Duberry deflated with defeat (From Witney Gazette)

Duberry deflated with defeat

9:50am Monday 30th April 2012 in Oxford Utd By David Pritchard , Chief Sports Reporter covering Oxford United. Follow us on twitter: @oxfordmailoufc. Call me on 01865 425458

OXFORD United fell short at both ends of the pitch in the final home game of the season, according to Michael Duberry, writes DAVID PRITCHARD.

The U’s went down 2-0 to Southend United at the Kassam Stadium, a result which leaves their play-off hopes hanging by a thread.

Duberry conceded the free-kick from which Ryan Hall opened the scoring, with the help of a glaring error from goalkeeper Connor Ripley, while Bilel Mohsni was unmarked to head in the second goal.

At the other end, the U’s had another off day in front of goal.

Duberry said: “The first 45 minutes cost us dearly, put us on the back foot again and now we have to hope Lady Luck comes into play for the last day of the season.

“We started well, but faded after that and a few bad decisions were costly – we went to sleep twice, went 2-0 down and didn’t recover.

“Without giving too much of a hard luck story, our mistakes are being punished and we’re not getting rewarded at the other end.

“We keep going, thinking it will drop for us, but it hasn’t.

“But we’ve got a lot more in the side than just relying on things dropping for us – we should be doing a lot more.”

For the veteran defender, eighth place in npower League Two is scant reward for the season as a whole.

He said: “They say the league table doesn’t lie.

“Do we deserve to be there? You can’t argue with the table, but I’m just hugely frustrated because I train every day with this squad and eighth is disappointing.”