And so, the fabled Oxfordshire adage rings true again. Yes, revenge truly is a main course best dished up in the Wembley sunshine, in front of a 30,000-strong yellow wall, and with a Championship spot to contest.
Well, at least that could have been Des Buckingham’s message to Oxford’s players as they wandered out to face a team who had, less than 10 weeks prior, swatted them aside by five goals. Because what followed cackled in the face of Bolton’s “clear favourites” tag. Josh Murphy sparkled, scoring twice in the first half, and Oxford were promoted.
What a turnaround. 12 months back, United narrowly evaded League One’s trapdoor. Now they have stepped up the second-tier ladder for the first time this millennium. And that is despite losing their manager Liam Manning, himself only in his job for 29 games, pre-Christmas. Buckingham’s appointment was savvy, though. He is one of Oxford’s own, tempted back from title challenges in Mumbai. His heart would win out – after all, he still owns the ticket stub from his first Oxford game back at the old Manor Ground in 1990.
His grandad took him that day, and Buckingham glanced skyward as the final whistle approached. He will have been watching. Likewise other Oxford legends, present in soul and spirit: Jim Smith, Joey Beauchamp and Mickey Lewis have all passed away in recent years. The latter coached Buckingham while a player, and it was his mentorship that has – via New Zealand, India and Australia – returned his protege to the spot where he stood suited and smiling as the celebrations began.
For Bolton, and Ian Evatt, the only emotion will be bitter disappointed. They failed to even land a glancing blow. The first visceral, joyous Oxford roar was created by Murphy just after the half-hour. He had much to do still as he tangoed inside, penalty area bound. He held off Josh Dacres-Cogley’s attention, opened a slim gap, and beat Nathan Baxter via a cruel glance off Ricardo Santos’s head.
Buckingham jigged with delight; Evatt motioned to suggest Bolton’s tempo required pushing. Their issue though, was that Oxford simply stymied everything. Freedom? No. Space? No. Anything, just something? No.
In the buildup, Buckingham had ordered Oxford’s training pitches to be re-painted to match that of Wembley – his players certainly looked like they knew every blade of grass intimately.
Paris Maghoma’s dalliances near the halfway line shortly before the break summed up Bolton’s afternoon. Rúben Rodrigues pounced, clipping an inch-perfect first-time through-ball to find a Murphy run of equal precision. With Gethin Jones blindsided, Oxford supporters drew breath; Murphy drew Baxter out, and, despite a first touch that looked a tad heavy, finished from an acute angle. Delirium. Pure, yellow, joy. Murphy’s twin Jacob has made himself eminently meme-able at Newcastle in recent years, but, while Josh’s contributions will doubtless go viral, he has carved himself into United’s history.
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Twice after the break Murphy could have completed a hat-trick with similar bursts. He first dragged wide, before later being denied by Baxter. Yet there was never a sense that either miss would prove costly: Oxford executed almost every instruction to the dot and dash. Bolton were not even afforded a shot on target.
“Utterly brilliant,” as Timmy Mallett, who had mingled with fellow Oxford supporters on Wembley way, doubtless yelled to anyone and everyone who would listen.
Source: theguardian.com
