Oxford United gain promotion back to the championship following a 25 year absence
Author: Fraser Day & Jonny FreemanPublished 6 hours ago
Last updated 6 hours ago
Josh Murphy scored a first half brace to send Des Buckingham’s side back to the second tier of English football for the first time in 25 years.
Both sides bought more than 30,000 fans to Wembley for the final game of the league one season.
Both Bolton and Oxford fans were in full voice ahead of kick off with a wall of yellow and white either side of Wembley.
It was a cagey opening 10 minutes with little in the way of chances for either side.
Josh Sheehan had the first real chance of the game with his shot from outside the box going just wide of the post.
Ruben Rodrigues had Oxford’s first big chance, wriggling away from his man and firing a shot wide of the post from outside the area.
Josh Murphy opened the scoring after half an hour, cutting inside and curling a shot at goal which deflected off the head of Ricardo Santos and past Nathan Baxter.
10 minutes later Murphy made it two, rounding the keeper and finishing superbly to double the U’s lead.
Chants of “We are going up” echoed from the Oxford end, two chances for Murphy and two goals.
Bolton started well second half with a flurry of attacks and corners, but no real clear cut chances.
Josh Murphy had a great chance to complete the hat trick after finding space between the Bolton centre backs, but the shot was never going to trouble Baxter.
Cameron Brannagan was forced off through injury 20 minutes into the second half, receiving a standing ovation from the U’s fans.
Murphy had yet another chance to seal the game breaking away from a Bolton corner and beating the defender for pace, but his shot was straight at the keeper.
An unforgettable day for Oxford fans, but Bolton fans will be disappointed with a performance that caused Oxford very few problems.