"Six minutes of madness" cost the U's
Oxford United suffered a blow on Saturday as they went down 3-2 to Barnet for the U's first home defeat since March.
Liam Sercombe scored twice for United but a six-minute spell in the first half saw Barnet score three times to put the game beyond Oxford.
After the game, head coach Michael Appleton was unable to hide his disappointment: “If you switch off and stop doing the things that you've been doing that have made you successful, you're going to get punished. We knew what was coming and we didn't deal with balls coming forward into dangerous areas in the first half as well as we should have done.
“From a defending point of view we've been very good as a team. Our goals against record is very good and I can't remember the last time we conceded three at home. It was just a disappointing first half; yes we got the goals and we could have had two or three more in the first half but ultimately, to switch off and to make such poor errors was a bit disappointing.
“They deserved it because of what they did in the first half. I said to the players it wasn't lucky defending, them getting bodies on the line and making blocks in the second half. They earned the right to be in that position and we gave them something to hang on to. And once a team has a bit of wind behind them and has something to hold on to, like a goal lead. They defended in numbers, their keeper made some very good saves, they put some fantastic blocks on the line and they're the types of thing that we know we should have been doing right from the very start of the game.
“There's no hiding place. We've had a successful first 15 games, there's no doubt about that, it's just been tainted a little bit by six minutes of madness today.”
The U’s are at Stevenage this Saturday. Come along and get behind the team and take advantage of our fantastic Family Day Out offer by booking your seat at www.oufctickets.co.uk or by calling 01865 337533.