DES Buckingham rued Oxford United’s inability to kill off their Good Friday clash at Shrewsbury Town, as the home side punished the U’s with a late equaliser.

Billy Bodin handed United the lead eight minutes into the second half, but only after Mark Harris and Ruben Rodrigues spurned good opportunities in the opening 45 minutes.

After going ahead, Elliott Moore headed wide and Owen Dale shot off target, before the Shrews grabbed an equaliser via Jack Price with eight minutes to go.

U’s head coach Buckingham said: “We had enough chances to win a couple of games there, with three or four big chances and moments in the first half before we took the lead.

“In the first half, we were okay and in the second half, we were much better in what we were trying to do.

“Even after the equaliser, we had two big chances to take the lead again. It’s making sure that at 1-0, you put the game to bed, otherwise that can happen.

“The lessons are being learnt, but it’s just about making sure the final piece hits the back of the net.

“It’s not that we’re sitting back or dropping off. We’re still going and creating, and I think the changes we made showed that.

“We were trying to make sure when Marcus Browne came on, and the others that came on, we still want to push for the second and stop them pinning us back.

“I felt we did that for the large majority, and we had four, maybe five, key goalscoring moments that we haven’t taken.

“It’s frustrating, but if the performance was poor, it would be even more frustrating. We’ve played some good football and created enough chances.

“If we want to be where we want to be at the end of the season, those moments need to turn into goals, which then turn into three points.”

United face a quick turnaround, as they welcome Fleetwood Town to Grenoble Road on Easter Monday, and Buckingham wants to see his side take full advantage of the chances they create.

He said: “It’s disappointing that we haven’t come here and scored three, four or maybe five goals.

“We created several chances at Port Vale, and only got the two. It feels like we’re ready to score that amount, but it’s about making sure that when we get the opportunities, we do that.

“It’s a point on the road, but disappointing it’s not three. We want to win the game, and we’ll approach that on Monday.

“The good thing is Monday isn’t far away now, and it gives us a chance to take this back to the Kassam, and if we create the chances we have today, we’ll put ourselves in a good position.”