OXFORD DREAMING BIG AFTER LATE BLITZ
MICHAEL Appleton saluted a glorious late double as Oxford maintained their ruthless promotion charge with a stunning win at managerless Notts County.
The U’s looked to have blown their chances of victory at Meadow Lane when goals from Jon Stead and Curtis Thompson overhauled Liam Sercombe’s first-half penalty awarded for a foul by goalkeeper Roy Carroll.
But that was their cue for a stunning fightback, as they equalised through Alex MacDonald before stunners from Callum O’Dowda and Kemar Roofe sealed the win.
The result kept Oxford third in the table, four points behind leaders Plymouth, and Appleton was thrilled.
“When we went 2-1 down I was a little staggered,” he said. “I couldn’t understand how we had got ourselves in that position given the way we were playing and the chances we were creating.
“We had to see out a period of around five minutes because, at that stage, they had a lot of belief in the team. They were on the front foot.
“But once we had settled down I always felt we would get a goal to get back into the game. To then go on and get two more goals to win the game delighted me.”
Referee Carl Boyeson’s decision to award a penalty against Carroll after he ended Sercombe’s burst into the box caused some fury among Magpies fans, but Appleton had no doubts the official was right.
“There is a lot of debate about the penalty which put us in front before half-time, but when you come flying off your line like that and as wide as the keeper did as well, you are always in danger of giving a penalty away,” said the United boss.
But Richard Dryden, the Magpies Under21s head coach who has taken charge as caretaker with academy head Mick Halsall, saw it a different way.
“It was tough on us, especially to go in a goal down before half-time,” said Dryden.
“I’ve seen the challenge from Roy again, because at the time from where I was stood you couldn’t say yes or no. But watching the video again, Roy was a mile away and it was never a penalty.
“It was a minute before half-time and while it was not the end of the world, it knocks you back a bit.
“We only really started to show how we could play in the second half.”
Oxford’s four goals meant County maintained their poor record of conceding at least two goals a game since the end of October. After heavy investment in the summer they have fallen well short of owner Ray Trew’s expectations which led to the sacking of Ricardo Moniz on Tuesday.
“It’s no secret we’ve tried to work on the defensive organisation of the team,” said Dryden. “We’ve made a few changes at the back and it’s almost a brand new back four.We sat a little bit deeper than usual.
“We knew from watching footage of them that Oxford were a really good attacking side with lots of pace. They like to suck you in a bit, then hit you on the counter-attack. The fourth goal summed that up.”