York boss Foyle gunning for Oxford United

The two clubs lock horns again this Saturday at KitKat Crescent and it’s a massive match for the Blue Square Premier with York unbeaten at home for ten matches and the U’s nine points clear at the top.

And former United centre forward Foyle says the way his team almost won on the opening day at the Kassam Stadium probably helped to galvanise Oxford.

The Minstermen led from the 34th minute of that August 8 clash until a dramatic finale that saw United snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with two goals in the last two minutes.

“We probably did Oxford a favour putting them under pressure the way we did,” Foyle said.

“It was probably a wake-up call for them that did Chris Wilder a favour, because they’ve then gone on and been tremendous.

“That hasn’t really surprised me. I thought they and Luton would be up there leading the way.

“Oxford have a fantastic away record but my strikers Richard Brodie and Michael Rankine did well in the game at Oxford and gave Luke Foster and Mark Creighton quite a few problems.

“If we can get the ball to them again, we know we’ll cause Oxford problems on Saturday. But Oxford will cause us problems as well the way they’re playing.”

As well as their ten-match unbeaten home record, encompassing the final two of last season and the first eight of this campaign, York were also unbeaten for ten matches home and away until last Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Salisbury, when they lost to a disputed penalty.

And their home run is all the more impressive because they have played many of the top sides on their own ground already, drawing 2-2 and 1-1 with Cambridge and Stevenage respectively, and beating Kettering 2-0.

“For me, this is another great week because we've got Oxford, then Luton away as our next two games,” Foyle said.

“We’ve had some hard games at home, and if we can get Oxford out of the way with our record still in tact, we believe that we can keep the run going for some time.”