Oxford United were held to a stalemate in torrential conditions against promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town.
The game, which was halted for 16 minutes in the first half due to the conditions, was a scrappy affair with both sides struggling to play their usual passing moves.
Your #oufc XI tonight: pic.twitter.com/jzi1HYi08C
— Oxford Mail OUFC (@OxfordMailOUFC) January 14, 2020
Karl Robinson made four changes from the side that lost against Rotherham at the weekend, with John Mousinho replacing Elliott Moore, Marcus Browne in place of Cameron Brannagan, Nathan Holland coming in for Mark Sykes, while Matty Taylor moved in for Jamie Mackie who dropped to the bench.
Simon Eastwood started behind a back four of Josh Ruffels, Mousinho, Rob Dickie and Sam Long.
Alex Rodriguez Gorrin sat in midfield behind Browne and Shandon Baptiste. Tariqe Fosu and Holland were the wingers while Taylor led the line.
Just before kick-off, the torrential rain was deposited onto the pitch and the windy conditions made the opening exchanges very difficult for both sides.
Both teams were opting for a shoot on sight policy due to the conditions, with Browne firing just wide from 20-yards.
At the other end, Alan Judge tried a few efforts from outside the box but the result was the same.
Just before the half-hour mark, referee Tom Nield halted the play as the ball appeared to stick in the centre circle. The official consulted both managers and sets of captains but the 8,000 fans wanted the game to continue. The referee decided to suspend the game and allow the groundsmen to try and fix the pitch before the game continued.
Ipswich looked the more likely side to find the breakthrough before the break. James Norwood felt he should have been awarded a penalty, bit Nield waved away the claims.
Fosu struck the side netting after the restart before Will Norris stopped another long-range effort from Browne.
The game entered its closing stages and neither side were unable to pass the ball with their regular comfort, as the game fizzled out.
Ruffels had the last real opportunity 14 minutes from time, but Norris denied the left-back.
The U’s remain in 5th, two points behind the Tractor Boys and four behind the joint leaders.
