Cheltenham Town 2-2 Oxford United

Dave Kitson scored his first goal in an Oxford shirt as United drew at Cheltenham Town. James Constable and Jake Wright were both ruled out due to injury and the yellows fell behind early on before Kitson struck to equalise before the break. Some lax defending shortly after half-time allowed Cheltenham to retake the lead but Johnny Mullins struck again to earn the yellows a point.

PREVIEW: Cheltenham Away (14/09/13)

Oxford travel to Cheltenham looking to keep up their 100% away record, after some impressive victories on the road at Portsmouth, Torquay and Burton already this season. In contrast, Cheltenham are still yet to win a league game at Whaddon Road so far this season, after draws with Burton and Portsmouth and a defeat to Plymouth.

Injuries have hampered Cheltenham's start to the season after an impressive run to the play-offs last season. Jamie Cureton was a big-name signing during the summer, but he has missed all but the opening 20 minutes of the campaign so far, dislocating his shoulder as he scored his first goal for the Robins in their season opener against Burton. Troy Brown and Craig Braham-Barrett are also absent at the back, which could go some way to explaining Cheltenham's poor defensive record so far. The loan signing of Bristol City's James Wilson yesterday would seem to be an attempt to rectify that particular problem area and he's expected to make his debut this weekend.

Chris Wilder has also dipped into the loan market this week, bringing in Bournemouth goalkeeper Shwan Jalal on a month's loan as cover, after Max Crocombe sustained a shoulder injury. James Constable seems unlikely to start after hobbling off last weekend at Burton, so the returning Deane Smalley could be set to link up again with Dave Kitson up front after a hamstring problem has kept him sidelined for the last couple of weeks.

Last time United made the trip to Whaddon Road they put four past Cheltenham in the JPT, revenge for the miserable 2-1 defeat they inflicted on us less than a month before. That was actually the first time we had been beaten in the league at Cheltenham in a decade when Ian Atkins oversaw a 2-0 defeat in April 2002. That said, until that JPT win (backed up by victory at the Kassam later in the season) Oxford hadn't beaten Cheltenham in any competition since 2005 – a run of eight matches. But with the last two matches going our way, let's hope we can make it a hat-trick of victories this weekend!

From the Vaults

Cheltenham Town v Oxford United, 9^th October 2012

Oxford made their second trip of the season to Cheltenham, having been beaten 2-1 in the league less than a month before. This time the result was rather different, Oxford twice falling behind but goals from Tom Craddock, Harry Worley, James Constable and Peter Leven secured passage into the next round.

You can find this and many other old OUFC matches in our NEW & IMPROVED VIDEO VAULT!

Also This Weekend

The youth team look to recover from recent defeats to Plymouth and Hereford in their first home match of the season, as Newport County come to town for a Youth Alliance fixture. Newport picked up their first point since returning to the Youth Alliance, holding champions Bristol Rovers to a 1-1 draw in their last match.

Don't forget you can find full fixture lists for women's, development and youth teams on our Fixtures page!

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Cheltenham Town 2-1 Oxford United: The Match in Tweets

Oxford fell to yet another defeat, this time away at Cheltenham and there can be no denying that enthusiasm for the club now seems to be at its lowest point in quite some time. So much so that we were unable to find anyone willing to write about last night's match for us, so instead here is the match in Tweets. If you can help us out with future match reports, just email us at tbfuth@hotmail.co.uk.

PREVIEW: Cheltenham Town Away (18/09/12)

After an excellent first few games, things seem to have fallen apart slightly in recent weeks. And with confidence and morale reaching a new low after Saturday's mauling at the hands of Burton Albion, another tricky away tie in quick succession is probably the last thing we needed.

The Art of Holding Your Nerve

The last couple of weeks have been frustrating and disappointing for all Yellows fans. After a thoroughly professional victory at Accrington's Crown Ground, we had hauled ourselves into sixth position after reeling in Cheltenham and established a three-point lead over eighth-placed Crewe. Cue a lacklustre defeat to Morecambe, defeat again in the last minute at Northampton and a last-minute equaliser against Torquay on Monday. Cheltenham have pulled ahead once again, while Crewe have caught up and Rotherham have been allowed to get themselves back in the frame for the playoffs.

The Race for the Playoffs

With just six games remaining of the season, we now have a clearer idea of who will be filling those all-important places at the top end of the table. With the top 3 places likely to be occupied by any combination of Swindon, Torquay, Crawley, Shrewsbury or Southend, our focus is on ensuring qualification for the lottery of the playoffs. Southend, currently five points ahead of us, may be catchable, but our real competition for a playoff spot is from Cheltenham, Crewe and Gillingham. With four points separating these teams, the competition for those final two playoff places will be fierce, so let's take a more in-depth look at the run-in to assess who will be filling the playoff places on May 5^th, and who will be looking enviously upwards.

Reflections on a Free Weekend

This weekend raises something of a dilemma. While many of our League Two rivals turn their attention to Cup action, we're left with a blank week. Morale is understandably low after five defeats on the bounce and some of the more reactionary elements among the support have begun to embarrass us all (further examples here and here). The enforced break from competitive first team football does, however, give us a chance to take stock of what has gone wrong over recent weeks and perhaps allow some time to recover from that awkward knee-jerking.

What the Stats Say...Cheltenham

This weekend sees Cheltenham make the short trip down the A40 to contest the 'Cotswold Derby' (apparently) and look likely to bring a large following...for Cheltenham, anyway. Matt Peck is on hand to examine the relatively short Football League history between the two sides and to compare Cheltenham's frighteningly impressive form to our own.

League Two's Surprise Packages

In every league, in every season, there's at least one club who exceeds everyone's expectations by doing remarkably well. They may win promotion, qualify for the playoffs, or even just beat the drop against the odds. For example, who would have predicted that Accrington, Stevenage and Torquay would have qualified for the playoffs last season? When I wrote my League Two season preview a few weeks ago, I wrote about who I expected to be challenging, but tried to keep half an eye on potential surprises this season. In this article, I'll try and expand on that by examining the sides who look set to cause a few surprises this season.

2011-12 League Two Season Preview (Part 3)

The third and final part of this rather wordy series is here. Featuring the remaining 8 League Two clubs (last but certainly not least): Dagenham & Redbridge, Accrington Stanley, Barnet, Hereford United, Cheltenham Town, Macclesfield Town, Burton Albion and Morecambe. Also, if you haven't already, don't forget to read parts 1 and 2.