OXFORD United's local derby at Wycombe last night ended in uproar after a linesman decided that, with the game being shown live on TV, he'd like to get in on the act.

First he awarded the home side a penalty for an alleged tug of the shirt by Jon Richardson although TV replays struggled to pick up the incident clearly.

And then, after stand-in United keeper Hubert Busby had brilliantly saved the spot- kick, the same linesman pulled everybody back to have it taken again because the Canadian keeper had allegedly moved too early.

Under new rules goalkeepers are allowed to move sideways, upwards or downwards when a penalty is taken, but the linesman thought Busby had illegally moved forward.

"I'm sure it was only because the television cameras were there and he wanted to make a name for himself," said one United official. With the second penalty attempt converted by Steve Brown, Wycombe wrapped up a 3-1 victory to remain unbeaten this season leaving Oxford with just one point from six league games.

Manager Denis Smith branded the crazy scenes at the end "a farce".

He said: "The referee didn't have the best of games. But you can't really blame him for the farce at the end. That was down to the linesman, his assistant, who has seen things that were in his imagination.

"Earlier Joey (Beauchamp) was punched, thumped and everything else off the ball and he's not had anything given for it. So why all at once do linesmen start getting involved?"

The Division 2 clash was a typical game of two halves as Wycombe dominated the first and United fought back with great spirit in the second.

With Paul Tait scoring his first goal for the club with a well-struck long-range drive, the U's might have got something out of the game.

But they again conceded two sloppy goals, the first from a corner inside three minutes.

"I changed the system to 4-4-2 at half-time and we were on top," Smith said. "I thought at that stage we were always going to get back into it.

"The second goal was extremely sloppy from a couple of points and that's frustrating, but when we got back to 2-1with six minutes to go I thought we were still in with a chance.

"And then the gentleman with the flag decided to intervene and change it."