It’s an old cliché, but if this was a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it miles before the end. It’s not often that a team can have so much possession and so much territorial advantage without a goal coming, but on Saturday, this was exactly the case.

On 88 minutes City fans could have been forgiven for sloping off early believing their team had been robbed of a comfortable victory. Where a nice little five-nil victory should have been chalked up to the Lilywhites, it looked almost certain that all they  would have for their efforts was a frustrating scoreless draw. However, things were to change in the last seconds of the match.

First, some context. City have scored freely and have racked up some big wins, but haven’t nicked odd goals when they were really needed them. Add this to a batch of forwards who haven’t been finding the net of late made breaking down a five–man midfield on a slow, heavy pitch a difficult proposition

Burke holds off his marker

However, the Lilywhites set about their task with some enthusiasm and had it not been for a keeper so young that you might well have expected to have found his dad revving the engine impatiently on the car park as his son played, City would have scored a hat full in the first thirty minutes.

The game was, quite simply, wave after wave of City attacks repelled by Jon North, time and time again. It looked as if Jamie Barker would surely score when he headed Adrian Cambridge’s corner down, only for his effort to be scrambled off the goal line; the ball came back to him, was hit to the goal, but again blocked on the line by a defender.

Barker was back in the action minutes later after Cambridge’s delightfully placed ball down the right flank was crossed first time by Burke, the striker being foiled not once but twice by North.

With James Krause marauding down the left, crosses were flying in from both sides now. The full-back was linking well with John Kennedy and the two JKs played a neat one-two to give Krause the chance to cross to Midgley whose air shot wasted an excellent opportunity.

Dave Theobald was the next to try his luck. On 24 minutes he found himself on the right hand side of the box and elected to drive a dropping ball when in fact he had enough time to take a controlling touch.

Fuller was the next to be thwarted. Burke lost the ball on the right, regained it and touched it to Barker who picked out Midgley, back to Burke and a little ball to Fuller - a goal this time surely? But down went North and another fine save to add to his collection.

Next we must welcome Krause to the duck shoot. He was on the end of one of City’s best moves of the match, initiated like so many by Cambridge from deep inside his own half. Rather than lumping the ball forward, it took an interchange of five swift passes to release Krause, whose effort was tipped away.

The second half was one of increasing frustration for the home team. Barker’s header went straight down rather than back across the keeper and later the striker was teed up by Krause only to hit a weak shot. When his 81st minute effort was cleared off the line he must have thought that he was destined not to trouble the scorers in this game. And so it proved. I don’t know if he’s a religious man but it appeared he was giving up goals for Lent.

Scorer, James Krause, forays forward

Fuller gave way to Calliste, who had just over ten minutes to remind the Milton Road faithful of what he could achieve. As it happened, it took a defender to show the forwards how to do it.

When the goal came, it was a delightful gem. Krause took a quick throw, took the return and passed to Cambridge who knocked the ball back to Kennedy who played the ball with the outside of the foot, curling it into the path of Burke. Krause, meanwhile, had continued his run and was perfectly placed for Burke’s neat touch, thrashing the ball past North at the near post. It was as well-worked a goal as you’ll see in a long time at Milton Road.

The second came about thanks to the hard work of Barker, who if he couldn’t get on the score sheet could at least take pride in the setting up Calliste. Receiving the ball near the half way line on the left, he did well to wriggle past his man and make inroads on the Oxford City goal. Calliste pulled wide, taking his defender with him and creating the space for Barker to slip the ball. One-on-one with North, Calliste side-footed home and the points were definitely staying at Milton Road.

Of all the likely results, 2-0 was the least expected. With the number of efforts on goal, four or five to the good wouldn’t have been greedy - but with a minute on the clock, nil-nil looked inevitable.

This was a hugely entertaining game made even better by an unfussy and well organised referee who worked well with his assistants, Anthony Serrano proving that at least one decent thing has come out of Hemel Hempstead.

Thumbs down to Oxford City’s impenetrable shirt numbers which made identification virtually impossible. But then I am colour blind.

Terrific football on an unhelpful surface made me wonder what City can achieve when the pitches dry out in the spring. Lots of noise from the Shed and signs of a fine recovery from Joe Miller who nearly burst his stitches when City scored. What fun.

Post match reaction Gary Roberts It has to be one of the most one-sided 2-0 victories many of us have ever seen, and I am pleased we got the points although we had to wait until the 89th minute for the breakthrough... more