United go down to narrow defeat

OXFORD United paid for not turning dominance into goals as they fell to a sucker punch at Moss Lane on Sunday.

Hopes that the U's might build on their hard-fought draw at Torquay were dashed as they missed good scoring opprtunities in a first half that they totally controlled.

And then they switched off momentarily midway through the second half to let in Colin Little to volley in his seventh goal of the season.

The 64th-minute goal came from one of the Robins' first genuine chances of the match.

Lee Elam got beyond Chris Carruthers to cross from the right bye-line, and both Billy Turley and many of his teammates stood like statues as the ball drifted across their goalmouth and to Little, who hammered it back into the far corner from 14 yards.

United had won 3-0 and 3-1 at Altrincham in the previous two seasons, so this will be seen as a wasted opportunity, even though the semi-professional side are in good form.

James Constable was not fit enough to play twice in 66 hours so Yemi Odubade started up front alongside Jamie Guy, with Lewis Haldane continuing on the right wing.

And as the U's got off to a storming start, Haldane was at the hub of everything.

Straight from the kick-off, Oxford took control and it took Altrincham some minutes to get out of their own half.

Haldane delivered an excellent cross that Jamie Guy glanced no more than a foot wide of the far post, and moments later, after some slick passing football, Haldane cut to his left past a defender and was unlucky to see his shot deflected and loop into the arms of grateful keeper Stuart Coburn.

There was some concern in the Oxford United camp about Billy Turley, who seemed to be struggling with his kicking, and Ben Hinchliffe was asked to strip off to be ready to come on at any moment.

However, Turley did well to step back onto his goalline and get a firm fist to a 25-yard drive from Anthony Danylyk, diverting it up and away for a corner.

But that was a rare moment to encourage the home fans as Oxford continued to dictate the play and they kept going forward with confidence and in numbers.

And they really should have scored in the 20th minute. Jamie Guy latched onto a poor back pass and tried to lob over the keeper. He half-managed it, with Coburn reaching up to save with his fingers, and the ball fell for Odubade but he didn't go in with total conviction, and blazed over the bar as a defender closed down.

That was a great opportunity missed, yet it seemed only a matter of time before the visitors would find the net.

After a fine move down the left, and good interplay involving Phil Trainer, left back Chris Carruthers struck a low, angled left-footed shot at goal from 14 yards, but once again Coburn got right behind it.

When Altrincham did break and get into United's penalty area, good defending halted them in their tracks.

Luke Foster and James Clarke both got in good tackles, and Carruthers cleverly got his body in the way to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick to end Lee Elam's burst into the box.

There was little in Altrincham's play to suggest that they were in such good form, and the strikers were living off scraps up front.

But as the first half drew to a close, and with Oxford still not having made their possession pay with a goal, there were moments of concern at the back for Darren Patterson.

Colin Little struck an ambitious overhead kick, which Turley saved easily.

Then Chris Senior got free down the right, and Little really should have turned it in - but missed, and was given offside anyway.

However, the second half finished as it had begun, with the U's well on top, and Joe Burnell went close with a header on his knees from Haldane's right-wing cross.

The second half was much more even as Alty stepped up their play, without really creating much.

Odubade put a difficult header over before he was subbed on the hour mark, with Sam Deering coming on to take over on the right of midfield and Haldane switching up front.

Matty Taylor came on for Guy with 19 minutes remaining, and he almost scored within a minute of arriving on the pitch.

There was a mad scramble in the Altrincham box as Haldane danced away from the keeper, and when the ball ran loose, Taylor got a shot at goal, but didn't hit it cleanly, and it was cleared off the line.

Clarke embarked on a superb, charrging run along the right and into the box, but when he went down under the challenge of Matt Doughty, the ref blew up and booked the U's right back for diving, rather than a penalty.

In the end, Oxford United had just ran out of steam. And their confidence had ebbed away after not taking their chances.