8:00am Monday 6th September 2010
By Sam Morshead
OXFORD City snatched a 1-1 draw at Supermarine on Saturday with virtually the final kick of the match.
After Kyle Tooze had given Marine the advantage on 33 minutes, the hosts held the upper hand throughout, but a last-gasp foray by the visitors resulted in Dan Holman firing speculatively through a crowd of players, and the ball settled in the bottom right corner.
There was barely enough time after the strike for Marine to restart the match.
It was a cruel blow of Mark Collier’s men, who once again showed their development in the Southern Premier with a gutsy display against a side who beat them in both league encounters last term. And Collier was left to reflect on how two points slipped away at the death, even though the draw extends his team’s unbeaten run to four.
“It was difficult to take, especially after we’d done so well during the match,” he said. “We came under more pressure towards the end and of course it feels a little like defeat at the moment, but we have to take the positives.
“They did the double over us this year and were up in the top seven or eight, and are expected to be again this year, and it just shows our progression and how we can compete well in this league.
“When it comes that close to three points you are going to be disappointed, but it’s mixed emotions.
“In the first few hours after the game it feels like a loss but a couple of days later we will see how well we’re doing.”
One crucial point in the final throes of the contest at the Webb’s Wood Stadium was arguably the late dismissal of Tooze for two fairly innocuous yellow. cards.
Having been booked for kicking the ball away earlier in proceedings, Tooze was given his marching orders for encroachment at an Oxford free kick, much to Collier’s annoyance.
The Marine boss suggested the referee could have done more to contain the incident than brandish his red card, which deprived his outfit of the pacy forward, who had been a constant threat to City.
“Sometimes there needs to be a bit of common sense shown,” said Collier. “It’s two silly bookings for Kyle, and he had been causing a lot of problems to the Oxford backline with his pace. But you can’t sit back and say ‘what if this happened or what if this didn’t happen,’ the result is as it is.”
Tooze’s speed had been the major factor behind his opener 12 minutes before the break.
Keeper Mark Scott’s long ball forward cleared the visitors’ backline, and the attacker broke clear to slot home.
And Marine could have doubled their lead soon after when Jamie Gosling fired against an upright, but in the end it wasn't to be as Holman became City’s hero.
Meanwhile, Adie Mings’ Chippenham Town emerged from the weekend with a terrific 4-1 win at Bashley.
Luke Gullick got the Bluebirds on their way early before Lewis Powell doubled the lead on 62 minutes.
Bashley got one back two minutes later, but less than 60 seconds had elapsed following the restart when Alan Griffin converted Chippenham’s third.
Gullick rounded off the scoring with 18 minutes remaining.
Cirencester Town were on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline at Salisbury City, despite Jody Bevan giving them the lead.
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