Oxford United 1 Bury 1: ON-loan striker Jon Daly believes he was the victim of some rough justice as Bury passed their latest University examination with flying colours.

The Shakers played for nearly half an hour with 10 men after Daly's two yellow cards in nine minutes added up to a dismissal.

But Graham Barrow's side, who had gained a 1-0 win over Cambridge a week earlier, held on to deny Oxford what would have been three undeserved points.

And Irishman Daly said: "I thought the sending off was a bit harsh.

"Certainly the first booking was a joke. The referee said I stopped them taking a quick free kick.

"But the ball just hit me and their defender came over trying to make a meal of it. He stood on my foot and his studs got caught in my laces."

However, with vital home fixtures this week against Southend and Darlington, this was an excellent result against a club with automatic promotion aspirations.

The Shakers had the advantage of a strong, Arctic wind at their backs in the first half and they certainly made the most of the elements.

Glynn Garner had little to do in either half such was the protection he received from his team mates. But he reacted quickly to a Dean Whitehead snap shot after 22 minutes.

It wasn't long before Bury were back on the attack and squandering opportunities. They penned in Oxford for long periods with a string of corners and after 37 minutes should have made the breakthrough.

Dunfield burst into the area but his left foot attempt was saved by Woodman. The rebound broke to Seddon who struck his shot goalwards from close range.

Somehow ex-Cambridge midfielder Paul Wanless made a brilliant goal line clearance. Still Bury weren't finished and Flitcroft and Swailes peppered the Oxford goal with long range shots.

It looked as though Bury had blown their chance -- but within two minutes of the restart, Dunfield gave the visitors their lead. Lee Duxbury's chip eluded the offside trap and Dunfield kept his cool to slide the ball home from close range for only his second goal of the campaign.

Within two minutes, though, the home team were level. Swailes found himself one on one with Whitehead and the Oxford midfielder had sufficient space to unleash an excellent right foot drive past Garner.

Daly then collected his first yellow card for kicking the ball away and then Flitcroft received a booking for his scything challenge.

After 61 minutes came the second Daly flashpoint. He appeared to stamp on Crosby and while the big defender may have made a meal of the challenge, Daly was ill advised to become involved again.

But Bury were also defending superbly in between the bouts of bad feeling. However, those moments apart, Bury dealt comfortably with the home pressure and were worthy recipients of a point.

Oxford boss Ian Atkins, tipped to succeed Andy Preece as Gigg Lane chief earlier in the season, said: "We huffed and puffed, put a lot of effort in but Bury made it difficult and you have to hold your hands up to them for that.

"But I thought their goal had two or three men offside. Apparently the linesman said he thought one of our lads had flicked it on but I thought it was quite obvious that a Bury player did that."

Match stats:

Oxford (3-4-3):

Woodman, Ashton (Louis 90), Crosby, McCarthy, McNiven (Rawle 48), Wanless, Hunt, Robinson, Whitehead, Steele (Omoyinmi 79), Alsop; subs not used: Brown, Bound.

Garner 7, Swailes 7, Challinor 7, Woodthorpe 7, Unsworth 7, Dunfield 8 (Connell 85), Duxbury 6, Flitcroft 7, Kennedy 7, Seddon 6 (Nugent 76), Daly 6; subs not used: O'Shaughnessy, Porter, Solly.

REFEREE: S.Tomlin (East Sussex)

ATTENDANCE: 6473 (189 from Bury)

Shots on: Oxford 5 Bury 5

Shots off: Oxford 5 Bury 3

Corners: Oxford 6 Bury 9

Free kicks conceded: Oxford 12 Bury 13

Offsides: Oxford 2 Bury 1