Mark Harris fires in the second goal (Photo: Steve Daniels)

Redemption is a powerful thing, and it isn’t achieved easily. When Mark Harris intercepted an underhit pass and ran through to smash the ball into the net at the end of the game against Watford, the whole stadium erupted.

It wasn’t just the timing of the goal, or that it had made the game safe, it was the fact that it was scored by Harris. The popular striker, instrumental in United’s promotion almost two years ago, has found life in the Championship a struggle, despite scoring in each of the first three games at this level.

His goal against Watford was just the third he has scored this season and he has had some glaring misses during the campaign. Nevertheless, he remains a crowd favourite, largely for the endeavour and work rate that he exhibits every time he is chosen.

He hasn’t started many games this campaign, a direct result of being up against 10-goal Will Lankshear for that sought-after lone-striker role, but you know what you’re going to get with Sparky: 100 per cent commitment and a willingness to chase every ball.

When he replaced Jamie Donley with just three minutes of normal time remaining (what is normal time? A discussion for a different day) he came on to play alongside Lankshear in a hybrid #10/forward role. He had already come very close to intercepting a loose Watford pass before Edo Kayembe hit a ball across the back line looking for Kevin Keban.

Keban waited for the ball to arrive, but Sparky realised it was hit too weakly and ran on to poke it past the defender and race through on goal. Similar to the one he scored at Leicester, I suspect many in the crowd were expecting him to miss, given the poor run of luck he has had with these opportunities, but instead he hit the ball hard and true, across Egil Selvik, hitting the net with a satisfying bulge.

Of course everyone went crazy. Everyone likes United’s #9 and wants to see him do well for both the club and himself. Hopefully this will give him the confidence to end the season with a flourish.

Also hopefully, it will give the team the spur to end the season with a flourish. The Watford game, like the Portsmouth game the previous Monday, had been dubbed by many as a ‘must-win’ match, with the consequences for defeat too much to bear. In the event, the Pompey game wasn’t ‘must win’ thanks to Sheffield Wednesday preventing Leicester securing an inevitable victory. This game may well have proven to be ‘must win’ thanks to those buggers at Portsmouth scoring an equally unlikely last-minute winner at Middlesbrough.

And while it was Harris’s goal that ended the game, it mustn’t be forgotten that the U’s were already a goal up thanks to Myles Peart-Harris’s first home goal for the club in the first half. What a day to be a Harris!

MPH’s strike came from a well-flighted free kick from Cameron Brannagan. No one is really sure how the ball ended up at MPH’s feet – possibly it happened as a result of some abnormal time – but he seemed as surprised as anyone to find himself with the ball in front of him and a virtually open goal to aim for, so his calm side-footed finish into the far corner came as a welcome conclusion to the move: yet another set-piece goal for United.

Myles Peart-Harris opens the scoring (Photo: Steve Daniels)

There wasn’t a lot else to get too excited about in a first half that neither side really got hold of. The closest the visitors came to scoring was a Luca Kjerrumgaard header straight at Jamie Cumming, while Oxford came close just before the half-time whistle from another set piece; Donley fired in a free kick from the left that Selvik came for and missed, but Michał Helik saw too late to divert into goal, his outstretched foot prodding the ball just wide.

The second half, as is usually the way, carried more threat from both sides. Watford had the first attempt, a speculative shot from Nestory Irankunda forcing Cumming to tip the ball over the bar. At the other end Stan Mills headed just over from a corner before Selvik was called into action to palm over a Brodie Spencer shot.

There was a spell when Watford looked to be getting on top, with some direct runs at the U’s defence, but the final pass never came and, when they did eventually get a shot away, it went harmlessly over.

Oxford’s first substitution didn’t arrive until just over ten minutes from the end, when Hidde ter Avest (he’s better than all the rest) replaced Peart-Harris and United changed shape to three at the back, presumably in response to Watford getting more chances.

The problem with going more defensive when there’s still a decent chunk of the game remaining, is that it invited the Hornets to attack, although this did allow Oxford to counter-attack more, especially when Harris came on.

The goal from Sparky, and the final result and clean sheet, obviously vindicated the changes, so you can’t really argue with them. Watford were poor, but Oxford still had to do their job and eventually got the three points from the ‘must-win’ game. The only dampener on the day was Portsmouth’s win, but that was counteracted by yet another Leicester defeat, so you know, swings and roundabouts.

One player I haven’t yet mentioned in this report is Yunus Konak. What a game the young Brentford midfielder had. He was everywhere, snapping into tackles, chasing down Watford players, helping in defence, joining in attack. He played a perfect game out of possession, and when in possession he rarely gave away the ball, picking good passes and helping relieve pressure. He even got a couple of shots away, getting in to decent positions in the attacking third. This lad looks the real deal.

With West Brom drawing on Friday night, United have made up some valuable ground, overtaking Leicester and now just two points behind the Baggies. Blackburn are still four points above Oxford, but despite games running out, that is not an insurmountable gap. We just need the U’s to continue their recent form when they visit Derby next weekend.

UTFO

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