KARL Robinson was delighted with the first half performance of his players as they attacked Charlton Athletic from all angles.
The Oxford United head coach watched his side score twice in quick succession, as they produced a razor-sharp display in the opening 45 minutes of the 3-1 win at the Kassam Stadium.
The victory rounded off 2022 on a high note after what has been a frustrating campaign so far.
Securing three points lifts United up to 13th in Sky Bet League One, six points outside the play-off places.
Having now hit the halfway stage of the league season, more displays like this one will surely see the club edge closer to that top six.
On the whistle match report as #oufc round off 2022 in stylehttps://t.co/cBKHuSP6aP
— Oxford Mail OUFC (@OxfordMailOUFC) December 29, 2022
Speaking after the win against Charlton, Robinson was full of praise for his players and highlighted a key save Ed McGinty made to deny Miles Leaburn when it looked certain the teenage striker would double his tally and pull Charlton level.
Robinson said: “We were scintillating in the first half – that was Oxford United wasn’t it?
“Front foot defending, open, scary, a bit flippant defending at times but wonderful to watch.
“In the second half, they scored a good goal and Ed makes one of the best saves of the season to keep it at 2-1.
“From then on, we looked like a very good football team – a team which is getting better and improving.”
Josh Murphy played the first 45 minutes and his individual performance was a highlight of the game.
The winger set up Billy Bodin for the opening goal and was a menace to the Charlton defence throughout the first half.
After feeling cramp though, Murphy was withdrawn at half-time with Yanic Wildschut taking his place.
Having been without Murphy for much of the season due to injury, Robinson was pleased to see his summer signing dazzle under the lights at the Kassam.
He said: “I’m not apologising for what I’ve said all season – if he’s fit, he’s the best player in the league.
“With him and Yanic we’re almost playing pre-season games in the league season, and that’s hard to try and get that right.
“He started cramping and feeling a bit stiff off the back of playing a little bit longer than we wanted to against Ipswich.
“These games come at the wrong time for these players because we would like six or seven days to prepare them for the next one.
“That’s something we’ve got to be a bit careful of but seeing Yanic play 45 minutes just shows you that when we have these players fit, we have a good team.”
The visitors made a triple change at half-time which brought them back into the game, and Robinson highlighted the difference those changes made.
“The players they brought on were very, very good,” he said.
“From our point of view, we’ve beaten a very good Charlton team.
“We’ve shown consistently how hard we work as a group of people, and the players showed a lot of bravery.
“We looked so calm in the last 20 minutes.”
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