By Hugo Varley
Bolton……………………………………………………….0
Oxford United…………………………………………..2
Murphy 31, 42
Josh Murphy played the match of his life to propel Oxford United to English football’s second tier for the first time in 25 years.
The 29-year-old scored both goals as The U’s breezed past Bolton Wanderers in front of over 70,000 fans at Wembley to win the League One Play-Off Final.
As the summer sun beat down on the National Stadium, Murphy broke the deadlock after half an hour, weaving through on the left side before curling an effort into the top corner.
It was certainly the winger’s goal, but he was helped by a fortunate deflection off Bolton captain Ricardo Santos, which caught out Nathan Baxter and angled the ball away from his outstretched left hand.
A stroke of luck perhaps, but Des Buckingham’s side grabbed hold of this lead and used it to ruthlessly press home their advantage.
Just 10 minutes later it was two, as Man of the Match Murphy glided passed a Bolton defence, which by now was at sixes and sevens, before rounding Baxter and rolling the ball into an empty net.
The sea of yellow at the other end of the pitch descended into pandemonium, as the fact that Championship football was now within touching distance slowly dawned on the Oxford faithful.
In stark contrast, the half-time whistle was met with a chorus of boos from the Bolton fans, whose side now faced a mountain to climb.
To their credit, Bolton came out for the second period brighter but despite having plenty of the ball, the Lancashire side failed to muster the key chances needed.
Instead, it was the U’s who continued to have the openings in front of goal, carefully picking their moments to counter attack against an increasingly desperate Wanderers.
Three times, Murphy could have completed his hat trick, but with each second that eked away, United inched closer to promotion.
It wasn’t until the 85th minute that Bolton created their first clear cut chance. Substitute Cameron Jerome rose the highest but directed a point blank header wide from six yards out. It summed up what had been a torrid afternoon for Evatt’s side and signalled the cue for droves of their supporters to head for the exits.
This was Oxford’s day, and one to cherish for fan-turned-manager Buckingham.
The 39-year-old, who took the job back in November after a nine-year spell coaching abroad, was overcome with emotion at full-time.
“It’s unbelievable, what an incredible moment,” he said.
“Winning at Wembley is the absolute best way to go up because you get to experience it with so many people.
“The last time I was here was in 2010 when I was a supporter watching Oxford get promoted back to the Football League. The feeling of now coming back and winning as manager is honestly impossible to put into words.”
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