ON a normal Saturday, thousands of fans hurry past the Ox statue outside the Kassam Stadium without so much as a glance. But this was no normal Saturday.

With kick-off well over two hours away, a steady stream of people were already making their way over to the sculpture to observe the tributes to Joey Beauchamp.

Supporters who watched Oxford United long before the club legend wowed the Manor Ground stood next to fans that were not even born when he last pulled on a yellow shirt.

But nobody was left in any doubt about how special Beauchamp will always be to his home town club.

GALLERY: Oxford United pay tribute to Joey Beauchamp

Many of us will never attend a football match packed with more emotion and the 15 minutes before kick-off were seriously powerful.

It started with Beauchamp’s daughters laying a wreath at the end where the winger scored his final U’s goal almost exactly 20 years earlier. We often talk about ‘bravery’ in football terms, but that level of courage is incomparable.

To see United’s academy teams line the pitch was also a touching sight – they will want to emulate people like Matty Taylor, Sam Baldock and Sam Long, just as those players wanted to follow in Beauchamp’s footsteps.

You could hear the emotion in Peter Rhoades-Brown’s voice as he read out the tribute to another former U’s winger.

As he recalled Beauchamp’s exploits at the Manor Ground, he told each stand at the Kassam Stadium in turn: “You are the Beech Road, you are the Osler Road and you are the London Road.” Goosebumps.

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It is tough to understand how players on either side could switch straight into matchday mode after those scenes, but they served up an exciting 90 minutes.

Grenoble Road does not do boring games right now and another thriller was fitting on the day United paid tribute to perhaps the greatest entertainer in their history.

The less said about Sam Smith’s celebration the better, but the former U’s striker’s opening goal set the tone for a first half that was generally frustrating for the hosts.

The 4-4-2 diamond, enforced by Elliott Moore’s injury and Ciaron Brown’s Thursday hospital trip, meant United lacked width before the break and often tried to play through the middle.

Cambridge were adept at dealing with this, although they will be disappointed with how they let Ryan Williams’ innocuous pass find its way to Taylor to score an emotional equaliser.

Sam Baldock’s movement was crucial to that goal and the striker made similarly clever runs all afternoon.

He took Williams’ pass to set up Cameron Brannagan for United’s second equaliser and darted across his man to meet Mark Sykes’ cross, putting the home side 3-2 up.

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There were countless more times Baldock made space for others or brought teammates into play, while the way he linked with Taylor will terrify more defences before the end of the season.

United corrected the lack of width after the break, with Williams running riot, as they once again found a way to overcome a tricky opponent.

An added bonus was a lively 15-minute cameo from Marcus Browne, who looked stronger and sharper than you would expect after almost 14 months out.

His arrival, and the late introductions of Nathan Holland and James Henry, showed United’s strength in depth in wide areas. I imagine the greatest winger in the club’s history would have approved.