OXFORD United goalkeeper Billy Turley could not hide his emotions after seeing his side score in the 94th minute after the fourth official had signalled four minutes of stoppage time.

James Constable's stunning winner against Wrexham on Saturday kept the U’s play-off dream alive.

It was a remarkable and precious three points against Dean Saunders' s Red Dragons, because the midweek trip to York had clearly taken it out of United, who looked very tired at times in the second half.

Yet they managed to summon up one last burst of energy, with the fans giving them magnificent support, and Constable heading home substitute Craig Nelthorpe's cross with less than 30 seconds remaining.

“Luke Foster and I were saying afterwards . . . there is no greater high you can have than that,” Turley said.

“For those ten seconds you could fly to the moon and back on that, as I've turned around and seen the expression on all the supporters exactly the same – we've got that belief now.

“Even when that four minutes went up, I knew we still had one chance.

“On Tuesday, Beano (Constable) had exactly the same situation and it went the other side of the bar.

“That just proves we keep going to the very end. We believe we can achieve things.”

Said Foster: “To score like that, with virtually the last kick of the game . . . it's the best feeling in the world.

“There were a few tired legs out there, but we've got that character to keep going.

“You can't overstate the importance of the game, and the importance of that goal.”

United manager Chris Wilder admitted: “I didn't think we deserved to win it in the second half.

“We were excellent in the first half, we really drove forward and passed it, and played possibly better than we have done since I've been here in terms of getting the ball down and creating openings.

“It was a proper game of football – I enjoyed it. Wrexham came and played, no antics or messing about, both teams wanted to win the game.

“Our quality in the final third in the second half wasn't great, we looked tired, but drove ourselves forward.

“With the effort that we put in, we've maybe deserved that bit of luck.

“The defining moment for me was Simon Clist chasing back. There was about eight on one at one stage – I think we reverted to three at the back and seven going forward – and Clisty chased 70 yards to get a block on it.

“That was just as important as the goal from Beano.

“Other people maybe don't see things like that, but I'm sure the other players will give him a pat on the back for the effort he put in.

“We were walking away on Tuesday thinking it's all over. I thought Stevenage would win today, but there's some big games to be played.”

Former U's striker Saunders, the Wrexham manager, said: “In the second half, we totally dominated and I thought it was only a matter of time before we scored. It's the best we've played for a while.

“But you're only as good as your strikers, whoever you are, and we're short.

“I'm sick for my players. That's the first goal in six games we've conceded from open play, but Constable was quite impressive for them.”

l Match report: Pages 38-39