Oxford late losers again
  Oxford United lost 2-1 at home to Division Two leaders Wigan Athletic after conceding a last gasp
  goal for the second successive game.
  In the first half, Wigan Athletic enjoyed the lion's share of possession but the visitors failed to
  capitalise on the chances they created. Oxford United soaked up the pressure well, operating
  with a lone striker and five players across midfield, with Derek Lilley and Jamie Cook working
  hard on the flanks.
  The best chance of breaking the deadlock came for the visitors on 19 minutes, when Andre
  Arendse saved well from an Andy Liddle shot. Michael O'Neill fed the ball through to Jeff Peron,
  who cut the ball back from the edge of the box for Liddle to volley the ball towards the corner of
  the net. Arendse stretched brilliantly to tip the shot around the post for a corner.
  Athletic's Simon Haworth also had three chances to open the scoring, the closest a header on 5
  minutes which spun wide.
  The best chance for the home side came on 16 minutes, with Roy Carroll failing to clear fully a
  Joey Beauchamp corner and Les Robinson cracking a left foot shot from the edge of the box just
  wide of the target.
  In the second half, both sides created chances before United opened the scoring through a
  dreadful mistake by Latics full-back Kevin Sharp, whose poor backpass to keeper Roy Carroll
  was intercepted by Jamie Cook. Cook took the ball around the goalkeeper before slotting home a
  left foot shot for his second goal of the season.
  Wigan substitute and top scorer Stuart Barlow was introduced 4 minutes later and he thought he
  had equalised only to see his shot cannon back off the underside off the crossbar.
  The Wigan equaliser eventually came from strike partner Simon Haworth, who made up for his
  earlier misses with his 14th goal of the season. Arjan De Zeeuw played a long ball out of defence,
  and the ball deflected off United defender Mark Watson into the path of Haworth, who curled a right
  foot shot into the back of the net.
  And it was Haworth again who grabbed a late winner on 88 minutes. A header by De Zeeuw was
  cleared off the line by an Oxford United defender but fell to Haworth who rammed home his 15th
  goal of the season with a right foot shot from eight yards out.
  The result leaves Oxford United in 16th place in Division Two with 24 points,
  4 points adrift of Oldham Athletic in 15th place.
  Wigan Athletic top Division Two with 54 points, a 30-point lead over United, which only highlights
  how impressive a win over the table-toppers would have been.

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