Oxford United left it late before picking up an excellent three points against Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.
It took until the 96th minute before Josh Ruffels rifled them home with a 25 yard effort, a great moment for the Oxford-born midfielder:
“It was pretty special” he told iFollow after the game. “I can’t remember ever scoring so late before. I’d had a couple of similar chances but played it wide, but this time I just thought ’it’s the final seconds of the game; why not? ‘ I concentrated on striking it properly and it has just crept inside the post.”
The goal came despite Ruffels being asked to play in a slightly different position in the midfield.
“I was in a different role” he said “just a bit deeper to try and make sure the defence was nice and tight, so I didn’t get forward as much as usual. But I managed to get that one opportunity and thankfully I took it.”
United had a stroke of luck when Rovers hit the post in the second half with the ball rolling to safety after travelling across the face of goal, but they could also have won it earlier on when awarded a penalty.
“Moments like that have to go your way” Ruffels said. “If so you have to then take advantage. For the penalty I was way back from the play but didn’t actually think it was inside. Unfortunately Jack didn’t put it away but he can owe me a drink for the goal!”
United now have three wins from their last five games as we approach the busiest time of the season:
“We are just getting a run of results” Josh said. “Two wins in a week and now we have another tough game at Rochdale next week so it is up to us to follow up today’s results and get another win next Saturday.”
See the full interview plus the thoughts of Pep Clotet and Dwight Tiendalli, and see full or extended highlights, all in iFollow.