ELLIOT Benyon was delighted to make a special day for Oxford City even more memorable.

Court Place Farm welcomed its record competitive crowd of 1,208 for the visit of Slough Town and they witnessed surely one of the best goals the ground has seen since it opened in 1993.

In the 43rd minute, visiting goalkeeper Michael Edegbe’s clearance fell straight to Benyon and the experienced striker sent a searing shot into the top corner from 50 yards.

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It helped secure a 3-2 win for City, who returned to the top of Vanarama National League South.

“As soon as it dropped, I knew the keeper was out of his box and I thought I’d just hit it,” said Benyon.

“I’ve hit it so sweetly and to see it go in was a great feeling.”

City’s excellent start to the season and no Oxford United game on Boxing Day meant the hosts were expecting a big crowd.

But even they would have been pleasantly surprised at the attendance, which beat the previous high of 1,172 – set against Tranmere Rovers in the 2018/19 Emirates FA Cup.

Benyon added: “It’s fantastic, it was a great occasion.

“Oxford United weren’t playing, so a few came down from that.

“It was a great day and to get the win was even better.”

Joe Iaciofano’s opener was cancelled out by Slough striker Alfonso Tenconi inside the first 20 minutes, before Benyon’s incredible effort made it 2-1.

George Harmon increased the lead late on, but Tenconi’s second goal of the afternoon set up a nervous finale.

City held on to go three points clear at the top of the table, on an afternoon when the isolating Reece Fleet and Dan Matsuzaka were unavailable.

Benyon was one of the players to step in and the ex-Football League striker knew he had to be ready.

“You’ve just got to believe that your chance is going to come and when it comes you’ve got to take it,” the 34-year-old said.

“If we’re going to do anything this season then whoever plays has got to come in and do their bit.

“We’ve got 18 players and every single one is capable of coming in and doing a job.”

City manager David Oldfield was back in the dugout after missing the 4-2 home defeat to Dorking Wanderers 12 days earlier and paid tribute to an unforgettable strike.

“It was a sensational goal,” he said.

“We managed to get a semi-press on and pick up a second ball, then we showed some real quality through Elliot Benyon to score from distance.

“It was one of those goals you remember for a long time and we were very fortunate to be here to see it.”

Oldfield was thrilled that his players seized the moment on a record-breaking day for City.

He said: “We all know there’s times where you have a big crowd and you don’t always get the performance or the result that everybody desires.

“We’re very pleased to get that, it was fantastic to see the crowd here.

“It’s a really important day for the club to try to look after them and hopefully they’ll come back.”