claim his eight goal of the season.
But Reading were back on terms just three minutes later with the U's
keeper
Andre Arendse conceding an own goal on 11 minutes. Smith's shot rebounded
off the post before hitting Arendse on the back of head to level the
contest.
On 16 minutes Smith had the chance to capitalise on a poor Arendse
clearance
put saw his forty yard effort saved by the U's 'keeper.
Just after the half hour mark Lee Hodges put the visitors 2-1 ahead.
Andy
Gurney's tame shot was parried by Arendse to allow Hodges to put the
visitors ahead. It proved to be the final action of the game for Arendse
in
the Oxford goal who was replaced a few minutes later.
After the re-start it took the Royals just fifteen minutes to put the
game
beyond the U's. Darren Caskey scored his 18th goal of the season after
a
high ball in found Nicky Forster. Forster beat a defender to pull the
ball
back for Caskey to shoot home and make it 3-1.
It was an important win for Reading and keeps Oxford down in the relegation
dog-fight.
This page is maintained by James Beard.