Oxford United boss Chris Wilder hailed his side after their crucial win – but Histon counterpart Steve Fallon was fuming.

Wilder said afterwards: “This has given us a massive boost and we really believe that, if we can win our last five games, we'll be in the play-offs.

“We've kept it alive for another week.

“I thought their goal was offside and I was possibly more disappointed by my centre half going off after getting a deep cut across the nose. The ball doesn't do that, so that's come from somewhere else.

“We kept our patience and I thought it was just a matter of time before we went on to win the game.

“We hit the post twice and when the ball came back out it just didn't drop right to us as players charged in.

“My players could easily have thought then this wasn't going to be their day, but they kept going.”

Histon manager Steve Fallon called the sending-off decision “scandalous”.

“It wasn't even a foul,” he said. “The fans were baiting for it and the ref gave it. It's the worst decision I've seen for a long, long time.

“I'd like to think there'll be an apology from the referee when he sees it again, but we'll definitely be appealing.

“The lad's absolutely distraught. It shows what an advantage a big crowd can be when the referee's too weak.”