Crawley Town 1 Oxford United 2

What a way to end a game! The last 15 minutes of last night's match is the reason why we go to games, as Oxford came back from the dead to beat Crawley with a late, late goal from James Constable, who had earlier missed a penalty.

Crawley would, rightly, consider the result daylight robbery (except that it happened at night) as Oxford were woeful in the first half and went in at the break with the home side holding a deserved lead. United had already had a warning when Michael Malcolm fired over, but the defence was too slow to close down Malcolm, whose cross found Lewis Killeen. Ryan Clarke pulled off a great save from Killeen's shot, but the ball rebounded to former United target Thomas Pinault, who sidefooted into the empty net with 16 minutes gone. Oxford almost equalised straight from the kick-off, but Simon Rayner pulled off the first of several good saves to deny Jack Midson. Oxford were having a hard time making the ball stick up front, failed to win any second balls, and were second to every 50-50 ball as the home side kept United pegged back for long periods. They almost doubled their lead just before the break when Clarke made a fabulous one-handed save from Pinault.

Oxford started the second half on the front foot, having brought on James Constable and Alfie Potter to give the side width and sticking power up front. Rayner was called into action ten minutes into the half with a flying save from a goal-bound Jamie Cook effort, and shortly afterwards Franny Green, anonymous in the first half but looking a real threat after the break, had a drive deflected wide. The game turned when Crawley brought on former-U Eddie Hutchinson for Charles Ademeno and left one man up front, inviting Oxford onto them. United almost equalised 15 minutes from time when Potter set Onome Sodje free and his powerful shot was diverted onto his own crossbar by Simon Rusk. Eventually, with seven minutes remaining, United scored the goal that their second-half endeavour deserved. Potter squared the ball to Adam Chapman, whose 20-yard shot went through a packed area and into the net. In the 85th minute Oxford should have taken the lead when Sodje flicked the ball through for Constable, who was manhandled to the ground by Karl Broadhurst. It was a definite penalty, and Constable picked himself up to take the kick. However, his shot was too soft and too close to Rayner, who flung himself to his left to parry the ball away. That should have been that, but there was still time for Malcolm to chip the ball over Clarke and wide of the post when he had a simple chance to grab the winner. Then United won a throw-in close to the Crawley corner flag. Chapman took a long throw and the ball came back to him. His perfect near-post cross was met by Constable, whose powerful header beat Rayner to give United a victory that, 45 minutes earlier, never looked on the cards.

Crawley will feel hard done by, while Oxford will feel like they'd just turned over a get-out-of-jail-free card. It was to Oxford's credit that they kept going to the end, that they weren't satisfied by Chapman's equaliser, and that they didn't give up after Constable missed the penalty. It's victories like these that make promotion more likely, whatever those who believe in fate-tempting might say.

Wilder made three changes to the side that was held by Barrow in the FA Cup on Saturday. With Luke Foster suspended, Perry was called into the back four to partner Mark Creighton. His fellow Rangers loanee Steven Kinniburgh will be out for a few weeks with medial ligament damage, so Sandwith came back into the side at left back. Up front Green was recalled with puppy-dog-eyed Potter curled up on the bench. It was Wilder's double substitution at half-time that gave United a way back into the game, when Potter replaced skipper Adam Murray and Constable came on for Midson, who doesn't look comfortable playing the lone-striker role. In the 62nd minute Sodje came on for Green to add further pace to the attack.

The referee was Creighton's brother Steve Creighton, whose last game involving Oxford was a 2-0 defeat at Crawley, almost two years ago. He had the cheek to book his namesake for a first-half tackle, or maybe he was just giving him an early Christmas card. Apart from that he gave a fairly bog-standard Conference ref performance, the curate's egg. The attendance was 1,319 (Crawley's second best of the season), of whom 595 made the trip from the Independent Socialist Republic of Oxfordshire.

At half-time United had relinquished top spot in the Conference, being a goal down to Crawley while Stevenage Borough were beating Ebbsfleet United 1-0 thanks to a Yemi Odubade goal. Forty-five minutes later United's lead at the top had increased to five points after the Us' victory was coupled with two priceless goals from ex-U Stefan Bailey which gave the Eurostars a 2-1 win. Stevenage remain second while Ebbsfleet remain second from bottom, and Crawley dropped one place to 14th. United's next game is at home to Ebbsfleet, which can no longer be considered a gimme, given the Fleets' last two results (they beat Mansfield Town 2-1 on Saturday).

York City remain third with a 1-0 win at seventh-placed Rushden & Diamonds, while Mansfield stay fourth after coming back from a goal down to win 3-1 at 18th-placed Gateshead, with Andy Burgess scoring their second goal. Fifth-placed Kettering Town were without a game, while AFC Wimbledon's 2-0 win at 19th-placed Salisbury City lifts them up to sixth. Luton Town, now in eight place, were also gameless, while ninth-placed Kidderminster Harriers were held to a 0-0 draw at Aggborough by Tamworth.

Chester City, still firmly ensconced at the foot of the table on -4 points, played what might yet prove to be their final match, going down 1-0 at Cambridge United, who have climbed to tenth. Second-bottom Forest Green Rovers lost 1-0 at Wrexham, while Grays Athletic remain four points from safety following their 1-0 home defeat by Histon. Eastbourne Borough are the team above Grays, and they drew 1-1 at Hayes & Yeading, for whom Steve Basham scored a penalty in the 93rd minute. Another ex-U who found the scoresheet was Craig Nelthorpe, who scored the only goal as Barrow won at Altrincham. [@news]2606[/@news][@opponent]crawley town[/@opponent]