North Ferriby Utd 4

(Gray 28, Denton 62, Jarman pen 67, Yates 78)

Oxford City 3

(Pond 10, 33, Rodriguez 32)

A spectacular second-half collapse saw Oxford City crumble to their fourth successive defeat in Vanarama Conference North at North Ferriby United on Saturday, writes MATTHEW BRUCE.

City were firmly in control at the break, leading 3-1 thanks to a Darren Pond brace and Javier Rodriguez’s strike, with Mark Gray on target for the hosts.

But the second half belonged to North Ferriby as goals from Tom Denton, Nathan Jarman and Jamie Yates ensured a dramatic comeback.

To make matters worse for City, they finished with ten men for the third game running when Francisco Insa received his second yellow card in the dying stages.

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With regular goalkeeper Mark Scott still recovering from a shoulder injury and replacement Nathan Abbey unavailable, City handed a debut to Moldovan keeper Justin Cerga.

He had a busy afternoon as North Ferriby looked threatening throughout.

But, after the towering Denton struck the bar early on, City were able to break quickly and take the lead.

Jose Lapoujade burst quickly up the left flank before crossing for Pond to power home the opener.

They were pegged back soon after when Gray headed in a well-taken free-kick at the back post.

But City responded magnificently, scoring twice in two minutes to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Firstly, Rodriguez blasted home from close range after North Ferriby had failed to clear their lines.

And just a minute later Pond notched his second, arrowing his shot in off a post.

But that was as good as it would get for City as the home side seized the initiative after the break.

Denton glanced the ball into the far corner after the break to reduce the deficit.

And just four minutes later the sides were level when Jarman fired home from the penalty spot, following a harsh handball decision against Ben Brown.

The winner was always only going to go one way as a panicked City backline struggled to deal with North Ferriby’s attacking threat, with Lapoujade having to clear another Denton header off the line.

And there was an air of inevitability when Yates struck the decisive blow 12 minutes from time, curling a beautiful free-kick into the right-hand corner.

Insa’s sending-off marked the culmination of another disappointing display from City.

Oxford City: Cerga, Henderson, Lapoujade, Del Alamo (Benjamin 65), Insa, Brown, Wilson, Mullings, Jackson (Winters 80), Rodriguez (Yussuf 72), Pond. Subs not used: Scott, Stonehouse.

Referee: T Bramall.

Attendance: 245.

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