Away to Oxford

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I was very pleased with the performance, especially as you have to go back 3 years since we last won our opening game of the season.

To be honest, I would have accepted a draw against Oxford as they have invested quite a bit in their team during the closed season, and have 4 or 5 class players.

From our perspective, and taking the situation with Antonio Murray into account, we only had 15 players yesterday, so to get a result was massive for us, together with the added problem of our limited striking options.

I was pleased with our goal. We’ve worked a lot on set plays during pre-season, and the delivery and the subsequent header from Dave Theobald was really well taken. That said, we should have been in front way before then, so it was pleasing to go into the interval with the advantage.

Even though Oxford came at us in the second half, I was delighted with the work-rate from the team, especially as it was a really warm and muggy afternoon. I thought we had a good shout for a penalty when Neil Midgley went down. From where I was, the challenge looked to be in the box, but the referee ruled that it was outside. It’s one of those that are given on another day.

I thought the grass on the Oxford pitch was a bit long, and it slowed us down to some extent, but overall it was a good all round performance, and although Oxford hit the bar and were impressive in the second period, I thought we shaded it overall. Zac Barrett did everything he was asked to do, and his handling was excellent. Scott Neilson also showed what a class act he is, and probably underlines why he has been attracting a lot of interest during the summer.

On that subject Scott will go back to Bradford today (Sunday) for another week on trial. He was up there last week, and will feature in a game against Middlesborough on Wednesday night. We will obviously hear from Bradford after that if they want to take it further. With Scott not around for the Banbury game, Pat Bexfield is an option for us as a replacement.

There were no injuries to report ahead of the game on Monday night. I expect that to be a difficult game for us, and we will be down to 14 players given Scott’s involvement at Bradford. Banbury have signed David Stone from Rugby, and he scored twice in their 3-3 draw at Stourbridge on Saturday, so he will be the player to watch from our perspective.

We are waiting to hear about Antonio Murray. He has obviously attracted interest from Chelmsford, so if he doesn’t go there, we will make him an offer to come to us.

We are under no illusions that it is a very tough start to the season for us. After Banbury, we have Swindon on Saturday who won 5-1 yesterday. Dave Theobald is unavailable for that game, so it will mean shuffling the pack and possibly introducing Louis Stewart, but we’ll see how we go.