United's end of season charge gathers pace after a totally convincing win over play-off hopefuls Stevenage this afternoon. Goals from Matt Day and Eddie Odhiambo-Anaclet gave them all three points, but it was the manner  of the victory rather than the scoreline which will have given the United fan's most hope.

United were forced to make two changes to the team that beat Tamworth last week.Barry Quinn and Chris Hargreaves missed the game through injury and suspension respectively and were replaced by Day and Andy Burgess.

The away game earlier in the season was an absolute cracker, with goals, sending off's and controversy aplenty.But as we passed the quarter hour mark, despite Stevenage edging the possession all we had show for all the effort was a header from Gavin Johnson which drifted wide of the post in the 15^th minute.

It seemed to fire up United though and the game burst into life in the 17^th minute as they created four great chances in two mad and started to play as well as they have all season.

Firstly, Eddie Anaclet and Yemi Odubade combined well in the middle of the park, swapped passes which allowed Anaclet a free run in on goal.But with his shot heading towards goal it appeared to be blocked by a Stevenage defender's arm and went behind for a corner with the United players appealing for a penalty.Straight from Martin Foster's corner, Day then saw Alan Julian tip his header over the bar.United still pushed forward and from the next corner, the ball found itself at the feet of Michael Corcoran whose twenty yard shot came back off the post straight to the feet of Odubade. The striker then showed there was much more than pace to his game as he tried a deft lob, which somehow failed to cross the line.Phew!

Odubade was a constant threat and he showed what a good player he has become when he set up United's next chance of the game in the 28^th minute.He drifted to the right, skipped past two defenders and played in a wonderful cross straight onto the head of an unmarked Rob Duffy eight yards out somehow guided his header wide.

It was all United and on the half-hour mark, Duffy did well to hold the ball up on the edge of the box, turn and fire in an effort that just cleared the cross-bar and then just a minute later Corcoron saw another effort deflected wide of the post and United continued to lay siege to the visitors goal.All that was missing was the opening goal!

It almost came in the 40^th minute when the equally impressive Rose forced Julian into another great save when he somehow managed to push away the midfielder's volley.In this game United seemed to create one chance straight after another. This was proved just thirty seconds later when Duffy saw another header blocked on the line by Phil Gilchrist!

Rose still had time to test Julian from thirty yards but just as you thought that Stevenage would somehow go into the break level, United scored that esluive opener.More pressure resulted in another United corner and this time, from Burgess's 44^th minute cross, Day rose unmarked to power the ball home to score United's first and his fifth goal of the season.

It was no more than United deserved after a superb first half display that had seen them create an amazing twelve good goal-scoring chances. Stevenage had been the table's form team coming into the game, but had been totally outplayed as Rose, Burgess, Foster and Anaclet took complete control of the midfield, with the only concern being the failure to convert the pressure into a second goal.

That was remedied before the hour though as Eddie Anaclet fired home his third goal in four games. It came from a free kick which Day launched forward and Duffy headed on. Anaclet beat Odubade to the ball, cut to his left and fired with his left foot. No question it was going in, even before a defender stuck out a leg to deflect the ball past the stranded Julian, and a 2-0 lead was the least The U's deserved.

They continued to press forward, with Odubade continuing his fine form and Burgess increasingly influential on the left. It was Burgess who came closest to making it 3-o as he fired wide from twenty yards on 73 minutes, before Duffy was replaced by Marvin Robinson for the last fifteen minutes.

Those closing stages were more about United seeing things through than charging forwards, although if another goal was going to come it was only the men in yellow going to get it, with Pettefer's low shot in injury time the closest they came.

A dozen games left, and the fat lady is now back in her dressing room looking a bit silly (and of course, fat). Fasten your seat belts, who knows what lies ahead...

Report Julian Hitchman and Chris Williams Pics Steve Daniels