Oxford United's manager said it was like going back to the bad old days as he watched his side being ripped apart in the first half at The Kassam Stadium last night (Tuesday).

Paul PowellThe U's were given the run-around in the opening 45 minutes of the LDV Vans Trophy first-round tie against Bournemouth, who raced into a three-goal lead by the break.

United rallied well in the second half to pull two goals back, but went down 3-2 to go out of the competition at the first-round stage for the third year running.

Boss Ian Atkins said: "That first half was abysmal and it reminded me a lot of what I was watching last year.

"It disappointed me. We've been magnificent all year with our three centre halves but that was probably the poorest they've been. I didn't think Bournemouth had to work a great deal to get the goals that they did."

Atkins added: "In the first half we had one or two people who were brought in but that's no excuse.

"At least, we made amends a bit in the second half, gave it a go and made more of a fight of it, but the first half reminded me a lot of last year.

"Managers and coaches get slated, but when you look at that, players have got a responsibility to themselves to produce it, and they didn't do that tonight. In the second half they did."

One couldn't help feeling that, with the team going well in the league and Aston Villa coming up in the Worthington Cup, some of the players didn't want this game and couldn't care much for this competition.

And going out of it will not hinder the team at all.

But there were still opportunities for some players to stake strong first-team claims.

Atkins brought in Chris Hackett and Paul Powell as wingbacks.

But while Hackett took his chance, always looking to get into space to receive the ball, and always willing to take players on and get in crosses, Powell had a nightmare defensively and produced few telling runs.

Steve Basham had half a game on his return from injury, but the attack didn't fire at all in the first half.

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