Six Takeaways From a Big City Win: Oxford United 1-2 Imps

Battle Until The End

The change in formation certainly helped the side remain stoic at the back, but the ‘if it kills me‘ attitude of the whole team was admirable last night. They blocked and tackled, they put their bodies on the line and showed a never-say-die spirit that reminded me (dare I say it) of a certain ‘refuse to lose’ mentality another Lincoln City side in recent memory had. I make no apologies for comparisons, they’re the easiest way to explain a point, and the manner with which we fought for the three points was very Cowleyesque. That does Mark Kennedy an injustice, perhaps, and he’ll define his team over time for future comparisons, but that attitude is what many fans want to see.

There is a demographic of fans who want to see fight and spirit just as much as passing and chances, and last night we got to see a bit of both. That’s why the respected voices among the fan base are eager to cut the team some slack for drawing a home game we could have won; because the passion, commitment and attitude have ramped up from the last six months or so of last season.

Oxford Hoodoo

The last two times we’ve been to Oxford United have been tough to take; we were Covid-hit one season and without a striker the next, so fans must have been thinking ‘saints preserve us‘ when the team was announced last night, and Rushworth was injured. When will we ever go to Oxford with a full complement of players, right? We hadn’t beaten them on their patch since 2005, and that didn’t feel like something we’d extend. Also, there was some malaise from Saturday in some quarters, and yet we went and proved a real point. I did shout a win; anyone wishing to ask Imptoons will find out I messaged and told him I felt we’d do it. This Imps team has the early signs of being something rather decent, and to end the Oxford hoodoo in that manner, despite still not having a full first team, was very positive indeed.

On Oxford, I can’t help but think they should be doing better. They’ve got a knack for finding good players, and hanging onto Brannagan was a masterstroke in the summer. I’m not convinced Karl Robinson is the man to get them out of this division. I know they’re a similar-sized club to us, but they do have slightly better resources, and they’re more firmly established at this level, but the performances I see from them never really match up to the expectation I have of their players. I think their fans have a right to be disappointed with last night’s result because pound-for-pound, I think they should be beating us.

Picked Up From Saturday

I was quite clear in my write-up on the Forest Green game that I didn’t feel we were falling back, but it wasn’t a view shared by some naysayers. Instead, there was a train of thought among some that we’d regressed, that the Forest Green game was a marker of the work still needing to be done. Mark Kennedy admitted we should have won the game, Jordon Garrick echoed that, and yet it would take a monumental effort to go and get a result at Oxford and make that draw seem acceptable to some. At least, that’s how fans see it; it’s clear Mark Kennedy felt we could win, as the set-up showed. Still, a draw at home against a promoted club could be seen as a bad result, and yet the players used it not as a stick to beat themselves with but as a springboard for a better outing. Instead of it being a bad draw at home, it’s now four points from two games and being realistic, if someone had offered us that at 10am on Saturday morning, we’d have taken it. In fact, if you’d offered me that for the three games, Posh included, I’d have taken that.

I said to my friend Roy that I felt the FGR game was crucial because a win sets up the next two or three weeks, whilst a defeat would have left us gasping for air early door. The draw was like a rollover, pushing the importance onto a tougher tie against Oxford, but with the same outcome. We came through the test, showing a clinical edge to take chances and a dogged determination not to lose when our backs were to the wall, and the three points that display brought us are vital. We’re in credit (more points than games played), something I always believe is critical, and we can go to Posh without the burden of worry being in the bottom four or six brings, even though the league table means nothing right now.

Make no mistake, this was a big result for us and a great platform to push on through the rest of August.