Football: Aldridge returns to winning ways

Oxford United 1 Windass 8 Tranmere Rovers 2 Allen 42, Jones 69 Attendance: 5,86

THERE WERE a few bumps and bruises along the way but in the end, this was a script that went deliciously to plan. On one of the many grounds where he was such a prolific scorer, John Aldridge went back to Oxford yesterday and watched his hard-working Tranmere team come from behind to gain their first three points of the season.

Goals by Graham Allen three minutes before half-time and Gary Jones midway through the second half sunk an Oxford side who began like a whirlwind with a delightful curling free-kick from their record signing, Dean Windass, but mystifyingly fell away once Tranmere had equalised.

Allen celebrated his first goal for Tranmere, a bullet near-post header from a corner, by running half the length of the field.

Jones's winner was straight out of the Aldridge repertoire: in the the right place at the right time and a neat flick over the keeper from six yards.

Aldridge, understandably, was delighted, especially after the turmoil surrounding the sale of their goalkeeper Steve Simonsem to Everton. Tranmere, who drew at Birmingham last week, are turning the corner.

"We couldn't get out of our half for 10 minutes," said Aldridge, who scored 72 of his 474 career goals - a post-war British record - at Oxford. "But the one thing this side has is fight. We may be bottom but we have lost only four games. We simply weren't scoring enough goals but now we've scored four in two games."

Jones, who also scored the equaliser at Birmingham, was converted by Aldridge from a centre-back into a target man. He said the former Liverpool legend was an inspiration to a young striker. "If you can't learn from him, you can't learn from anyone," Jones said. "He was a one-off and it rubs off."

Before the game, leaflets were handed out to spectators, signed by the Oxford manager, Malcolm Shotton, urging them to cut out foul language. Shotton could have been forgiven from uttering a few expletives of his own as his team threw away their advantage.

Shotton's side are nothing if not unpredictable. They lost 7-0 at Sunderland yet had scored 10 goals in their three home games prior to yesterday.

"We're blowing hot and cold," the assistant manager, Mark Harrison, said. "It's got to the stage where Malcolm and I don't know what sort of performance we're going to get."

Conversely, Aldridge, who played 114 games for Oxford, many with Shotton (including the Milk Cup final at Wembley 12 years ago), knows what he will get every time. Team spirit, fierce pride and hard work.

Now, he hopes, goals will become another regular factor, not least from Scott Taylor, thrown straight in yesterday 48 hours after signing from Bolton.

"We've got some forwards coming back from injury and are getting competition for places up front," a smiling Aldridge said. "That's how it should be. Just like at Liverpool."