AS unwelcome as two successive defeats are, any talk of a crisis surrounding York City is premature.

The wheels have not yet fallen off what has been a promising start to the season, more likely the Minstermen have a flat tyre.

But how and when it will be repaired could prove season-defining.

For the danger is not just City slipping into mid-table mediocrity with a couple more reverses but also of slipping into an even more telling downward spiral.

The good start will be eroded but the confidence that was just a few weeks ago shining so bright could also be irrecoverably tarnished.

The 'C' factor cannot be underestimated.

Once dented it can take time to heal and the damage it wreaks was all too evident once City fell behind to Gavin Gordon's decisive header.

Having passed and moved their way to the top of the table and also into a position of control at half-time on Saturday, panic set in and suddenly it was back to the hit and hope long-ball.

The lack of guile, subtlety and creativity understandably infuriates the crowd.

Players, fearful of making a mistake and risking the wrath of supporters, no longer want the ball and nor do their team-mates, so hurl it forward at the earliest opportunity to no-one in particular.

A vicious circle is then set in stone leaving visiting teams to bask in City's discomfort and shortcomings.

Of course, a win will quickly change the mood of both the players and fans. So too a goal.

Chances are still being created, which is reassuring. But the goals that catapulted City up the table at the start of the season have dried up - they have now scored just once in their last five outings.

Had they taken their first half opportunities on Saturday then it would surely, obviously, have proved a very different game.

City may have missed more chances at Cambridge United seven days earlier, but they certainly didn't miss any better than those that fell to Jon Parkin and Peter Duffield against Oxford.

A superb 50-yard ball from Lee Bullock saw Parkin out muscle two Oxford defenders to go clear on goal.

It was a gilt-edged chance for the striker to redeem himself after his nightmare at the Abbey Stadium, but while he lifted the ball over Andy Woodman in the Oxford goal he also lifted it just inches over the crossbar.

An even clearer opportunity came City's way on 21 minutes when Woodman, inexplicably, pushed Duffield in the back at a Graham Potter corner and the Minstermen were awarded a stonewall penalty.

But the United shot-stopper went from villain to hero in the blink of an eye and at full stretch he pushed away Duffield's well-placed spot-kick.

The fact the normally reliable Duffield was missing from 12 yards was perhaps ominous.

But in an entertaining first-half, City continued to pass and probe to suggest they were still capable of winning the game.

Oxford had started brightly and were unlucky not have taken the lead in the game's opening minutes when David Oldfield flicked his header against the bar and Dave Savage saw his follow-up blocked on the line by Bullock.

But once the ever lively Manny Omoyinmi was brought under some sort of control down the right then the visitors' threat was kept to a minimum and by half-time City were at least in the ascendancy if not the lead.

The second-half started with a real snap and crackle and while City still looked sharp Oxford now looked the more penetrative of the two sides.

Just past the hour mark, they swept forward with real gusto and took the lead.

Omoyinmi, who had twice been denied by Alan Fettis at the near post, started the ball rolling by finding Matt Robinson out wide on the right.

The Oxford midfielder scampered to the by-line and delivered a telling cross to the far post that Gordon, who had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes, headed superbly past Fettis.

It was a well crafted goal that not only gave Oxford the lead but seemingly knocked the stuffing out of the Minstermen.

United now knocked the ball around with a cocksure swagger while City looked short of ideas as how to turn the tide.

Substitute Nicolas Mazzina looked lively and at least provided City with a new option - width.

But too often the ball was hit long, with no real purpose or conviction and despite forcing a number of corners it is hard to recall City having a shot at goal in the second-half.

A blip, dip or trough? It is too early to say.

But the next handful of games should provide the answers.

Fact file:

City: Fettis 7, Edmondson 6, Smith 6, Brass 7, Hobson 6 (Wood 20m, 6), Cowan 8, Bullock 7, Potter 6, Duffield 6 (Yalcin 82m), Nogan 6 (Mazzina 67m, 6), Parkin 6

Subs, not used: Howarth, Wise

Goals: None

Bookings: None Sent-off: None

Oxford: Woodman, McNiven, Crosby, Bound, Viveash, Robinson, Savage, Ford, Hunt, Oldfield (Gordon 55m), Omoyinmi (Powell 88m)

Subs, not used: Whitehead, Waterman, Steele

Goals: Gordon 61m

Bookings: None Sent-off: None

REF: Colin Webster (Durham)

ATTENDANCE: 3,962

Man of the match: TOM COWAN

Tigerish in the tackle and always looking to drive City forward

Updated: 09:23 Monday, September 30, 2002