Cameron Brannagan scored Oxford's winner as Ipswich Town were beaten 2-1 in difficult conditions this afternoon.
Descending fog at the Kassam Stadium made visibility almost impossible during long spells of this game, with Leif Davis cancelling out Yanic Wildschut’s opener before the two teams headed to the dressing rooms at the interval.
Conditions worsened after the break, with the officials bringing the teams together on a number of occasions before deciding to continue.
And, just a minute or so after the final discussion, Brannagan rifled home the Oxford winner from outside the box to secure victory for the hosts.
Town came close to levelling, when debut-making defender Harry Clarke’s header bounced up and off the crossbar, but that’s as close as Town came to finding a second goal, on an afternoon where they were a long way from their best.
Defeat, coupled with wins for Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday, mean Town are now 10 points behind table-topping Argyle and seven back from the Hillsborough side in second place. Derby are four points behind in fourth, holding a game in hand on Ipswich.
Next up is a home game with Morecambe on Tuesday evening.
Town manager McKenna made just a single change to his starting XI, following last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Plymouth.
Striker George Hirst came into the side, having made his Town debut from the bench a week ago, replacing Freddie Ladapo in McKenna’s line-up.
Nathan Broadhead, Massimo Luongo and Clarke were all hoping to make their Town debuts from the bench.
Christian Walton was in goal, with Janoi Donacien, Luke Woolfenden, Cameron Burgess and Leif Davis lining up in the back four. Sam Morsy and Lee Evans were in midfield, with Wes Burns, Conor Chaplin and Marcus Harness lining up behind Hirst.
Fog descended on the Kassam Stadium in the hour leading up to kick-off, with the opening 10 minutes of the contest seeing both sides struggle to get the ball down and play, but Oxford do the better job of putting their opponent under pressure.
Town had the first shot in anger, though, when a short corner routine was worked to Evans on the edge of the box, with the Welshman guiding a shot towards goal which Oxford keeper Simon Eastwood saved with his chest.
Despite not settling, Ipswich created a good moment for themselves when Chaplin robbed Marcus McGuane in midfield and looked to slip Hirst away with a clever through-ball, but the Leicester loanee wasn’t alive to the situation and lost the ball.
Harness lashed over as an Ipswich counter-attack down the right created an opening inside the penalty area, as the fog thickened further, to the extent referee Bobby Madden opted to switch to a yellow ball on 25 minutes.
Burgess headed a Morsy cross into the arms of Eastwood, before Burns bulldozed his way into the Oxford area before smashing his shot over the top of the bar as he struggled to keep his balance.
Chaplin had a header saved before the U’s took the lead, as former Norwich man Wildschut meandered his way through the Ipswich defence far too easily before poking the ball past Walton.
It was a dreadful goal to concede but Town didn’t hang around, finding an equaliser within five minutes as Donacien was given far too much space to break forward, giving Harness the space to clip a cross to the back post which Davis headed home well.
The two sides headed for the safety of the dressing rooms, level at the break, with visibility decreasing further by the time the teams returned for the second period.
Hirst had a shot saved by Eastwood, before referee Madden came over for his first chat with the two managers, before deciding play would continue despite poor visibility.
The striker had an even better chance on the hour, when Ipswich broke on the right, with Burns cutting the ball back brilliantly into the path of Hirst, who struck his low shot well but sent it wide of the post.
That proved to be Hirst’s final act, as he was replaced by Freddie Ladapo as part of a double change which also saw Broadhead come on for Harness.
The new signing gave Ipswich an instant spark, but it was Chaplin who had the next Town chance, heading wide as he fell backwards to meet a whipped ball from midfielder Evans.
The referee brought the captains and managers together on a couple of occasions, before deciding to carry on on both, before Brannagan lashed home from the edge of the box to give his side the lead again
McKenna responded by bringing on Clarke, Sone Aluko and Kayden Jackson for the final five minutes, plus added time, with Clarke hitting the bar with a header from a corner before Broadhead’s lash towards goal appeared to hit Ladapo on the line, as Oxford were able to negotiate a goal-mouth scramble with their lead intact.
And that's how it stayed, as Town fell to defeat on the road.
Oxford United: Eastwood; Long, Fleming, Moore; Bate (Findlay, 89), Brown, Brannagan, McGuane (Joseph, 64), Bodin (O’Donkor, 39), Wildschut (Taylor, 64), Anderson (Goodrham, 64)
Subs: Plumley, Negru
Ipswich Town: Walton; Donacien (Clarke, 85), Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Evans; Burns (Jackson, 85), Chaplin (Aluko, 85), Harness (Broadhead, 64); Hirst (Ladapo, 64)
Subs: Hladky, Luongo
Att: 9,830
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