A late Greg Leigh goal earned all three points for United as they were made to battle for the win by Cheltenham Town this afternoon.
Oxford secured their first win in five games after beating Cheltenham Town at the Kassam Stadium this afternoon. Josh Murphy opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time, but Will Ferry's equaliser looked to have denied United the three points, until Leigh popped up in the 88th minute to smash home Owen Dale's cross.
United, who kept an unchanged line-up from the side that narrowly lost at Portsmouth last Saturday, created the first chance in the sixth minute, when Elliott Moore brought the ball out of defence and played it forward for Ruben Rodrigues, whose shot was a straightforward take for Luke Southwood.
It took until the 37th minute for the game’s first meaningful effort on goal as Rodrigues slipped the ball back to Owen Dale. His powerful shot from 10 yards went just over, much to Southwood’s relief.
With half-time approaching, United carved out the best chance yet, Rodrigues playing the pass to find Mark Harris in space and his shot from just outside the area forced Southwood into a sprawling save. It was a rare moment of action in what had been until then a largely uneventful first half. It was followed a minute later by Cameron Brannagan, with a trademark free kick, again forcing Southwood to parry the ball to safety.
With the first half in stoppage time, Brannagan brought out another save with a long-range shot, before the crowd were off their feet as the Yellows took the lead. Brannagan teed up Murphy, fresh from receiving the New Home Improvement Group’s February Player of the Month award. He skipped into the area and placed his shot beyond Southwood to open the scoring.
Having gone ahead, it was the U's who looked to capitalise in the opening period of the second half, with Murphy's driven cross just evading Harris at the back post.
Former Robin Will Goodwin was given 25 minutes against his former colleagues, but it was Jordan Thomas who went closest to an equaliser with a run and shot that forced Jamie Cumming into his first meaningful save of the afternoon.
The leveller wasn't long in coming, as a Sean Long cross came out to Ferry on the edge of the Oxford area. His snapshot crept inside Cumming's right-hand post.
The U's response was immediate, with Greig Leigh's powerful header from a corner tipped round the post by Southwood before McGuane's shot deflected wide for another corner.
Leigh was at it again two minutes from the end of regular time, this time meeting Dale's cross perfectly to bury the ball past the Cheltenham keeper with an unstoppable header from a tight angle.
The win rounded off a positive week for the U's, with good news off the field in terms of the new stadium and now a welcome home win to keep the Yellows right in the mix.
Next up, Bolton on Tuesday. See you there.
Attendance: 8,738, including 643 away
Report by Martin Brodetsky. Pictures from Steve Daniels, Steve Edmunds, Darrell Fisher and Jasonpix
