Oxford United fell to a 3-2 defeat against Coventry City at the Kassam Stadium this afternoon.
Trailing to a first half Jack Rudoni goal, United levelled through Ole Romeny with his first goal for the U's. Ephron Mason-Clark restored the away side's lead before returning captain Elliott Moore equalised from a corner.
Jamie Cumming then saved Ellis Simms' penalty, however,a Tatsuhiro Sakamoto strike broke United hearts and Coventry returned to Warwickshire with the three points.
Gary Rowett made three changes to the side that visited West Bromwich Albion last Saturday, with the injured Joe Bennett replaced by the fit-again Moore, with Ciaron Brown switching to left back. Will Vaulks returned to midfield in place of Alex Matos, and Mark Harris came in for Matt Phillips. There was also a first home start for Romeny, playing just behind Harris.
Coventry took the lead in just the sixth minute, when a cross from Sakamoto was headed home by the unmarked Rudoni.
Despite the early lead, United looked bright and came close when Romeny's shot looped over the bar.
The second half was less than 10 minutes old when United equalised, and what a goal it was. The ball was cleared to Przemysław Płacheta with acres of space in front of him. He charged into the area, cut back, and calmly played the ball into the path of Romeny who placed his shot beyond Oliver Dovin for his first goal for the club.
Parity didn't last long as a defensive mix up allowed the Sky Blues to regain the lead. An awkward siced clearance left Cumming exposed, the ball bounced, and Mason-Clark nipped in to head the ball over the keeper and into the empty net.
On the hour, Romeny burst clear but his shot was expertly saved by Dovin. From the corner, returning captain Moore rose highest to head the ball down and over the line for his first of the season, and the scores were level again.
Two minutes later and it was Płacheta's turn to burst forward, but his cross was too close to Dovin. The visitors roared back and defensive heroics, with U's defender throwing themselves in the way of shots and crosses, kept them out, followed by a great save from Cumming from a shot from the edge of the area.
From the resulting corner, referee Jeremy Simpson awarded a penalty, with both sides nonplussed. No matter. Cumming was equal to Simms' spot kick and Jake Bidwell's follow-up came back off the bar to leave the scores level.
It was 3-2, though, in the 71st minute as Bidwell's cross eluded everyone and fell nicely for Sakamoto, who powered his shot into the far corner to restore the away side's lead.
There were precious few chances in the rest of the game. A Tyler Goodrham corner with five minutes to go was headed over by Moore and another in the final minute of stoppage time pinged around the area before Dovin made a vital save.
So United fell to a disappointing defeat, although there were plenty of positives to take from the game. Next up, a Friday night trip to Norwich.
UNITED: Cumming, Brown, Vaulks (Matos 74), Moore, Płacheta (Mills 74), Brannagan, Harris (Phillips 82), Romeny (Dembélé 90), Goodrham, Kioso (ter Avest 82), Helik
Unused subs: Ingram, Long, El Mizouni, Rodrigues
Attendance: 11,405 (including 1,513 away)
Fifty/50 draw: Ticket number 40804 wins £1,449.50
Report: Martin Brodetsky; Photography: JasonPix, Steve Daniels, Steve Edmunds, Darrell Fisher
