MICHAEL Collins admitted there was a hint of fortune about his winning goal, but the midfielder felt Oxford United were due some luck.

The home side’s pressure in the first half against Newport County finally yielded an opening goal four minutes before the break.

Collins took a free-kick from 40 yards which was meant for a teammate, but ended up missing everyone and curling in the far corner.

Latest United news:

He said: “Brian (Howard) just said to me ‘shoot for the back stick’.

“That’s all I did, you aim for that far-post area.

“You’ve seen (Angel) Di Maria do it in the Premiership the other week and you’re lucky enough for everyone to miss it sometimes and it nestles inside the far post.”

While it was fortuitous, there was nothing flukey about the way United battled to preserve their lead with ten men following Tyrone Barnett’s 55th-minute red card.

At times this season United have dominated games and lost, so Collins felt it was high time a result went for the side, who climbed out of the bottom two with the victory.

Highlights from Saturday's game

He said: “I’ve said on many occasions we’ve not got the rewards that we’ve deserved for a lot of the performances this season.

“I’m glad that after a really tough 90 minutes where a lot went against us we’re walking away with three points.

“There were some superb performances, especially in the back four where they dug in and kept the rest of us in front going.

“I thought Michael Raynes and Johnny Mullins really dragged us through when we needed them.”

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.