The longest away day of the season was upon us. Today, we could gain promotion to League One if we are victorious and Bristol Rovers lose at already relegated York City.
The day started at 6am. Up and downloading films onto my iPad for the ten hour round-trip that lay ahead, I was so excited for the match.
As we headed up the M6 it was clear that the following was going to be larger than the anticipated 1,400. We were continuously encountering cars donning the yellow scarves and drivers in their kits. The service stations were largely taken up with Oxford fans taking pit-stops on the way to Cumbria - it was terrific, something I've never experienced before.
I knew Carlisle was far. But when we began driving through snowy mountain territory it hit me just how far from the rest of northern England they were. When we parked up we were only ten minutes from the Scotland border.
We headed to the local pub where chairman Darryl Eales had promised a free pint and hot dog for the first 1,000 Oxford fans that turn up. A small but well appreciated gesture from the chairman, who was also stood amongst us in the away terrace at Brunton Park.
The town of Carlisle had suffered devastating flooding over Christmas. We knew the damage had been bad, but now, at the end of April the effects were still there for all to see. Despite Brunton Park refurbishing the turf, the homes surrounding the ground were almost all uninhabited, with skips lining the streets of what must have once been a lovely place to live. It was a rather sad sight as we walked to the ground.
Brunton Park itself is an old-style ground. With the roof of two stands angled like those of a typical detached house, except with some aspestos-esq material covering them. Whilst the terrace behind the goal where I was stood had no cover. This stand is usually empty, but due to the unprecedented quantity of away fans in Carlisle, it was open for business.
Callum O'Dowda was back in the starting XI for the first time since his illness, replacing Kemar Roofe who was injured in the warm up. That was the only change for United, O'Dowda would start up front with Danny Hylton, but interchange continuously with Alex MacDonald and Chris Maguire throughout the match.
The players were greeted with yellow streamers and a host of flags as they came out onto the pitch. It was a fantastic atmosphere created by the 2,400 strong away support.
And Oxford got the perfect start. Just four minutes in Hylton glided past a defender before passing to Maguire who was upended by Luke Joyce. Penalty to United. Maguire was the coolest man in Carlisle to sidefoot the ball to the right of the goalkeeper.
Pressure on the Carlisle goal followed from Oxford who continued to pass with confidence. In defence, Jake Wright and Chey Dunkley defended admirably, whilst Jonjoe Kenny delivered another attacking option from Right Back.
O'Dowda fashioned the best chances for Oxford but often lacked end product. His decision making was questionable as United moved into the final third. His build up play, however, is truly fantastic - it seems he can beat any player one on one.
Throughout the season, Oxford have successfully got in behind the opposition's midfield and run at their defence with such threat time and time again. Something I have seen little of in the seasons gone by.
News was coming through that Bristol Rovers were comfortably winning away at York. This meant the atmosphere in the away end grew nervy. The chanting dampened down as Carlisle grew into the game, some poor refereeing decisions also meant the game hung in the balance come half time. It is fair to say that at this point, no one in the Oxford section was enjoying the match - we needed another goal.
Talking of poor refereeing decisions, about ten minutes into the second half the ball seemed to strike Kenny on the arm inside our penalty area. The whole ground was awaiting the referees whistle and a point to the penalty spot, but it did not come. I couldn't believe it. This is why we needed the second goal! Too often this season I've seen us dominate games to be struck back by one moment of opposition intent.
Soon after this Maguire, who had been closing down admirably all game, blocked Carlisle keeper's attempted pass, only for the keeper to get back onto his goal line before the ball rolled over. That would have been a hilarious way to make it two nil.
John Lundstram's introduction seemed to calm us down. He came on for a still-injured Joe Skarz. With no fit Left Back's on the bench, Josh Ruffels dropped into that position. I have a lot of respect for versatile footballers, and Ruffels proved he was one today with some fantastically committed defending to keep Carlisle's attacks at bay.
Benji Buchel made a smart save from the big man Jabo Ibhere as the striker was through one on one. That was just before Hylton intercepted a goalkeepers pass to be taken down on the edge of the area. It was inches from being inside the box. The ref deemed it only a yellow card offence to the bewilderment of us behind the goal.
After which Liam Sercombe made it 2-0 to Oxford. O'Dowda made another one of his runs from midfield and correctly played in an overlapping Sercombe, who hit it too low and hard for goalkeeper Gillespie to prevent.
The goal was greeted with absolute jubilation. The relief was tangible, we had secured three points on a day we had to. The scenes were pretty mental in all honesty and once settled down I looked down to see a cut across the back of my hand - absolutely no idea how I got it.
Sercombe has stepped up to the mark a countless number of times for us this season. He is a brilliant box-to-box central midfielder who has the stamina and an attitude to make him a fan favourite.
The remainder of the game was far more relaxed, Oxford knew the game was safe if they continued to control possession. Carlisle were one of the easier teams to watch on the eye; they too passed the ball well and did not resort to frustrating us with time wasting techniques. Although one player was extremely late with a challenge on Buchel in the last minute.
Full time. We had won, we were not promoted, but we had won. As all the players came round to rightly applaud the strong away following, there was a sense that only half the job was done with Bristol Rovers and Accrington Stanley winning.
We are now only 90 minutes away from automatic promotion, our fate remains in our hands, so a win would see us into League One next season. We defended brilliantly today and took our chances when it mattered, if we do the same next weekend I have no doubt we will go up. Although, we are playing Wycombe, Wycombe are a team that typically play ugly - this could disrupt our usual game. I'm already so nervous.
Time for the five hour car journey home...
-Michael
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