da dobrowin：
da apostebet： Oxford United turned on the style at the weekend to defeat Rotherham, the team who beat us on the opening day of this season.
A lot of things have changed since that match at the Don Valley stadium, most noticeably the performance of United.
The curtain raiser was filled with hope and anticipation for the season ahead, but ended with disappointment and dread as we looked like a team set to struggle. However here we are seven months later at the return fixture and this season has seen a plenty more highs then lows.
The highs continued for Chris Wilder’s side in this match against the Yorkshire club, with a performance worthy of a team pushing for promotion.
At times the play was just sublime, with Oli Johnson and Dean Morgan giving the Millers defence the run around. Johnson looks like he’s found his feet now and the result has been some fancy footwork and a big improvement in his overall game.
The midfield trio of Asa Hall, Adam Chapman, and Peter Leven ran the game, making for some exciting football. It was Leven’s superb through ball which set Scott Rendell up for the first goal as he played the ball first time to leave the Rotherham defence standing. It’s good to have Leven back and once he is back to full fitness should play a key role in the playoff run-in. Hall has been very impressive in recent weeks, making it three goals in four games and picking up the man of the match award on Saturday.
It was particularly nice to see Chapman starting to rediscover his form since coming back into the side and linked up well with Leven in the middle. His only sour note of the day was the lunging tackle resulting in a penalty, showing he still has a bit of match day rust. The penalty came at a time when United had gone onto the defensive, a common theme that has seen so many points lost this season. Had it not been for a goal line clearance from Michael Duberry we could have only come away with the one point. Even at 2-0 though the team were still playing a decent passing game and creating chances, but just couldn’t get that killer goal.
Despite that, it was a brilliant game to watch and the win keeps United just inside the playoffs. With things so tight at the moment, a few victories for one team could see them climb into one of the automatic spots. That may be a bit too far for us but who knows what could happen before this season reaches its climax.
By Oxford United blogger Mickey Cosier
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