Oxford United’s two-goal hero, Tom Craddock, admitted that he felt he was due to score – and he couldn’t hide his delight at bagging a brace in front of the home fans.

Craddock's double in the 2-1 win over Port Vale in npower League Two on Saturday were his first for the U’s at the Kassam Stadium after his classy opening goal for the club at Hereford last month.

“I’d got one in five before this game, I was getting a bit itchy feet to score,” he said after United’s dramatic 2-1 win over Port Vale.

“Obviously scoring goals in front of the home fans is always great, and I’m going home happy tonight.”

Craddock believes the way Oxford kept going shows what character the team has.

“I’m really pleased, it’s a fantastic result for us,” he added. “I think we showed great character throughout the game, especially at the end to nick it so soon after they thought they’d nicked a point.

“Obviously, they’re top of the league and they were on top for a while, but I thought we defended fantastically.

“Clarkey made some brilliant saves and the back four were immense again.

“We nearly kept a clean sheet again, but we got the three points and that’s all that matters to us at the moment.”

Craddock showed great coolness in front of goal for his winner, from Matt Green’s pass.

“I just wanted to get a good contact on it,” he said.

“I knew the keeper was racing out, so I thought if I could just get a good contact on it there’d be a good chance of beating him and fortunately it went through his legs.”

The striker’s first goal, just after the hour, was also well-taken, and Craddock praised Josh Payne for his pass.

“Josh put a great ball in, he’s got great vision,” he said.

“I heard the keeper shout for the defender to get it and I could see the defender was nowhere near it, so I made sure I made a good contact with my head and it went in.”