JOSH Ruffels thought for a moment he had forced extra-time for Oxford United, only to look up and see a former flatmate thwart his stoppage-time effort.

The midfielder spent 11 years at opponents Coventry City, so had come through the youth ranks alongside several of their side who played in the Checkatrade Trophy final.

They included goalkeeper Lee Burge, who made a stunning

one-handed save to block Ruffels’s 94th-minute header, which would have made it 2-2.

Gael Bigirimana, another former teammate, then blocked Phil Edwards’s rebound on the line as the Sky Blues held on to a 2-1 victory.

Ruffels said: “I wasn’t really expecting to get a chance like that to be honest.

“I thought I’d done enough for it to go in the back of the net, but Burgey pulled out a great save and we couldn’t quite get it over the line, which was frustrating.

“I lived with him for about three years, so it’s typical he was the one who would save it.

“Then there was a scramble, so it was two of my ex-teammates blocking it on the line.

“It would have been amazing if it had gone in, it was just a shame I couldn’t help the team get an equaliser.”