Ten-man Gulls see off U's

Billy Kee's late strike followed up Damian Batt's own goal as 10-man Torquay secured a 2-0 win at Oxford.

Lloyd Macklin was sent off in the 17th minute of Tuesday night's League Two clash at the Kassam Stadium for flicking a kick out at Anthony Tonkin and, although Oxford right-back Batt had headed into his own net from Kevin Nicholson's free-kick 12 minutes earlier, the Gulls were facing an uphill battle. James Constable missed a golden opportunity to level when he went through on goal, from Sam Deering's threaded pass, but blazed over. The visitors nearly doubled their advantage just before half-time, but two brilliant saves from U's stopper Ryan Clarke denied Kee. But the Devon side kept finding huge gaps on the counter-attack, and substitute Kee sealed it a minute from time with a low shot from 15 yards. It was a second straight defeat for Oxford, who were hammered 5-0 at Bradford at the weekend, and they are finding their honeymoon now well and truly over after winning promotion through the play-offs.