Torquay 1, Oxford 1

It was a draw the U's thoroughly deserved after they dominated the second half as they tried to recover from conceding a poor goal from a corner in the first half.

But they looked to be running out of time until substitute Sam Deering whipped in a corner from the left and Trainer, in a crowd of players, knocked it over the line from four yards.

Oxford should then have had a penalty in stoppage time when Yemi Odubade clearly had his legs taken away from under him by Steve Woods.

But although the ref was well placed to see it, he waved play on, seeming to think there might be an advantage to the visitors when none materialised.

The point, though, will give Darren Patterson's camp a big lift, and they got back into the game playing patient possession football, building moves properly.

Lewis Haldane was unlucky not to score with an effort deflected against the woodwork by keeper Scott Bevan.

In fact, the two goals were very similar.

The U's had shipped two goals from set pieces at Lewes, and it was again their undoing in the 20th minute when Luke Foster conceded a corner, under pressure from Matt Green.

Kevin Nicholson swung over the corner from the right dangerously but it should still have been dealt with by the two Oxford players on the near post.

But they didn't, and Gulls centre half Chris Robertson bundled the ball in from three yards. Not in quite the way he meant to as he went to hit the ball with his right leg, missed it, and it went in off his left shin!

For Robertson, it was the second home game in succession that he had scored from a set play, so the U's could hardly say they hadn't been warned.

Oxford almost forced an equaliser on 35 minutes when Phil Trainer won the ball back from both Lee Mansell and Wayne Carlisle in the Torquay box after initially losing it at the end of a good run. Then, cutting onto his right, he drove in a cross-shot which Scott Bevan beat out, but fortunately for him, to safety.

Former U's captain Chris Hargreaves was an influentual figure, as always, in the centre of the park and he wasn't far away with a smart shot and turn, on the edge of the box, which flew over.

Green didn't seem as fit as he was iun his time at Oxford. On one occasion, after making a 40-yard run, he needed a full minute's breather before offering himself for a pass again.

The visitors' front two, in contrast, were looking more and more threatening as the first half wore on.

Jamie Guy picked up a loose ball 25 yards out and tried his luck with a quick shot, which missed Bevan's left post by not a lot.

Lewis Haldane had seen a couple of speculative shots deflect wide, and another came just before half-time as the former Bristol Rovers man continued to find space on the right.

Patterson had started the game with Haldane at right wing, and Yemi Odubade dropping to the bench, to accommodate James Constable's return to fitness.

It was Torquay who started the brighter, though.

Carlisle's third-minute header brought an easy save from Billy Turley, and Joe Burnell got his head in the way of Nicky Wroe's drive, the ball smacking him full in the face.

It was Oxford who forced the game's first corner, and from it, Haldane had one of his many shots.

But clear chances were hard to come by, another reason why United's slack defence at the corner, when they conceded, was so criminal.

At the start of the second half, Phil Trainer chose the wrong option in going for glory and slicing his shot wide, when he cut in menacingly from the left - because there were teammates well placed in the middle.

But Trainer did well to wriggle clear and feed Jamie Guy inside the box, but Guy was too slow to react, and a defender got across to knock it for a corner.

Carlisle raced clear for the home side, but Oxford's two defenders raced over to halt the danger, James Clarke making the final clearance.

Patterson brought on Odubade, for a tired Constable, with 25 minutes to go, and stuck his sub on up front.

Adam Murray was prompting most of Oxford's best moves, and exactly midway through the second half, they were desperately unlucky not to equalise.

Chris Carruthers' left-wing cross was met at the far post by Haldane, who diverted it goalwards - and seemingly in. But Bevan got a touch on it to divert it against the angle of post and bar.

Green was replaced by 16-year-old Ashley Yeoman, who had played, and scored, in the FA Youth Cup the previous night, as Torquay seemed content to sit on their lead and look to break when they could.

They were puniched for doing so. And it was Oxford United's young sub, Deering, who played a significant part.