Liam Sercombe said before tonight's fixture that an early goal for Oxford would lead to many more for the home team. And the central midfielder wasn't wrong.
York City's away form was poor, so it could be expected that Oxford would run out easy winners. But this was to be no walkover, Barnet who also have a dire away record came here and won 3-2 earlier in the season. The U's were also yet to record a league home win in 2016; thankfully their away form has been outstanding, and kept them in the automatic promotion places.
There were no fresh injury concerns for the Yellows. Jake Wright and Ryan Taylor remained sidelined with injuries, whilst Chris Maguire wouldn't feature to improve his personal match fitness. John Lundstram also hadn't recovered in time to feature tonight.
York had brought an admirable 200 fans down the M1, a mildly impressive figure considering the distance of the journey on this cold Tuesday evening.
It looked like they were in for a long night from the off. Jordan Bowery came close within minutes of the start as Danny Hylton teed him up for a low shot from the edge of the area that fizzed just wide.
Bowery has been an interesting signing for Oxford. He started slow, but in recent times has scored often at important times in the match. It has become obvious that he is not the type of player we initially thought he was, he prefers playing down the channels rather than having long balls punted up to him.
Our wing backs continued to hit the balls down those flanks, contrary to in most home games where we try to patiently pass through a side. This also has something to do with the absence of Kemar Roofe; without him Oxford have two physical players up front in Hylton and Bowery so are able to lob the ball further up the pitch.
Oxford got the deserved break through 15 minutes into the game. Callum O'Dowda's shot was parried into the path of Bowery, who applied the decisive touch with his thigh to give Oxford the lead.
That was the goal which put Oxford in command, York posed very little threat for the remainder of the half, and Oxford could have scored more. Somehow the U's were denied a second despite a barrage of shots in a matter of seconds towards the end of the half, York keeper Michael Ingham saving well from Hylton and Alex MacDonald.
Half Time was greeted with applause, yet there was frustration that we had not scored a second and put the tie to bed.
In the opening stages of the second half Oxford created a few half chances but nothing significant, thankfully York created next to nothing. Although, MacDonald almost gave away a penalty 15 minutes into the half, proving just how important a second goal would be for the home side.
MacDonald was duely substituted for Kemar Roofe.
United's second goal eventually came through Chey Dunkley. The stand-in centre back for Wright powered home a header from a terrific Roofe corner. I was delighted for Dunkley, his second goal in two games and he was proving his worth after some criticism early in the season. His goal was greeted with an almighty roar, the goal meant a hopefully settled end to the game, and if Sercombe's pre-match comments were anything to go by, we would go on to score more.
That goal put an end to any attempt from York to get back into the match. The Minstermen lacked serious organisation and attacking threat.
Oxford's third goal was due to the outstanding work of Hylton. He received a throw in on the left, lobbed it over one defender, knocked it past another before smashing the ball into the opposite bottom corner of the goal from the edge of the area. The goal showcased Hylton's ability, something which has been called into question at times this season, despite his excellent start to the campaign.
Josh Ruffels is a player that I've criticised in past match reports, saying he is not adequate back up in central midfield. However, tonight I am happy to say that I was wrong. He started ahead of the injured Lundstram and performed admirably. His stamina is something truly noteworthy, throughout the game he covered some serious ground and was instrumental in United's fourth of the evening.
Ruffels charged into box, sweeping aside some shocking York City defenders before unleashing his effort across goal. It forced a good save from Ingham, but similar to the opener, he could only parry it to an Oxford player. Roofe was there to seal the deal for Oxford. It was satisfying to see Roofe on the scoreboard after two games of rest for United's top scorer.
And that was that. Oxford were superb, but they were helped by a York team who lacked any desire, defensive ability and attacking threat. They look destined for relegation. But Oxford showed many qualities, especially defensively, and took their goals well.
Results elsewhere had gone the way of the Yellows and now have an eight point gap in third place above Accrington Stanley. A first home league win of 2016 feels fantastic, and this season is starting to look promising, very promising.
-Michael
No comments:
Post a Comment