Grays 0-4 Oxford Utd

Oxford United turned up the heat on league leaders Stevenage Borough with a massive win against strugglers Grays Athletic on Saturday afternoon.

Yellows boss Chris Wilder was looking for a positive response from his players after a disappointing defeat to Tamworth in their last league fixture.

And he got just that as Oxford romped to a comfortable victory with a polished team performance at New Recreation Ground.

The visitors opened their account in the 19th when Simon Clist latched onto a knockdown from Sam Deering before firing into bottom right corner from close range.

Grays came close to drawing level three minutes later but Jamie Guy saw his goalbound effort cleared off the line by Clist.

The home side managed to keep themselves in the contest by holding their opponents at bay for the remainder of the first period.

However, Oxford came flying out of the starting blocks after the half-time break and doubled their advantage within seconds of the restart.

A long ball was sent up field by the defence and James Constable flicked the ball on for Alfie Potter, who fired a curling effort into the bottom-right corner of goal.

Constable got his own name on the scoresheet in the 87th minute when he shrugged off a weak challenge before firing the ball in from a tight angle.

And the rout was complete in injury time as Dannie Bulman laid off the ball for Matthew Green, who had space and time to fire into the bottom-right corner from the edge of the box.

Grays bookings: Vernazza.

Oxford bookings: None.

Referee: Ian Cooper (Kent).

Attendance: 1,136.