Oxford keeper Ryan Clarke had to be at his best to shut out striker Darryl Duffy in the sixth minute .
Clarke then beat away an angled shot from defender Sido Jombati five minutes later and tipped Duffy's follow-up header over the bar.
In the 12th minute Robins midfielder Luke Summerfield nodded a gilt-edged effort wide from eight yards and Oxford striker James Constable's diving header flew over the bar from a similar distance fourteen minutes later.
Oxford had a very good shout for a penalty turned down in the 42nd minute when full back Sido Jombati clipped the heel of winger Dean Morgan, but referee Paul Tierney waved play on.
And one minute before the break, Cheltenham midfielder Pack rattled the bar with a thunderous 25 yard free kick.
On loan Notts County striker Ben Burgess battled with the Oxford defence for most of the match, but blew the chance of a win when he re-directed team mate Marlon Pack's goal bound shot wide from only 6 yards in the 63rd minute.
U's midfielder Peter Leven curled a free kick just wide with two minutes left as the visitors tried to notch up a third straight win to boost their own promotion ambitions.
Sido Jombati hopes this result will trigger a change in fortunes for play-off contenders Cheltenham.
Jombati definitely had luck on his side three minutes before the break when he appeared to clip the heels of Dean Morgan in the box, only to see the Oxford winger's appeal turned down.
But Portuguese full back Jombati insisted:
"I did get a slight touch on the ball and you could see it change direction, so the referee made the right decision.
Every team has a bad patch in the season and we lost four games before this one and so I hope that's our bad patch finished and our luck has changed. If we end up in the play-offs we have the players to win them."
Winger Morgan was convinced that a spot kick should have been awarded and asked:
"If the ref didn't think it was a penalty, why didn't he book me for diving? It doesn't make sense. But why would I dive anyway? I was through and could've scored."
And the Chesterfield loanee still hopes to make up for missing yesterday's Johnstone's Paint Trophy final at Wembley. He said:
"I don't know what the situation is yet, but it would be great to help Oxford get to the play-off final and end the season and play at Wembley myself, but the decision is out of my hands. It's up to the two clubs."
Oxford manager Chris Wilder was satisfied with the result which keeps Oxford in the promotion hunt. He said:
"It wasn't a great performance, but it was a gritty one. We're not underestimating what a very good point this is. They pushed us back and were going for the win. I thought it was a penalty, but that would've been harsh on Cheltenham. It wasn't a great performance from us, but it was a gritty one."
And Cheltenham manager Mark Yates was delighted to end the losing streak and said:
"Sometimes you need a small step before you take a big one. Chris said he thought we deserved more and he's an honest man. If we play like that we'll be alright, so it's onwards and upwards from now on."
My clippings from Sunday and Monday (top)
No comments:
Post a Comment