The Welsh side were missing eight players who were all off on international duty, but their replacements looked extremely able, as you would expect.
Winger Craig Conway put the visitor ahead in the 12th minute. His cross from a tight angle appeared to take a deflection off Us skipper Jake Wright and - from where the Press Box is situated at the furthest point from the action - full back Damian Batt appeared to put it in the net as he attempted to clear. Conway wheeled away celebrating his first goal for the club following a summer move from Dundee United and you ca be sure that neither Wright or Batt will argue the toss.
Transfer listed winger Simon Clist epitomised Oxford's fighting spirit though and dragged his team back into the tie on the half hour.
Jon-Paul Pittman wriggled his way into the box and his 14 yard shot was saved by keeper Tom Heaton's feet. Clist was on hand to stick in the rebound though from 20 yards for possibly his last goal for the club. The team sheets contained a misprint last night and had Ben Purkiss wearing the 23 shirt instead of Clist. I'm sure Ben will have been delighted to see on Sky that he had scored a goal - despite being hundreds of miles away in Darlington!
Once the full time whistle had sounded, I felt that Oxford might just go on an cause an upset, but withing eight minutes of the restart, Cardiff's best player, midfielder Peter Whittingham, struck with a 20 yard low shot that left keeper Ryan Clarke helpless.
Cardiff's final goal came in the dying seconds, but by that time Oxford were pressing to stay in the competition. A defensive mix up allowed sub Nat Jarvis to nod home a looping header and leave Oxford to concentrate on the more important matter of the league.
If Oxford continue to put in this effort this season then I don't think that the fans will have too much to grumble about and Cardiff supporters will also be impressed by the application and effort shown by what was, effectively, their second string.
My clipping in this morning's paper
No comments:
Post a Comment