BILLY Bodin toasted a special moment as his late goal secured a vital victory for Oxford United over MK Dons.
The forward fired home four minutes from time to send the Kassam Stadium into a frenzy and keep the U’s in the Sky Bet League One play-off hunt.
MK lived up to their billing as automatic promotion contenders in a dominant first half, but United improved immeasurably after the break.
And Bodin pounced on Dean Lewington’s loose pass to give the U’s the win they needed and move them to within two points of the play-off places.
The forward said: “It was a great feeling and I was buzzing to get that goal.
“There have been a few chances down that end I probably should have put away.
“I aimed for the corner and the knee slide came out – I don’t know why, because with my knees I shouldn’t be doing that.”
The goal came when MK captain Lewington sold midfielder Josh McEachran short with a pass and Bodin played a one-two with Matty Taylor before firing inside the near post.
He said: “When I came on, the gaffer said ‘try and press as high as you can’.
“Thankfully I gambled a little bit and managed to get a toe to it.
“It was a good ball from Matty (Taylor) and as soon as it got played to me I wanted to shoot, so thankfully it ended up in the back of the net.”
United were fortunate to reach the break level after failing to manage a shot on goal in the opening 45 minutes.
Head coach Karl Robinson made his feelings known at the interval and was thrilled to see a reaction from his players.
He said: “In the first half we were second best in every aspect of our game, we were outrun and outplayed – we looked like a bang average football team.
“Half-time was big for us – we always have a chance when it comes to half-time team talks, whether it’s the players or the staff.
“We were the better team in the second half and by far the worst team in the first half.”
On Bodin, Robinson added: “It was a special goal, he’s a special player.
“There’s a lot more to come from Billy.
“It was a wonderful goal, a great press from Willo (Ryan Williams) and Matty and it dropped to the perfect person.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here