DES Buckingham was frustrated that Oxford United played into Northampton Town’s hands as they suffered a late defeat in their final away game of 2023.

Kieron Bowie headed the Cobblers into the lead early in the second half, but Cameron Brannagan’s penalty brought the U’s level.

However, the point that United had battled for was thrown away deep in stoppage time when substitute Tyreece Simpson nodded in from a free kick.

U’s head coach Buckingham said: “In the first half, we started to show what we wanted to do, and in the second half, we weren’t us. I think that’s probably the fairest way to say it.

“We’d done enough to make sure we came away with a result, but to concede in the last 30 seconds of the game, it takes the stuffing out of you.”

On the awarding of the late free kick, Buckingham said: “I thought the lad slipped in front of the linesman, and it was the linesman who gave the free kick, and not the referee.

“Either way, I thought we gave away too many free kicks towards the back end of the game, which played into their hands.

“I don’t remember any clear-cut chances they’ve had, they’ve had two set piece goals – one from a corner, which was the second phase, and the other from an indirect free kick at the end.

“We can’t give teams like this opportunities to do what they want to do, which is continue to load our box with those types of balls.”

He added: “You can try and have a plan about how you want to play, and then it’s about making sure you stick to it as you go through.

“I thought we did for large periods of the game, and it’s just about making sure people stick to it.

“We want to win every game, but if we draw or we lose, then we do it playing our way and doing it how we want to do.

“To lose to two set pieces and play into their hands a little bit in the last 10 minutes was frustrating.”