Comment

Chris Hargreaves is mobbed by his teammates

Chris Hargreaves rescued a point for Oxford United with an equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time at the Wessex Stadium yesterday - to save Gavin Johnson s blushes.

U's left wingback Johnson looked to have won the top-of-the-table match for Weymouth with an horrendous own goal six minutes from time.

But Jim Smith's men kept battling to the end, in a very poor quality game, and Hargreaves slid home their 93rd-minute point-saver to maintain their unbeaten record.

Nobody could have been more relieved than Johnson.

There seemed little danger as Ashley Vickers sent over a long diagonal ball from the left, but the former Ipswich and Northampton player didn t look to see where his keeper was as he planted a firm header back towards his own goal from fully 16 yards.

Turley, though, was well off his line, and the ball floated high above him and into the net.

It was a goal which summed up the contest in a ragged affair, with the ball far too often in the air, and neither side managing to put together passing moves of any note.

Oxford hadn't managed a shot on target, unless one counts the unfortunate Johnson!

But then, with the game virtually over, Rob Duffy crossed from the left, goalkeeper Arran Lee Barratt let the ball slip from his grasp, under Yemi Odubade s challenge, and Hargreaves slid the loose ball through a crowd of players and into the net.

A strong and often blustery wind, and a hard ground, made conditions difficult as both sides struggled to bring the ball down and get it under control.

Oxford were not helped by an injury to striker Steve Basham, who was feeling his hamstring from very early on, and came off just 12 minutes into the game.

That gave another opportunity to Odubade, who has had an influence in every match he has played this season when coming on as a sub.

The first half was horribly scrappy and United, playing in all yellow and attacking with the wind, towards their massed ranks of fans, frequently found the ball running away from them, propelled by the wind, for a goal kick.

The Terras forced the first corner, in the tenth minute, and almost scored from it, Chukki Eribenne getting up well and glancing a header past the far post.

Former U s midfielder Simon Weatherstone tried his luck with a first-time shot, when an Oxford defender headed clear, but sliced it well wide.

United defended strongly, throwing themselves in the way of shots and ensuring that Billy Turley was well protected, but Weymouth showed little of the quality which had brought them four straight wins.

In the Moroccan Abdou El Kholti, however, they had a very accomplished player, and his raids down the left were often the home side s best means of starting attacks.

One El Kholti centre across the face of the goal created danger, but none of his teammates could turn it in.

When United forced their first corner, it looked as though Duffy was being held around his neck, but the ref waved away his penalty appeals.

One encouraging aspect of a poor first half was Eddie Anaclet s display at right wingback. He hardly put a foot wrong and supported attacks well.

But Phil Gilchrist s distribution was disappointing.

Smith replaced Carl Pettefer with Eddie Hutchinson 11 minutes into the second half, and that added more bite into the visitors midfield.

Yet Turley was the first keeper to be really tested. He had to stretch back to push over a 30-yard volley from Weatherstone on 62 minutes - the game s first proper shot Lee Elam fired into the side netting after racing around Barry Quinn on the touchline, wth Oxford s players insistent that the ball had gone out of play.

When Odubade was brought down near the left edge of the area, Andy Burgess left the free-kick to Quinn who curled his effort over the wall and just a yard wide with Weymouth keeper Arran Lee Barratt beaten.

Matt Day came on to replace a tiring Anaclet nine minutes from the end, and moments later came Johnson s blunder.

But Hargreaves proved the hero.

Print

Email this

Comment

Add your comment

Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
	e.g. 123-123
Comment: Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored. Format Text:
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed ** To avoid register now or login