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Kassam Calamity As Toothless Blues Lose
Simpson had again run the changes prior to kick-off as he dropped centre-half Danny Livesey and put Dubliner Peter Murphy in his place. The rest of the back five remained unchanged from Saturday's home loss to Bristol Rovers as Chris Lumsdon, Adam Murray, Chris Billy and Newcastle-loanee Alan O'Brien took the midfield berths. Raphael Nade and Karl Hawley were partnered upfront.
The home side were without striker Craig Davies, who was on Wales Under-21 international duty, and Chris Hackett, returning from a calf injury, didn't look fully fit and struggled throughout. United however, were missing wing-man Brendan McGill with a leg injury.
It was a poor opening to the game and the first real chance brought the first goal as Basham finished off a beautifully-worked move in the 22nd minute when he turned in Eric Sabin's cutback from the right to put Oxford ahead. Frenchman Sabin had rounded Zigor Aranalde with a stunning turn of speed and laid a lovely ball into the box in the kind of play that United need to bring into their own game. It was Basham's first goal of the campaign and one which eventually continued the U's' unbeaten home record this season.
The home side were without striker Craig Davies, who was on Wales Under-21 international duty, and Chris Hackett, returning from a calf injury, didn't look fully fit and struggled throughout. United however, were missing wing-man Brendan McGill with a leg injury.
It was a poor opening to the game and the first real chance brought the first goal as Basham finished off a beautifully-worked move in the 22nd minute when he turned in Eric Sabin's cutback from the right to put Oxford ahead. Frenchman Sabin had rounded Zigor Aranalde with a stunning turn of speed and laid a lovely ball into the box in the kind of play that United need to bring into their own game. It was Basham's first goal of the campaign and one which eventually continued the U's' unbeaten home record this season.
But Oxford created few other clear-cut chances as the Blues came back into the game and should really have snatched a draw. United had a couple of half-chances before the interval but never really looked like getting on the scoresheet as two Lumsdon free-kicks were pushed away from goal by U's keeper Billy Turley.
The Blues came out brightly after the break and had a good chance just two minutes in. From a long Aranalde throw Murphy hit a left-footed daisycutter across the face of the goal but no-one gambled on running in and the chance was lost. This is the kind of chance we fail to take week after week as none of the players seem to be prepared to take a chance and run in on goal.
Sabin was often caught offside for the home side, but the U's frontman went close when he cut in from the left and hit a fierce drive into the side-netting.
Shortly after, Hawley's flicked header at a free-kick forced Oxford keeper Billy Turley into an acrobatic save as he touched the ball over the bar and Hawley again and O'Brien had further opportunities that they put wide as United failed to turn possession into goals.
The Blues came out brightly after the break and had a good chance just two minutes in. From a long Aranalde throw Murphy hit a left-footed daisycutter across the face of the goal but no-one gambled on running in and the chance was lost. This is the kind of chance we fail to take week after week as none of the players seem to be prepared to take a chance and run in on goal.
Sabin was often caught offside for the home side, but the U's frontman went close when he cut in from the left and hit a fierce drive into the side-netting.
Shortly after, Hawley's flicked header at a free-kick forced Oxford keeper Billy Turley into an acrobatic save as he touched the ball over the bar and Hawley again and O'Brien had further opportunities that they put wide as United failed to turn possession into goals.
As the Blues pressed desperately for an equaliser substitute Derek Holmes headed against the outside of the post from a Lumsdon free-kick. Simon Hackney also joined Holmes in the double change with five minutes left, a move which smacked of too little too late.
It was Hackney who had another late opportunity in injury time when the pacy winger won a race to the ball against Turley, who did well not to bring him down. When the ball ran loose, Hackney hit it wide of the near post as U's defenders raced back to cover.
For Oxford, who hung on grimly at the end, it was a third successive clean sheet and lifted them to sixth in the League Two table while the 413 travelling United fans faced a long journey home empty-handed.
For United it's four defeats on the bounce and panic buttons are being pressed by many of the Blues faithful. Three of our next four matches are against teams in the bottom five and if two wins don't come from those four games then it looks being a long hard season at Brunton Park once again.
Post-match quotes :
After their victory Oxford manager Brian Talbot said :
"We got on top in the first half, scored an excellent goal and had to work very hard to hold onto the one-goal lead we had. The work ethic of the team is first class, all credit to the players for that. We've worked hard at our set-pieces as well. It was our third clean sheet too, which is pleasing.
"We had a little bit of nerves at the end and Carlisle had three half-chances, with Billy Turley saving one, and we maybe got the bit of luck we needed to get the three points. It was a fantastic goal, one that was fit to win any game of football. It was tremendous build-up play from Lee Mansell and Eric Sabin, and a tremendous finish from Steve Basham."
Carlisle player- manager Paul Simpson commented :
"We lost the game, but I think we can take a lot of plusses from the evening. We just lost concentration for a split-second to let them in. I thought we defended very well and the spirit in the team was good. We passed the ball better and gave the strikers more support.
"In fact, I thought we did everything possible to stop our losing run but we switched off for one moment. The performance was right, it was just the result that wasn't."