MATCHWATCH : Oxford United (a)

[Brogue]

Other results great for us today and very much a point gained.

Indeed, and I tell you what our goal difference is miles better than most (charlton aside) of those in or around relegation.

[Hound]

Dorsett struggled all game and looked out of his depth.

Azeez didn't put a foot right.

Wing, Yiadom and Binden the pick of the bunch, Knibbs and Craig lots of effort but not enough composure.

Great cameos from Wifi and Savage.

TVP a bit heavy handed I thought.

On BBC Oxford their lot were describing us as the either the worst team they'd seen all season, for years, or ever. Very critical of their manager too.

They were not good, but nor were we.

Have any of them seen the rest of the division? It's 70% piss poor.

Nearer 90% and Oxford included in that. Rubbish

Dorsett was ok. Azeez an absolute stinker. Craig good. Savage excellent when he came on (can he stay this Savage please? Much better). Kelv excellent. Bindon good. Knibbs crap until Kelv came on. Smith worked hard and did ok. Elliott a nice cameo.

Not loads of note otherwise. Enjoyable enough game. Good atmosphere from the sound of it

[Royal_jimmy]

What was the atmosphere like? Were Oxford as mute as they were at the Mad Stad?

That's your answer

[Armadillo Roadkill]

I forgot to give the referee a mention.

Several times, for both sides, he waited after a foul to see if there was an adavnatge, and when it was clear there was, called play back for a free kick.

Otherwise, he was generally weak, inconsistent and wrong. In a season when most of the officiating has been very good, he was poor.

[Schards#2]

Dorsett struggled all game and looked out of his depth.

Azeez didn't put a foot right.

Wing, Yiadom and Binden the pick of the bunch, Knibbs and Craig lots of effort but not enough composure.

Great cameos from Wifi and Savage.

TVP a bit heavy handed I thought.

On BBC Oxford their lot were describing us as the either the worst team they'd seen all season, for years, or ever. Very critical of their manager too.

They were not good, but nor were we.

Bizarre take by BBC Radio Oxford as, if any side deserved to win, it was Reading.

More than happy with the result and performance in difficult conditions

[RoyalBlue]

Other results great for us today and very much a point gained.

Could someone please convey that to Ady WIlliams and his mates at BBCRB. They were extraordinarily negative today, although Ady keptr saying he was just being a realist!

[RoyalBlue]

Dorsett struggled all game and looked out of his depth.

Azeez didn't put a foot right.

Wing, Yiadom and Binden the pick of the bunch, Knibbs and Craig lots of effort but not enough composure.

Great cameos from Wifi and Savage.

TVP a bit heavy handed I thought.

On BBC Oxford their lot were describing us as the either the worst team they'd seen all season, for years, or ever. Very critical of their manager too.

They were not good, but nor were we.

The pOX obviously dragged us down to their level!

[AthleticoSpizz]

Other results great for us today and very much a point gained.

Could someone please convey that to Ady WIlliams and his mates at BBCRB. They were extraordinarily negative today, although Ady keptr saying he was just being a realist!

are you and Ian sharing that microwave meal?

[Clyde1998]

Thought we were the better side throughout the game - Oxford weren't good (especially for a side who are around the play-off places). If anyone looked like they'd get a winner, it was us. Ultimately, I think a draw was the right result.

The goal we conceded was poor defending and was against the run of play. We did look a bit shaky at the back today, although some of that could come down to an unfamiliar central-defensive partnership of Mbengue and Bindon.

We had a number of situations where better passing, touches or anticipation would've led to a serious goalscoring opportunity - the first half with crosses into the penalty area and Azeez's heavy touch when he would've been one-on-one with the goalkeeper spring to mind. Ehib did look dangerous when he came on - perhaps we'll see him out wide more often from now on.

I think both sides were poor in terms of ball retention, although we seemed better than Oxford in that aspect.

The referee does deserve some credit for allowing a lot of the 'heavy but fair' challenges go, although he did have a habit of calling play back even when an obvious advantage could've been played.

It felt like the away end was over sold - near me the aisles were filled with people and in the pictures there was nowhere obvious for them to go. Led to a bundle after people fell over each other when we scored.

[Clyde1998]

TVP a bit heavy handed I thought.

Massively. Seemed a total over-reaction to a completely isolated incident of some people fighting in Reading town centre last time. To have loads of stewards on every gangway throughout the game and on the back row, on top of the police presence doesn't reflect anything that happened in or near the ground in December.

Incidentally: https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/news ... s-reading/

We have arrested four people following the Oxford United Football Club versus Reading Football Club game.

1. A 34-year-old man from Wokingham has been arrested on suspicion of breach of section 50 and obstructing police. He remains in custody.
2. A 29-year-old man from Reading has been arrested on suspicion of a public order offence and possession of a class-A drug. He remains in custody.
3. A 19-year-old man from Newbury has been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated harassment and throwing a missile at a spectator area. He remains in custody.
4. A 15-year-old boy from Caversham, Reading has been arrested on suspicion of possession of a flare at a sporting event.

Superintendent Adrian Hall, Tactical Commander for the policing operation said: “I’m pleased to say that following work with both football clubs, our partners and local communities we ensured a safe operation was conducted.

“I’d like to thank those that attended and enjoyed the match and positively engaged with our officers throughout the day.

“The behaviour exhibited by a minority of individuals was unacceptable and as a result, we took action to ensure they didn’t pose a further risk of anti-social behaviour and impact others.

“29 people still remain on conditional bail following the reverse fixture on 12 December 2023 and the investigation is still ongoing. If you have any information you think could be relevant, please call us on 101, quoting reference number 43230557087.”

It was a oxf*rd fifteen year old who threw the flare onto the pitch when we scored Although, thinking about it, that seems the correct demographic for doing that.

With all the stewarding and police presence today, all these people are complete idiots for doing anything that would get you arrested. Based on their locations, I assume they were all Reading fans.

Not 100% sure what legislation "section 50" is referring to, although I think that's refusing to give police personal information (name, date of birth, etc.) when required.

[AthleticoSpizz]

If the Po don’t get you, the CCTV will (later)

[RoyalBlue]

TVP a bit heavy handed I thought.

Massively. Seemed a total over-reaction to a completely isolated incident of some people fighting in Reading town centre last time. To have loads of stewards on every gangway throughout the game and on the back row, on top of the police presence doesn't reflect anything that happened in or near the ground in December.

Incidentally: https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/news ... s-reading/

We have arrested four people following the Oxford United Football Club versus Reading Football Club game.

1. A 34-year-old man from Wokingham has been arrested on suspicion of breach of section 50 and obstructing police. He remains in custody.
2. A 29-year-old man from Reading has been arrested on suspicion of a public order offence and possession of a class-A drug. He remains in custody.
3. A 19-year-old man from Newbury has been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated harassment and throwing a missile at a spectator area. He remains in custody.
4. A 15-year-old boy from Caversham, Reading has been arrested on suspicion of possession of a flare at a sporting event.

Superintendent Adrian Hall, Tactical Commander for the policing operation said: “I’m pleased to say that following work with both football clubs, our partners and local communities we ensured a safe operation was conducted.

“I’d like to thank those that attended and enjoyed the match and positively engaged with our officers throughout the day.

“The behaviour exhibited by a minority of individuals was unacceptable and as a result, we took action to ensure they didn’t pose a further risk of anti-social behaviour and impact others.

“29 people still remain on conditional bail following the reverse fixture on 12 December 2023 and the investigation is still ongoing. If you have any information you think could be relevant, please call us on 101, quoting reference number 43230557087.”

It was a oxf*rd fifteen year old who threw the flare onto the pitch when we scored Although, thinking about it, that seems the correct demographic for doing that.

With all the stewarding and police presence today, all these people are complete idiots for doing anything that would get you arrested. Based on their locations, I assume they were all Reading fans.

Not 100% sure what legislation "section 50" is referring to, although I think that's refusing to give police personal information (name, date of birth, etc.) when required.

Yep, that is correct. Bit pointless given they now appear to have his details anyway!

[Stranded]

Only saw bits of it but fair to say we played like a team who only knew yesterday who was going to be around.

Proving tough to beat when not playing well & keep picking up points. Need to start winning away more grand once a year though.

[Schmeichel the dog]

Other results great for us today and very much a point gained.

Indeed, and I tell you what our goal difference is miles better than most (charlton aside) of those in or around relegation.

Based on the last ten games our form is 1.5 points per game and about 12th in the form table. IF we maintain this for the rest of the season and we’ll beat the drop comfortably. Disappointing performance today by all accounts but keep steadily picking up away points and focus on winning home games and I’m confident we’ll be fine (at least for the rest of this season!) Getting frustrated with Tim and Ady constantly bemoaning getting ‘just’ a point and quoting Glenn Little every five mins that you ‘can’t draw your way out of the relegation zone’. Mick seems to be the only one who gets it. We won’t win every game with this team but slow and steady is the key (and staying clear of injuries to our four key players)

[skipper]

Sat in the home end with my best mate (booo hiss etc). Sat right behind Selles & co.

Thought Savage looked disinterested on the touchline after they scored, but when he came on he really gave it 100%. Good professional.

Oxford fan to my left says 'if we draw with this lot, it'll be like a loss'. Literally 30 seconds before we equalised.

It is painfully clear that Oxford are a 1 man team. Remove Brannagan and they're nothing. Head and shoulders the best midfielder in the division, and it's truly amazing that he has stayed with Oxford despite multiple offers from Championship clubs for the past 4 seasons. Credit to himself and Oxford.

Ours subs were excellent, theres were not. Selles had a good face to face moment with Femi as he came off. Seemed very close and respectful.

BBC stats didn't feel accurate. (How did we have more possesion?).

Ref was pretty poor.

10 minutes prior to their goal, we were excellent. And straight out of the traps in the 2nd half. Shame we can't start a game like that.

We play very slowly.

Overall, we could have nicked it in the last 15. Both our respective league positions are lying. (Admittedly they are currently 9 first team players down)

Would rather sit with the away fans. Steward did clock me before sitting down and had a quiet word about being well behaved. I was and he made a big effort to thank me after. Good stewarding and I *don't* think there was any trouble? (Edit: not including the flare incident)

Funny banter on the busses into the city centre after the game. Their fans are pretty quiet really. Not a lot of shouting/chanting, unless in reaction to us.

F*ck me the wind plays havok with long balls. Nightmare.

Fair result, not the beautiful game, but at times did match the derby you'd want it to be.

[Clyde1998]

TVP a bit heavy handed I thought.

*Snip*

Not 100% sure what legislation "section 50" is referring to, although I think that's refusing to give police personal information (name, date of birth, etc.) when required.

Yep, that is correct. Bit pointless given they now appear to have his details anyway!

They'll just arrest him and they'll get his information later. Of course, assuming the person bought a ticket, he'll be on the list of people who bought tickets from Reading. Whittling down a 1,500 list by age range would narrow the potential names quite a bit.

The guy's 34, so you'd look for people on the list who's between 30 and 40. Oxford would probably know when each ticket was scanned too, so people's appearances could be identified via CCTV and cross-referenced with the ticket list to exclude people.

All you're doing is delaying the inevitable: the police will get your details some way or another.

[Clyde1998]

It is painfully clear that Oxford are a 1 man team. Remove Brannagan and they're nothing. Head and shoulders the best midfielder in the division, and it's truly amazing that he has stayed with Oxford despite multiple offers from Championship clubs for the past 4 seasons. Credit to himself and Oxford.

I think most teams in this division are fairly ordinary, but the top sides have one or two players who make a real difference - Peterborough had a winger who really stood out, for example. I thought Oxford looked poor today, with their #8 (who I assume is Brannagan) being the only player who stood out for them.

BBC stats didn't feel accurate. (How did we have more possesion?).

I feel we had more possession myself. We had more of the attacking play and Oxford's passing did seem dreadful. I can't remember many sustained spells of possession for Oxford, whereas we had a few.

10 minutes prior to their goal, we were excellent. And straight out of the traps in the 2nd half. Shame we can't start a game like that.

We play very slowly.

I don't know if it's tactical or due to not having enough energy, but we look so much better when we press teams and play with some intensity. I understand you can't play at full intensity for a full ninety minutes, but we only seem to do it for fifteen/twenty minutes each game. Increasing that would be great to see.

Overall, we could have nicked it in the last 15. Both our respective league positions are lying. (Admittedly they are currently 9 first team players down)

Oxford did have a good start to the season, but have fallen away - especially since their manager left for Bristol City. Over the past few months we've both been on fairly similar form. Based on the two games we've played against them, I don't think Oxford will get into the play-offs although they may sneak in with a bit of luck or an improvement (perhaps those players coming back could be a factor).

Seems like the top six will be the current top five, plus one of Oxford, Stevenage or Blackpool. We play Stevenage on Tuesday, so will be interesting to see where they are compared to Oxford right now.

Would rather sit with the away fans. Steward did clock me before sitting down and had a quiet word about being well behaved. I was and he made a big effort to thank me after. Good stewarding and I *don't* think there was any trouble? (Edit: not including the flare incident)

Funny banter on the busses into the city centre after the game. Their fans are pretty quiet really. Not a lot of shouting/chanting, unless in reaction to us.

I think (in general) stewards can tell who's likely to cause problems. Ultimately, they appear to have been sensible in regards to any Reading fans in the home end - let them be unless they start to cause problems.

Their fans did sound really quiet from the away end, although it's always for the noise to leave the ground when you've got an open end and no corners. How did the away end sound from where you were?

[PieEater]

I'll take the point after being behind, if we'd of scored first we'd of won that comfortably.

Pre match we had a decent brunch in the 4 candles, rammed with Reading fans, the bus takes ages to get to the ground and it clearly caught a lot of people out as you could see Reading supporters arriving 10-20mins after kick off.

The entire TVP must have been present today, they are going to get a hefty policing bill Seem completely over the top.

I have to say the post match pubs are way better than Reading, rounded off by a nice donner kebab at Kebab King.

Special mention for the 2 blokes in the tree watching the match for free, the mound in the "gap stand" gives free viewing.

[Royal_jimmy]

Shows how tinpot we were today that we took a point at Oxford today. Meh I like the derby and playing them I have it

[AthleticoSpizz]

Re. The Popo, the game was an obvious ‘over-police’ event following their visit to Reading.

A no-win….not enough popo, everybody moans, too many too strict….everybody moans.

A nicelittle earner and a relatively decent derby……didn’t we once have armed police at Reading Station back in the early 2000s?