Michael Appleton reserves praise for Oxford's matchwinner George Baldock
ByPA Sport
Published 10/10/2015 at 19:51 GMT
Oxford boss Michael Appleton saluted George Baldock after the right-back secured a 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon at the Kassam Stadium.
George Baldock received the plaudits after his long-range strike downed AFC Wimbledon
Image credit: PA Sport
The victory was Oxford's third in a row in Sky Bet League Two, and their fourth straight victory in all competitions.
"It was a great strike from George," Appleton said. "He did the right thing in not trying to hit it too hard.
"He hit it true.
"We knew it was going to be a difficult game, but the lads did tremendously well.
"This is without a shadow of a doubt in my mind - although our supporters might disagree - our biggest win of the season.
"It's been a long 15 day and five hard games, and the players will get a well-deserved break now.
"I said at half-time to them that the least I expected was a clean sheet so that we at least draw the game, and I thought if we could do that, our quality might just bring us a goal to win it.
"We've got a steeliness about us this year that we aren't going to lose in situations like that.
"Maybe last season that's a game we wouldn't have won."
The victory lifted Oxford to joint top of the league, level on points with Portsmouth and Plymouth.
Dons boss Neal Ardley admitted his side were not at their best.
"I didn't think we had enough belief in our play," he said.
"The goal's a nothing goal from our point of view. Fair play to him for the strike, but I would have expected James (Shea) to have saved a shot like that a lot of times.
"It's a disappointing way to lose but I didn't think we did enough to win the game.
"We seemed to have weathered a 20-minute storm in the second half, and we got away with it when they hit the bar.
"We've worked hard right through the game, but we didn't create enough or cause them the kind of problems we've caused most teams in recent weeks.
"It was a disappointing performance and disappointing result in the end. We've lost a scrappy, not-great game 1-0 and our performance levels were not where they have been."
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