Pre-match preamble
What will today bring? All the fans are understandably on a high after the wonderful spirit-lifting away win against Coventry, but this will be a very different game.
After parting ways with manager Gary Rowett two days before Christmas (it’s a cut-throat arena), Oxford have beaten Southampton and lost to Swansea under caretaker boss Craig Short. Town having lost to them earlier this season, complacency should not feature in anyone’s thinking today.
This is a somewhat pivotal game for both sides. A promotion chase meets a relegation battle head-on.
Brief History: Founded as Headington Football Club in 1893, Oxford United FC adopted its current name in 1960. Straightforwardly nicknamed ‘The U's’ (no funny or interesting stories this week on nomenclature, sorry Richard), home games have been played at the Kassam Stadium since 2001.
The club joined the Football League in 1962 after winning the Southern Football League, reaching the Second Division in 1968.
They bounced up and down and even in and out of the league in the following years, and in 1982, as a Third Division side, Oxford United faced closure because of the club's inability to settle its debts. They were rescued by businessman Robert Maxwell (but we won’t hold that against them).
Between 1984 and 1986, the club earned successive promotions to the First Division and won the League Cup in 1986, but then entered another decline.
They gained promotion to the Championship in May 2024 through the play-offs.
Stats: Town have won four of their last six games (D1 L1) and have only suffered one defeat at Portman Road so far this season (W7 D4).
The U's have won just one of their last six games (D1 L4) and are three points adrift of safety, having played a game more than Portsmouth.
Ipswich Town lost 2-1 to Oxford United in the reverse fixture back in November. Could this be a league double for the U's for the very first time? It’s not impossible, given the unpredictability of the Championship. But Oxford have only won two of their 12 away games against Ipswich in the EFL, winning 2-1 in October 1988 and 1-0 in February 2020.
The train: Talking to Mark and Karen on the train (Town fans travelling over from Bristol), the feeling was that Oxford might ‘park the bus’ and concentrate on defending rather than winning the game. Mark became an Ipswich convert when, as a much younger person coming down from Bury St Edmunds to watch Manchester United at Portman Road, he realised he was hoping Town would win. So, now, many years later, they travel all over to support them, home and away, whenever possible. Karen confessed to being a ‘Gooner’, a legacy from her Dad, but she also supports Ipswich – except if they play Arsenal, of course! Nice couple.
There was a minute of applause before kick-off in remembrance of Robin Turner, who played under Sir Bobby Robson, notably when Town won the UEFA Cup.
RIP Robin (1955 – 2025). Once a Blue, always a Blue.
First half
Town dominated the possession in the early stages and should have taken the lead several times, before and after Philogene netted a brilliant goal on 17 minutes that gave the keeper no chance at all. Nunez picked up a loose ball in the area for Walle Egeli, but his shot curled just over. Philogene’s second chance was arguably an easier shot, but it sailed high; another went wide. Nunez also hit a good ball towards the left-hand goal post, but Cumming managed to get a hand to it.
Oxford levelled the score in the 34th minute when a fast run down the right culminated in Lankshear easily pushing a low ball on the right of the goal past Walton.
Fortunately, six minutes later, in a breakaway by Furlong on the right-hand side, a great pass into Akpom in the area resulted in a well-taken second goal for Town.
Second half
At the start of the second half, De Keersmaecker pounced on a loose ball inside the area with just Walton to beat, but his shot went wide to the left of the goal.
The game carried on in much the same way as the first half, except Oxford were livelier.
There were two other near misses for Nunez, one from a free kick, both saved well by Cumming, and a rocket from Jack Clarke through two defenders that just swerved wide. Our tempo increased with new energy from substitutions, but no more goals were forthcoming for us.
Oxford kept pushing when given the chance, and a last-minute stoppage time corner for them proved a bit squeaky; breaths were held, but Town managed to maintain their lead.
Final Score: Ipswich Town 2-1 Oxford United
Men of the match
A difficult choice today, as I thought everyone played their part well in this game, and Matusiwa was named by the Sponsors as MotM. I agree he did and does always play well.
I was also really pleased for Akpom and his goal.
But my MotM Award for this game goes to Nunez, who I thought was exceptional today.
Post-match pondering
Oxford United, as a club, is obviously contending with significant problems currently: management and financial issues, exacerbated by the expiration of the lease at the Kassam Stadium, with the license agreement expiring in 2026.
I therefore think they showed good spirit and gave us a tough game.
Their young goalkeeper was very good, keeping them in the game with some excellent saves, though I was surprised by how little urgency he showed when taking goal kicks, even when they were losing. I also thought three of their players, Placheta, Krastev and Lankshear, all involved in the setting up and scoring of their goal, were lively enough to give us trouble, especially in the second half. I believe they are a better team than their position in the table suggests.
The breaking of the deadlock when the first goal was scored changed the flow of the game, as before that, it had been a little cat and mouse. That led to our second goal when the game opened up, and happily, we managed to keep control of the game from then on. One goal difference is never a comfortable position to hold, especially for 45minutes!
There was one distraction before the final whistle blew – and that was the amazing colour of the sky. I have never seen a sunset manifest in such a deep pink/red before; it was truly beautiful.
Back down on earth - so were the three points we picked up from this game. Walking to the station, many people were checking the scores elsewhere, and a quiet satisfaction was seeping through the crowd, as it became obvious that results elsewhere had fallen kindly for us. Unkindly, we were thinking evil thoughts like ‘Hurrah, Hull lost’ …
But that’s football.
Afterwards, Jens Cajuste apparently called it a "scruffy win" but an important one. I couldn’t have summed it up any better, so I won’t try.
