Andrew Bennett reports:

'Expunged.'

It is not a word which is used a lot in everyday language, but there is a satisfying air of finality about it. Perhaps more usage should be encouraged: Sir Alan Sugar could tell prospective Apprentice candidates "You're expunged!" as he shows them the door, or the Daleks could strike fear into their enemies' hearts by intoning "Expunge! Expunge!" as they trundle remorselessly towards them. They only seem to have one gear, don't they? You never see a Dalek hurrying anywhere. Reminds me of Robbie Turner...

Anyway, the dreaded E-word has assumed new significance in Blue Square Premier circles over the last week, not just for the hapless followers of financial basket case Chester City, but for those clubs who have played them this season...and those who have not. Sod's Law has inevitably dictated that United should be among the most dramatically affected victims of their expungement, the removal of six points plummeting them into the relegation zone and making the date of their last league win as dim and distant as 31st October last year.

These are grim times indeed for Martin Ling and his charges, and this season now resembles 2006-07 when Jimmy Quinn took over from Rob Newman and just kept the club up in a demotion race which ran until the final day. It is to be hoped that with plenty of games still to play, this U's team can pull away from trouble with a little more precipitancy. But after thirteen games without a win, hope is about all we have to cling on to at the moment. Could the visit of high-flying Oxford United provide the spark that would light the flame of recovery?

Ten days since their last match following the postponement of Saturday's fixture with Tamworth due to the ref's aversion to puddles, Ling had a full squad to choose from except for long-term absentees Danny Potter and Robbie Willmott. He made three changes from the side which failed disappointingly to hold onto a lead at Forest Green, recalling the fit-again Brian Saah and Paul Carden at the expense of Josh Coulson and Jai Reason, and with Willmott injured and Antonio Murray suspended, Sam Ives was pressed into service wide right. New boys Calum Willock and Kevin Roberts both hoped to be making their home debuts from the bench, while the off-form Mark Beesley was preferred as a sub to the unpredictable youth of Adam Marriott or Jordan Patrick.

Oxford were without leading scorer James Constable but could boast January signing from the U's Anthony Tonkin alongside former United trialist Rhys Day at the back. And our old chum Chris Hargreaves was back in the yellow and blue after his January signing from Torquay; I hardly need remind you of the last time we encountered him.

Early exchanges were tentative on a chilly but dry night with a decent atmosphere due to the visitors' substantial travelling support, first shot going to Day on 2, blocked by Rory McAuley. Oxford looked the more fluent of the two sides, understandably in view of their dramatically contrasting league placings, and for the most part they pinned United back into their own half. But the U's rearguard, marshalled by an imperious Saah, held firm at first.

The main concern for the amber army was their heroes' inability to generate any sort of passing movement, with the midfield reduced to helping out the defence and strikers Danny Crow and Lee Phillips left stranded upfield, trying in vain to latch onto the odd hopeful punt forward.

Simon Clist nodded Damian Batt's cross into the arms of Simon Brown on 8, and a minute later John Grant latched onto a long ball from Adam Chapman but again found only Brown's safe gloves. United could not muster an attempt on goal until just before the quarter hour, McAuley having a shot blocked by Dannie Bulman following a half-cleared Simon Russell free-kick.

But on 18 the hosts unexpectedly took the lead. Crow was fouled by Batt out on the left flank, Russell arrowed a fine free-kick to the far post, McAuley headed it into the six-yard box, and in an almighty scramble there were Saah's telescopic legs to poke home his third goal in the black'n'amber. 1-0!

Oxford's response was to intensify their pressure as they took the game to the U's, the next twenty minutes played almost exclusively in the home half of the field. On 21 Chapman had a drive deflected over by Paul Carden but United defended a series of corners with steely resolve.

The visitors' front two of Grant and Matt Green were strangely reminiscent of York's strikers in that they tumbled to the floor at the slightest hint of contact from an opponent, and Grant won a free-kick from an obliging ref on 23 when Dan Gleeson breathed on him. They did not take a direct shot, however, and by the time it had been touched to Chapman, Aiden Palmer had sprinted out to block.

Clist was next to try his luck from distance, but Brown's handling looked as safe as ever, and two minutes later Grant glanced Clist's free-kick wide. The hosts won a rare corner on the break on 27 despite the ball clearly touching Crow last, but the unimpressive man in black penalised Crow for jumping too near keeper Ryan Clarke although Clarke managed to fist the ball away.

Still Oxford came forward in waves, but Saah and co's sea defences continued to hold against the Other Place's tsunami. Saah did well to block a goalbound Green shot on the half hour, but beleaguered United continued to hold on. They still could not muster any sort of quality possession of their own, however, giving the ball away far too often, and on 42 the inevitable equaliser finally arrived.

Clist latched onto a half-cleared corner as United pushed out, his cross into the box was helped on by a Hargreaves back-header, and it fell perfectly for Green, standing alone on the penalty spot with neither centre-back anywhere near him. He had all the time in the world to trap the ball and fire home past the over-exposed Brown: 1-1.

It had certainly been coming, albeit the defence had protected Brown pretty well, but you cannot just sit back and soak up half an hour's pressure from the league leaders and get away with it. At least the U's cannot. Gleeson was first to see yellow on the stroke of half-time for a foul on Green, and last action on the 45 was a punch clear by Brown from Chapman's free-kick. The score at the interval was satisfactory for the hosts, but the performance had lacked in any sort of attacking quality, most notable only for the doughty defending of almost the whole team. Oxford would surely be looking to build on their first-half dominance in part two.

Before that, though, unless they had spiked the tea-bar drinks and we were suffering from a mass hallucination, we were treated to the sight of Abbey legend Paul Wanless (now totally bald on top), Oxford fan Timmy Mallett in a stupid wig and clutching a pink (yes) mallet, and someone who was apparently supposed to be a Sven-Goran Eriksson lookalike (he isn't England's manager any more - couldn't they find a Capello doppelganger?), lining up to take penalties against Marvin the Moose.

But instead of using footballs, they were using gigantic, pink soft things which were supposed to represent testicles, in order to increase awareness of cancer in that intimate region (by kicking them…ouch!). The NRE was most pleased when Mallett failed to score twice and gave dear old Wannie the warm reception he deserved. Somehow, though, the sight of Jai Reason booting a giant, er, 'ball' to Mark Beesley, who missed it, as they warmed up, summed up this season for me…

United needed a more positive outlook for the second half, and they matched the visitors after the restart, albeit neither side could create anything of note in the final third. Phillips looked badly injured when he slumped to the ground during an attack on 53, but was soon revived by some TLC from Greg Reid.

The U's were at least enjoying a tad more possession than they had mustered in part one, but that tended to lead to another problem: when and if they lost possession, Oxford were lightning fast on the break, and got good numbers forward, too. Dave Partridge was next into the book on the hour for felling Grant, but the contest was by now in something of a stalemate stage. The (almost full) moon began to rise directly behind the Main Stand, its rapid ascension looking decidedly eerie with its halo of light around it like some rotund UFO, and we could only hope it would not turn out to be a Bad Moon Rising.

United managed to contain Oxford's breaks as they struggled for fluency themselves and neither keeper had a great deal to do thus far. The visitors made their first change on 64, Chapman replaced by Sam Deering, then three minutes later came a flash of stunning quality which was quite out of keeping with the honest but workmanlike fare previously on offer.

Crow picked up possession in the right channel ten yards outside the penalty area, and in one fluid movement he blasted a quite stunning, dipping shot which soared over Clarke and was screaming under the bar for a truly great goal…until Clarke matched it with some even better goalkeeping, his quick feet enabling him to scurry back and leap to tip it at full stretch over the bar just as it was about to fall into goal. Breathless, breath-taking skills from both men.

Crow's moment of inspiration seemed to galvanise his colleagues who suddenly started playing with a degree of belief and confidence. Oxford were still dangerous on the counter, however, Grant forcing a corner on 70, and Ling's first change saw the introduction of Willock in place of the out-of-sorts Phillips. The big journeyman made an immediate impact, winning the headers that Phillips had been unable to win.

Two minutes later Reason replaced the reliable McAuley, whose improved second half had been terminated by a knock, but next chance(s) fell to the visitors as another rapid passing move saw Saah block a goalbound shot from Green and Hargreaves hammer the rebound over the top. Pity he didn't do that at Wembley, eh?

The drama intensified on 75 when a superb ball over the top from Reason sent Crow racing clear down the middle. Tonkin gave chase but could not get in front of his former team-mate and he brought him down with a clumsy challenge from behind just outside the box. Straight red.

The ref generously allowed Oxford to bring on an extra defender, Mark Creighton, in place of Green before the free-kick was taken, rather negating the advantage United had gained from Tonkin's foul, but Crow's set piece was superb, curling it over the wall with pace, and it was headed for the top right corner until pawed behind by another great save from Clarke.

On 79 Partridge, also slightly injured, was replaced by Josh Coulson, and the ref continued a succession of peculiar decisions by ignoring the linesman's flagging for a foul on Willock despite having a worse view from further away. Mr Ross was not having a distinguished evening.

United at last looked like a team capable of matching the league leaders, Russell weaving his trickery down the left, Carden and Reason driving through the middle, Crow a buzzing menace and Willock winning every ball aimed at him. A partnership between the latter two could prove most productive if allowed to flourish. But they had to remain wary of the dangerous, fast-breaking visitors, who drew a series of free-kicks in the dying minutes but failed to capitalise with some mediocre deliveries.

Former Histon striker Jack Midson replaced Grant on 87, but two minutes later the game could have been decided. Reason lofted a free-kick from deep towards the far post, Coulson easily outjumped his marker and powered a downward header past Clarke which was heading for the far corner of the net…until Jake Wright intervened with a stunning clearance, facing his own goal, over his own bar from no more than ten feet out, as great a piece of skill as any match-winning shot. So close.

As the final minute approached, Carden was harshly booked for a foul on the theatrical Midson and Deering's ensuing free-kick flicked off the United ball and drew an excellent one-handed save from a diving Brown, tipping around the near post. And the visitors almost snatched it in added time as another break culminated into a driven low cross from the right by Deering and Clist met it inside the six-yard box, but his shot cannoned off Brown on his line, a fine reaction save if he knew much about it.

It was a heart-stopping finish, but a draw was a fair result in the end, Oxford having dominated the first half and been an ever-dangerous counter-attacking threat in the second. United had shown good battling qualities in the first 45 without playing a lot of football, but had improved in leaps and bounds after Crow's shot and the introduction of Willock.

Oxford will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season, and the U's can take heart from the things they did well and use them as a base to grind out some face-saving wins in the coming difficult weeks. We don't want to have to expunge this whole season from memory…

Statto Corner

With the expunging of Chester's record from the BSP, United's most recent Conference win is now the 2-0 home win over Kidderminster on 31st October. Their winless sequence in the league (they have won once in the FA Cup and twice in the FA Trophy since) has now run to 13 games, the worst run since their fifteen-match winless streak between 27th November 2004 and 19th February 2005. The run started after a John Turner hat-trick had inspired them to a 3-1 win over Rushden on the 20th November, and was finally broken by a 1-0 victory against Cheltenham, Shane Tudor notching the deciding goal.

Tonight's attendance of 3,002 was the lowest ever at the Abbey for a league visit from Oxford in fourteen matches spanning from Division One to the Southern League. The only smaller crowd was the 2,814 recorded for a League Cup 1st Round 2nd Leg tie in August 1976, when goals from Alan Biley and Steve Fallon gave United a 2-0 win on the night (2-1 on aggregate). The largest ever attendance for this fixture was at Oxford on Boxing Day 1999, the hosts triumphing 1-0 in front of 6,772.

Anthony Tonkin has become the fourth former United player since 1970 to be sent off against his former employers. The previous three were Craig Middleton (Cardiff, 1999 - one of three for the Welshmen that notorious night), Nathan Peat (York, 2006) and Martin Butler (Burton, last season). Former U's trialist Steve Flack was also sent off against United when playing for Exeter.

Conversely, two men have been sent off against the U's who later went on to play in the black'n'amber: Leo Fortune-West (Gillingham, 1996) and Ciaran Toner (Orient, 2004).

United's three recent signings have all played against the U's in the past…and although only two count. Kevin Roberts played in both of Chester's defeats this season which have now been removed (or are about to be removed) from the records.

Calum Willock faced United three times for Stevenage last term, including both playoff semi-finals as substitute. Simon Brown kept goal for Colchester four times versus the U's between 1999 and 2002 and was on the winning side three times, although his first appearance at the Abbey on 15th October 1999 resulted in a 5-2 defeat, the goals coming via a Martin Butler hat-trick, Trevor Benjamin and an own goal from David Greene, who was later to enjoy a one-match career at the Abbey.

Chris Hargreaves is the oldest of foes. He first faced the U's as a seventeen-year-old for Grimsby in August 1989, and in all he has come up against United a remarkable 27 times, for Grimsby (3), Hull (3), Hereford (4), Plymouth (1), Northampton (8), Oxford (3) and Torquay (5). He has scored five goals in all, including of course the first goal for Torquay in last season's Wembley playoff final. And we'll probably see him again at the Kassam Stadium in April! His record is variable, though: won 8, drawn 11, drawn 8.

Player Ratings

Brown 8. Safe as houses and a handful of outstanding saves.
Gleeson 7. Confined to defensive duties and didn't let anyone down.
Saah 9. Tower of strength.
Partridge 7. Cool customer despite a booking.
Palmer 6. Still settling in and could do with improving his distribution.
Ives 5. Did his best but rarely looked comfortable in an unfamiliar wide position.
Carden 6. Dominated by the opposition in the first half, slightly better in the second.
McAuley 6. Battled gamely.
Russell 7. Quiet first 45, became more of an attacking force as the game went on.
Phillips 5. Not afforded the best service, but struggled to make any sort of impact and failed to win a single header.
Crow 8.  Tireless worker and twice denied brilliant goals by equally brilliant saves.
Willock 7. Won more balls and had more impact in his 20 minutes on the pitch than Phillips had had in the previous seventy.
Reason 6. Decent effort and a superb through ball for Crow which resulted in Tonkin's dismissal.
Coulson 7. Defensively solid and almost won the game at the death with a tremendous header.

Match Summary

United battled back from being outplayed in the first half to the verge of victory over the league leaders and were ultimately denied a valuable three points by some acrobatic goalkeeping and last-ditch defending from Oxford. A win is now more vital than ever at the weekend, but there were plenty of positives to take from tonight.

Man of the Match

Brian Saah. Colossal presence at the back who is also developing a neat sideline in set-piece goals, too.

Ref Watch

Ross 4. Wildly inconsistent performance, ignoring clear fouls one minute then awarding soft free-kicks the next for some cynical diving from the Oxford players.

Out of the Mouths of Babes
"The floodlights were huge. I liked it a lot. Thank you." (John Sharpe)

Soundtrack of the Day

Blood Red Shoes "Light It Up"

Andrew Bennett