PREVIEW Oxford United v Southend United

A full guide to Boxing Day

24 December 2018

Having won their last five home League matches in a row – the best home form since 1996 – the U’s go into Boxing Day in red hot form and looking to extend their home run further when they entertain Southend United with a 3pm kick off.

Josh Ruffels 97th minute equaliser at Doncaster on Saturday means the U’s have now lost just once in their last 16 matches in all competitions.

Boxing Day football is always a tradition in Oxfordshire when the U’s are at home, and there have been some big crowds and memorable occasions over the years.

There have been four Boxing Day crowds of over 10,000 at Grenoble Road. Who can remember a last minute winner against Orient in 2003? Or a Conference record crowd of over 11,000 against Woking in 2006? More recently, the fine 3-0 win against Exeter in 2016 which propelled us towards promotion in the second half of the season. Memorable moments on a memorable day in the football calendar.

If you are a season ticket holder or already have your ticket, try and bring one more friend or family area along. If as many people as possible can bring just one more person along, this will boost the already bumper crowd.

If you have yet to get your ticket, get yours fast! The ticket office is closed on Christmas Eve, however tickets can be purchased online at www.oufctickets.co.uk and we recommend using the ‘Print at Home’ ticket option wherever possible to save you collecting on the day.

This would make a great last minute Christmas Present if you’ve now missed the shops and the Christmas post! Bring someone along to Oxfordshire’s biggest Boxing Day event.

Karl and the team are playing some fantastic football, and picking up great results. Get your friends and family out of the house to get your festive football fix. Get behind the squad and club and join us to celebrate this run and roar them on what would be a sixth straight home league win!

We recommend buying quickly as availability is now extremely limited in the South Stand Upper, with the central blocks of the South Stand Lower, East Stand and North Stand all filling up fast.

Getting Here

For a full guide to transport options, parking and buses CLICK HERE

On The Day

The gate behind the North Stand will NOT be in operation on Boxing Day, and all car parks are open: we will tweet if/when the east car park is full. With a larger than usual crowd expected please park responsibly if parking on public roads.

Away Fans

If you are a Southend fan travelling to the game then a full Supporters Guide is available here: OUFCAwayDayInfo.pdf

Family

Oxford United pride ourselves on providing a great atmosphere for families to enjoy. We have a full Family Guide to games available here: OUFC Family Guide

Family Room

The Family Room is open for this game and features activities and games for young fans plus a chance to meet players before kick-off. It is free to join the fun and you can find it in the corner of the South and East Stands from 1.30pm onwards

Coverage

iFollow is available with the full game LIVE to see in the UK, Ireland and overseas.There will be reaction from the key men after the game, and you can follow all the action on Twitter at @OUFCOfficial and on this site with our OUFC Live coverage.

Match Previews

Match Reports

REPORT Oxford United 0 Southend United 1

Kightly goal sinks the U's. Full time report from Grenoble Road

26 December 2018

A late header from Michael Kightly gave Southend United all three Boxing Day points at Grenoble Road this afternoon. In the tightest of 90 minutes the experienced winger nodded home the only goal of the game to end United's run of five straight wins at home in Sky Bet eague 1.

It took a little while for the game to settle, with two well-matched sides working hard to close down space and keep the intensity high. Marcus Browne had a couple of early moments of magic without being able to pick out his man inside the box while Southend saw an Elvis Bwomono effort slice well over after 17 minutes.

Jamie Mackie tucked the ball into the net half way through the first half after a Whyte cross, although the flag was already up when he tapped home, and for all the good football (both teams) and work rate there weren’t too many chances. Theo Robinson was not able to reach a deep cross on 35 with Southend’s best chance of the half and Curtis Nelson volleyed United’s wide at the back post from a Cameron Brannagan free kick.

Brannagan, playing alongside John Mousinho and James Henry in midfield, got through a huge amount of work for his team, all three playing the ball in to Mackie and hoping United could spring from there and get Browne or Whyte in on goal. However, they were up against a very solid, very well-organised away defence and with United in similarly festive miserly mood it meant a quiet 45 minutes for both keepers, with Nathan Bishop dealing well enough with a Browne drive at the second attempt: the only shot on target of the first 45 minutes.

Robinson should really have given the visitors the lead two minutes into the second half but nodded a Dru Yearwood cross over the bar when well-placed at the back post and the two teams then exchanged five or ten minute good spells where they were both on top but not overly threatening.

Southend skipper Sam Mantom sent in a dangerous free kick that thankfully evaded everyone inside the box and bounced into the arms of Eastwood on 67 minutes, but it was James Henry who almost broke the deadlock for the U's when he volleyed narrowly wide from 20 yards out after sub Armani Little had headed him in to shooting range.

In the closest of games it was always going to take one moment of magic to open up the opposition and on 79 minutes it came from Robinson, who wriggled into enough space to stand up a cross. Kightly, unmarked, powered his header past Eastwood and Southend's one effort on target had ended in the winning goal.

United pressed: Nelson thundered one volley into a defender to set up a string of corners which Southend stood up to stoutly but for once there was to be no late drama.

No shortage of effort and fantastic support once again from a crowd of almost 9,000. That support deserved a better result; we will try again on Saturday against Bristol Rovers.

Att: 8,978

Away:604

Report by Chris Williams, pictures by Steve Daniels, stats by OPTA

Match Reports

Standings