DEAN Windass gave a dynamite demonstration of just why Oxford United wanted to bust the bank to get him with a brilliant debut goal at Bristol City on Saturday.
His 48th-minute equaliser at Ashton Gate, which earned Malcolm Shotton's men a 2-2 draw and a useful opening-day point, oozed class.
The fierce drive from the edge of the penalty area, after a well-worked one-two with fellow new boy Andy Thomson, made him an instant celebrity among United fans who have been waiting years for a midfield general who can score goals.
Oxford United smashed their record transfer to buy Windass for £475,000, but on Saturday's performance it was money well spent.
Thanks to a hard-working display in scorching temperatures of 30-35 degrees on the pitch and goals from Windass and Matt Murphy, the U's were able to hold a Bristol City outfit who splashed out more than £3m in the summer.
"I played the ball in to Andy, and just played a one-two. I hit it, it went into the bottom corner and I was delighted," Windass said.
"I went over to the fans because that's what they'd come to see and I went over to them to appreciate what they were doing." Boss Shotton said: "It was a game that could have gone either way. A point each was probably a fair result. Both sides missed very good chances.
"I'd have settled for a point before the game. Dean did well . . . it's always nice for the boy to get off the mark, and I'm sure we'll get quite a few from quite a few more of the lads." In the blistering heat, the players had to be constantly aware of dehydration and downed litres of liquid before, during and after the match.
And Shotton revealed: "The lads have lost between seven and 14 pounds in body fluid. We took the scales down and weighed them before and weighed them after so it goes to show what the heat was out there.
"You can understand the game slowing down slightly towards the end, but there were 22 players out there at the end who had put everything in."
Windass summed up the mood of the camp. "We were disappointed with our first-half performance," he said.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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