Battling Oxford United recovered from a goal down at half-time to earn a useful away point for the second match running at Cheltenham tonight.

They were fortunate to go in at half-time only one down, but ran the second half, with Jack Midson – playing in place of the suspended James Constable -poaching his third goal of the season.

Mark Yates’s team were left hanging on at the end as Oxford finished very strongly.

The npower League Two point United earned was a tribute to their character again, just as at Crewe last weekend, as on this occasion they ended up having a very young and inexperienced defence.

Steve Kinniburgh came in for his season's bow at left back, because Anthony Tonkin was ill, and after 14 minutes acting captain Mark Creighton had to go off with a toe injury after appearing to fall awkwardly.

That meant an Oxford United back four with an average age of just over 21, as Ben Purkiss (26) was joined by Harry Worley (21), Franks (19) and Kinniburgh (20).

Indeed, after Creighton went off, Jack Midson was the oldest United player on the pitch – a veteran at 27!

Playing in an unfamiliar strip of blue shirts and white shorts, United came under early pressure as the rain started lashing down.

Jeff Goulding, the Cheltenham striker, was presented with a great opportunity in the fourth minute as the ball dropped to him 14 yards out, but Ryan Clarke got down to save his shot.

It then needed a brilliant piece of defending by Worley, racing back, to prevent Wesley Thomas scoring after a strong run through the centre of the pitch by Goulding.

But as Oxford tried to take the sting out of the first few minutes, they also carved out a fine chance as Midson wheedled the ball away from left back Danny Andrew, sprinted towards the bye-line, and from his cutback, Alfie Potter blazed over at the near post.

Having to reshuffle, with Creighton going off, inevitably left the visitors unsettled, and they gave the ball away a number of times.

There was increasing menace to the way Cheltenham came forward, and in the 29th minute they took the lead.

Wesley Thomas had a defender both sides of him as he met Brian Smikle’s centre from the left with a looping header over Clarke for his seventh goal of the season.

The U’s put together a good spell of possession at the end of the first half, and from one raid, Worley got on the end of a Purkiss cross with a downward header but just couldn’t get much on it.

And Chris Wilder’s men went in at half-time relieved not to be two down as, just before the break, centre half Andy Gallinagh was left with a free header at a corner only four yards out, but glanced the ball wide.

There was another close shave for United early in the second half when a high ball forward from Steve Elliott deflected off Franks and Clarke had to race backwards and acrobatically paw it away from his goal. It was a superb save.

The game began to open out and Tom Craddock glanced a header past a post, unable to get anything on it.

The match turned on a bad error from Robins keeper Steve Brown just before the hour.

Franks tried his luck with a fierce drive from outside the area. Brown seemed to have collected it in his midriff, but it slipped out, and Midson pounced to knock the loose ball over the line.

Clarke made a fabulous double save, keeping out Goulding’s follow-up after stopping Thomas’s shot when the Cheltenham striker really should have scored.

Kinniburgh was slightly injured in the melee as he helped out his keeper in preventing a goal.

As a local derby, it had been relatively tame, but tempers became heated with some increasingly fiery second-half incidents.

Franks was angered by Thomas going down in the box after he had made a strong and excellently-timed tackle.

Oxford’s goal had clearly knocked the stuffing out of the home side, and Simon Heslop and Josh Payne started to dominate play in the second half.

And Craddock, looking fitter with each game, twice went close to a winner with good efforts.

Wilder went for it, throwing on Matt Green at the end, but it finished all-square . . . United's fourth draw out of five away in the league.