Finally,
after more than a month and six league games, Oxford have managed to
record their fourth win of the season. It came against a Wimbledon
side who have struggled all season, but who could have taken the
points in what was a lively, if scrappy, affair at the Kassam
Stadium. And despite the euphoria that accompanies the win, there
were still many aspects of the performance that leave cause for
concern.
Wimbledon
started the brighter of the two sides and nearly opened the scoring
in the opening minutes, but Wayne Brown got down well to block Sammy
Moore's shot. Hearts were in mouths again moments later when
Wimbledon hit the post from the resulting corner. United then found
their stride and began to look threatening, particularly in wide
positions where Potter and Rigg were causing the Wimbledon defence no
end of trouble. It was from a Sean Rigg run that Oxford were able to
earn a free kick on the edge of the area and Jake Forster-Caskey
stepped up to give the yellows the lead with a beautiful curling
shot.
In
typical Oxford style, however, it wasn't long before the scores were
again level. The visitors began to press forward and the Oxford
defence began to get jumpy. After Brown had failed to claim one
corner at the near post, another soon followed in exactly the same
place. The ball pinged around the box off various heads, then cannoned off the crossbar only to meet Byron
Harrison's raised boot to rebound into the net.
Oxford's
confidence visibly drained out of them and AFC Wimbledon began to
take control of the match. Harrison could have doubled his tally for
the night after getting the wrong side of Brown, before Michael
Raynes limped off with an injury as events began to turn against
United. Wimbledon got the second goal they had been threatening
shortly before the break when Jim Fenlon found himself with time and
space on the ball on the edge of the area. He picked his spot and
curled the ball into the corner of the net to give Wimbledon the
lead. To be fair to the fans in the East Stand, most responded to
going behind admirably, doing their bit to try and raise the players,
but the boos rang out around the stadium as Oxford again found
themselves behind at half time.
Whatever
Wilder said at half time seemed to do the trick, as Deane Smalley
levelled the scores soon after the restart. Smalley had just missed a
golden chance after failing to properly get his head to an excellent
ball on the six-yard box, but Rigg recycled the ball and found the
head of Alfie Potter. Wimbledon 'keeper Seb Brown spilled the ball
into the path of Smalley, who instantly atoned for his miss with a
simple tap-in.
Wimbledon
came inches from re-taking the lead soon after, when a long shot from
Christian Jolley caught Brown wrong-footed and struck the inside of
the post. Brown appeared to have picked up an injury and soon made
way for Ryan Clarke to join Raynes and Lee Cox on the treatment table
and add to Oxford's injury woes (we'll have more to say on that later
this week).
Despite
a few dodgy moments down at the Oxford end it soon became clear that
the hosts were the more ambitious team as the match drew to a close
(unsurprising considering Wimbledon's lowly league position) and
began to press for the winner. It came with ten minutes remaining
when Alfie Potter connected with Tom Craddock's cross-shot to divert
it past the helpless Wimbledon goalkeeper and send the home fans into
raptures.
However, the
match was still not over and Wimbledon again came close to snatching
a point when Will Antwi headed against the crossbar and Clarke
somehow got himself in the way of the follow up to preserve the lead
and ultimately the points. The referee did his bit for the visitors'
cause, finding five minutes of stoppage time from somewhere, but
United were able to hold on for the win to the delight and relief of
the home fans.
So
the run comes to an end, but let's not allow the result to disguise
the fact that there are still significant problems with this team –
the defence in particular. I'm unsure quite what has happened to the
defence which looked so solid in August, but every time a ball is
played into our box it causes chaos and a better side than Wimbledon
could have scored five on that showing. With league leaders
Gillingham the next side to visit, let's hope that statement is not
proven to be correct and that the win will provide a solid base on
which to mount a charge up the table.
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