Potter hails Oxford United victory at leaders

9:40am Wednesday 27th February 2013 in Sport Photograph of the Author By David Pritchard, Chief Sports Reporter covering Oxford United. Follow us on twitter: @oxfordmailoufc. Call me on 01865 425458

Alfie Potter fires home the winning goal Alfie Potter fires home the winning goal

ALFIE Potter said Oxford United “shocked” league leaders Gillingham with the standard of their performance in winning 1-0 at Priestfield, writes DAVID PRITCHARD.

The U’s had won just one of their previous seven games, but a changed line-up delivered with an impressive display.

There was nothing fortunate about the victory, which was sealed by a cool finish from Potter six minutes from time.

The 24-year-old was thrilled to upset the odds and felt United had surprised their high-flying opponents.

“It’s a massive result,” he said.

“We had been written off by everyone, but we’ve shown on our day we can compete with the best teams in this league.

“I think we shocked them, maybe they turned up thinking they were going to roll us over.”

Potter had worked hard in a central role and was tiring late on before the big chance fell his way from Tony Capaldi’s through ball.

He said: “It was probably the last run I had in me, so I was glad to get on the end of it because my legs had gone after that.”

It capped off a dramatic day for United, who had problems getting to Kent.

Like many supporters, the team bus was caught up in heavy congestion caused by the closure of the M40.

The delays threw their preparations into disarray, forcing the players to eat their pre-match meal much later than usual.

The bus only reached Priestfield around an hour before kick-off, so the squad could only go through a shorter warm-up than normal.

U’s boss Chris Wilder, who also lost Andy Whing to illness earlier in the day, was immensely satisfied with the result.

He said: “It’s been a difficult, long day, but it’s been an enjoyable night for us.

“We’ve had to overcome a lot of different challenges and I think we deserved the win.

“We got here really late, the changing room looked like a bomb site before the game – there was kit everywhere.

“It shows that sometimes when you’re not the best prepared you just dig in. All credit to the character of the players.”

Comments (14)

10:11am Wed 27 Feb 13

Abingdonox says...

BigAlBiker, where are you this morning? You are normally the first to comment !!!
BigAlBiker, where are you this morning? You are normally the first to comment !!! Abingdonox

10:31am Wed 27 Feb 13

BigAlBiker says...

See other thread, great win all round, performance was not up to much but a win is a win and i will take it all day long.

Onwards and upwards we go but without Wilder and his chums.
See other thread, great win all round, performance was not up to much but a win is a win and i will take it all day long. Onwards and upwards we go but without Wilder and his chums. BigAlBiker

11:21am Wed 27 Feb 13

Beanofan says...

BigAlBiker wrote:
See other thread, great win all round, performance was not up to much but a win is a win and i will take it all day long.

Onwards and upwards we go but without Wilder and his chums.
Wilder has done brilliantly for this club but it feels stale. We need new blood. Hopefully we will get that in the summer. Great result last night. Onwards and Upwards. Also Scum lost so very good night. Bring on Saturday
[quote][p][bold]BigAlBiker[/bold] wrote: See other thread, great win all round, performance was not up to much but a win is a win and i will take it all day long. Onwards and upwards we go but without Wilder and his chums.[/p][/quote]Wilder has done brilliantly for this club but it feels stale. We need new blood. Hopefully we will get that in the summer. Great result last night. Onwards and Upwards. Also Scum lost so very good night. Bring on Saturday Beanofan

11:22am Wed 27 Feb 13

BigAlBiker says...

And Luton lost as well, a great night all round.
And Luton lost as well, a great night all round. BigAlBiker

11:56am Wed 27 Feb 13

davecuddoufc says...

And I won £4-30 on the lottery!
And I won £4-30 on the lottery! davecuddoufc

1:50pm Wed 27 Feb 13

jack smart says...

HORRAY, OUR BEST MOMENT OFTHE SEASON AND LETS HAVE MORE LIKE THIS . I LISTENED TO THE GAME ON RADIO OXFORD BUT WELL DONE THE FANS WHO WENT THERE IN FREEZING WEATHER AND ROAD PROBLEMS
HORRAY, OUR BEST MOMENT OFTHE SEASON AND LETS HAVE MORE LIKE THIS . I LISTENED TO THE GAME ON RADIO OXFORD BUT WELL DONE THE FANS WHO WENT THERE IN FREEZING WEATHER AND ROAD PROBLEMS jack smart

5:34pm Wed 27 Feb 13

oldun says...

Beanofan wrote:
BigAlBiker wrote:
See other thread, great win all round, performance was not up to much but a win is a win and i will take it all day long.

Onwards and upwards we go but without Wilder and his chums.
Wilder has done brilliantly for this club but it feels stale. We need new blood. Hopefully we will get that in the summer. Great result last night. Onwards and Upwards. Also Scum lost so very good night. Bring on Saturday
Brilliantly - apologies, but I think that you must be very easily pleased - for me it is at best 7 out of 10 (and at best 4 out of 10 over the past twelve months) - just an opinion. If we do not get up through the play offs this season then he must go. Come on Mr Wilder - take us up the heady heights of the third tier (not quite where we were for much of 68 to 99 - stop yawning)
[quote][p][bold]Beanofan[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]BigAlBiker[/bold] wrote: See other thread, great win all round, performance was not up to much but a win is a win and i will take it all day long. Onwards and upwards we go but without Wilder and his chums.[/p][/quote]Wilder has done brilliantly for this club but it feels stale. We need new blood. Hopefully we will get that in the summer. Great result last night. Onwards and Upwards. Also Scum lost so very good night. Bring on Saturday[/p][/quote]Brilliantly - apologies, but I think that you must be very easily pleased - for me it is at best 7 out of 10 (and at best 4 out of 10 over the past twelve months) - just an opinion. If we do not get up through the play offs this season then he must go. Come on Mr Wilder - take us up the heady heights of the third tier (not quite where we were for much of 68 to 99 - stop yawning) oldun

9:51pm Wed 27 Feb 13

Richard Wickson says...

Lets keep it in perspective, a win is only a win even against the top side, still only 3 points but that said it sounded well deserved. It looked good on the statistics that we had 2 shotts on target and 1 went in as opposed to the amount of games this season we have had 18 shots of which 9 have been on target and none have gone in. Tho as I have said before it counts for little if its not followed by another win on Saturday. We need a bit of a run to boost confidence and put daylight between us and the bottom 2.
Lets keep it in perspective, a win is only a win even against the top side, still only 3 points but that said it sounded well deserved. It looked good on the statistics that we had 2 shotts on target and 1 went in as opposed to the amount of games this season we have had 18 shots of which 9 have been on target and none have gone in. Tho as I have said before it counts for little if its not followed by another win on Saturday. We need a bit of a run to boost confidence and put daylight between us and the bottom 2. Richard Wickson

11:03pm Wed 27 Feb 13

OUFCwhelan says...

Oh come on, daylight? There's already daylight between us and the bottom two. There was only once (if that) when there may of been the slightest chance of relegation. Jesus stop being so negative we won agaisn't the league leaders! The scum lost agaisn't 2nd from bottom (now 3rd from bottom) and to top it off....Luton lost! Cheer up ffs
Oh come on, daylight? There's already daylight between us and the bottom two. There was only once (if that) when there may of been the slightest chance of relegation. Jesus stop being so negative we won agaisn't the league leaders! The scum lost agaisn't 2nd from bottom (now 3rd from bottom) and to top it off....Luton lost! Cheer up ffs OUFCwhelan

9:21am Thu 28 Feb 13

Richard Wickson says...

OUFCwhelan wrote:
Oh come on, daylight? There's already daylight between us and the bottom two. There was only once (if that) when there may of been the slightest chance of relegation. Jesus stop being so negative we won agaisn't the league leaders! The scum lost agaisn't 2nd from bottom (now 3rd from bottom) and to top it off....Luton lost! Cheer up ffs
Does it matter whether Swindon or Luton lost? It obviously does to you and some others but the point is its what happens at this club, OUFC that really does matter, another bad run and clubs below us doing well and we could be in trouble, the season we went down I said similar about this time and others said it wouldn't happen. History shows it did and none of us want it to happen again of that I am sure we all agree, tho on second thoughts maybe not IL, because as I remember it we got slightly higher gates for a lot of our BSP stint, or is that still being negative? It's the negative that worries me that's why I want results to be positive!
[quote][p][bold]OUFCwhelan[/bold] wrote: Oh come on, daylight? There's already daylight between us and the bottom two. There was only once (if that) when there may of been the slightest chance of relegation. Jesus stop being so negative we won agaisn't the league leaders! The scum lost agaisn't 2nd from bottom (now 3rd from bottom) and to top it off....Luton lost! Cheer up ffs[/p][/quote]Does it matter whether Swindon or Luton lost? It obviously does to you and some others but the point is its what happens at this club, OUFC that really does matter, another bad run and clubs below us doing well and we could be in trouble, the season we went down I said similar about this time and others said it wouldn't happen. History shows it did and none of us want it to happen again of that I am sure we all agree, tho on second thoughts maybe not IL, because as I remember it we got slightly higher gates for a lot of our BSP stint, or is that still being negative? It's the negative that worries me that's why I want results to be positive! Richard Wickson

4:43pm Thu 28 Feb 13

OUFCwhelan says...

We're ten points away from the relegation zone and have had three clean sheets in a row with 7 out of 9 points, we're out of the bad run and not exactly in trouble lets be honest, and yes I do care cause I hate Swindon and Luton so it makes it a better day. You're just the type of person that looks for the negatives in everything. Bye.
We're ten points away from the relegation zone and have had three clean sheets in a row with 7 out of 9 points, we're out of the bad run and not exactly in trouble lets be honest, and yes I do care cause I hate Swindon and Luton so it makes it a better day. You're just the type of person that looks for the negatives in everything. Bye. OUFCwhelan

8:42pm Thu 28 Feb 13

Richard Wickson says...

OUFCwhelan wrote:
We're ten points away from the relegation zone and have had three clean sheets in a row with 7 out of 9 points, we're out of the bad run and not exactly in trouble lets be honest, and yes I do care cause I hate Swindon and Luton so it makes it a better day. You're just the type of person that looks for the negatives in everything. Bye.
You are totally wrong, I have sat here for over 20 minutes with pen and paper and the negatives far outweigh the positives by a long chalk, the big positive of course is that Wilders contract is up no matter what at the end of the season. I have supported OU since they were Headington United back in 1959 and am seriously concerned about the present and future of the club and wouldn't like to see us relegated out of the League again and in response to your we have had 3 clean sheets in a row, just look back to the season we were relegated, too many draws, not enough wins. You may sit idly by unconcerned but I feel for the club and my fellow fans and never want to see us non league again as am sure you don't. If you see that as negativity then so be it.
[quote][p][bold]OUFCwhelan[/bold] wrote: We're ten points away from the relegation zone and have had three clean sheets in a row with 7 out of 9 points, we're out of the bad run and not exactly in trouble lets be honest, and yes I do care cause I hate Swindon and Luton so it makes it a better day. You're just the type of person that looks for the negatives in everything. Bye.[/p][/quote]You are totally wrong, I have sat here for over 20 minutes with pen and paper and the negatives far outweigh the positives by a long chalk, the big positive of course is that Wilders contract is up no matter what at the end of the season. I have supported OU since they were Headington United back in 1959 and am seriously concerned about the present and future of the club and wouldn't like to see us relegated out of the League again and in response to your we have had 3 clean sheets in a row, just look back to the season we were relegated, too many draws, not enough wins. You may sit idly by unconcerned but I feel for the club and my fellow fans and never want to see us non league again as am sure you don't. If you see that as negativity then so be it. Richard Wickson

4:59pm Fri 1 Mar 13

OUFCwhelan says...

We've already had more wins this season and we're three points away from the total we got in that season, and yes I do see that as negativity because your looking at the teams below us and worrying about them when the low ones are miles away, instead of looking at the teams above us and seeing how we can catch them. And I kind of agree with the wilder thing but lets be fair, the players haven't stepped up this season the likes of leven, constable and our other top players haven't been playing to the best of their ability. Also with the amount of injuries we've had this season I think wilder's done the best he can. It also doesn't help that even thought over the 4 years that he's been here he's built a passing side, IL has now made it so we have to play long.
We've already had more wins this season and we're three points away from the total we got in that season, and yes I do see that as negativity because your looking at the teams below us and worrying about them when the low ones are miles away, instead of looking at the teams above us and seeing how we can catch them. And I kind of agree with the wilder thing but lets be fair, the players haven't stepped up this season the likes of leven, constable and our other top players haven't been playing to the best of their ability. Also with the amount of injuries we've had this season I think wilder's done the best he can. It also doesn't help that even thought over the 4 years that he's been here he's built a passing side, IL has now made it so we have to play long. OUFCwhelan

6:32pm Sat 2 Mar 13

OUFCwhelan says...

Still think we're going down? #DontKnowWhatYourOnA
bout
Still think we're going down? #DontKnowWhatYourOnA bout OUFCwhelan

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