KEMAR Roofe again showed his eye for the big occasion as his double put Oxford United in pole position to reach Wembley in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

The forward, whose brace downed Swansea City in the Emirates FA Cup on Sunday, struck before half-time to leave Millwall chasing the game.

His first goal was meant to be a cross, but from the most acute of angles it left goalkeeper David Forde red-faced.

And just before half-time he reacted quickest when the excellent John Lundstram fired a shot off the crossbar to head in for his 17th goal of the season.

Millwall were poor, but rallied to enjoy the best of the second half.

United survived some nervy moments and goalkeeper Benji Buchel made several saves to keep out the Lions, who now have a mountain to climb in next month's second leg at the Kassam Stadium to deny United a place in the final.

  • Contrasting reactions from the Oxford United and Millwall fans on the final whistle

Michael Appleton made three changes to the side which started the win over Swansea City.

Buchel replaced Sam Slocombe in goal, Joe Skarz made way at left back for Jordan Evans and Patrick Hoban began up front in place of Ryan Taylor.

Buchel was busy inside the opening couple of minutes.

The goalkeeper turned a Jed Wallace round the post and from the resulting corner he got away with a fumble dealing with Lee Beevers's header.

Millwall's height was a threat at set pieces and Steve Morison nodded wide from another corner in the tenth minute.

United looked bright in possession, but had barely threatened when they opened the scoring in freakish fashion four minutes later.

Roofe collected a throw from Evans down by the corner flag on United's left flank.

The forward appeared to be trying to cross, but instead the ball swerved, somehow passing through Forde's grasp and into the net.

It was an awful error from the goalkeeper, who received ironic cheers from his own fans when he saved a long-range effort from Chris Maguire a few minutes later.

United's accomplished style contrasted with Millwall's more agricultural approach, which involved going long for strikers Morison and Lee Gregory.

Aside from dead ball situations it yielded little - and the Lions fans were not shy in showing their displeasure.

Mistakes in possession were pounced on by those on the terraces and the mood quickly turned sour with one side playing all the football.

Millwall's long balls were not wholly unsuccessful and if Gregory had shown more composure in the 25th minute he could have caught Buchel in no man's land.

Instead he blazed high into the jubilant away fans.

They were almost cheering a second goal just after the half hour mark thanks to a sublime piece of skill from Lundstram.

A cleverly disguised chipped pass on the edge of the box took the entire Millwall defence out of the game, but Roofe could not control the ball with only Forde to beat.

The pair combined again two minutes before the break - and this time United's top scorer made no mistake.

Liam Sercombe laid off for Lundstram to curl a shot from 25 yards which hit the crossbar, where Roofe reacted quickest to head in the rebound as Forde got to his feet.

Unsurprisingly Millwall were booed off at the break, but they were nearly three goals adrift when play resumed.

A quick throw led to George Baldock getting forward and from his low cross Hoban steered a shot just wide of the far post.

It was a good chance and the last clear sight United had of Forde's goal for a while.

Around the hour Millwall got on top, winning a succession of set pieces which led to nervy moments in the penalty area.

United's exertions earlier in the night - and on Sunday - appeared to be catching up with them as they began to struggle to keep the ball.

A poor clearance from Buchel invited more pressure 16 minutes from time, but the Liechtenstein international immediately made amends by saving a low shot from Wallace which was heading for the far corner.

United's attacking moments were sporadic, but ten minutes from time they had a good shout for a penalty when Chris Maguire's shot appeared to be blocked by a hand.

Millwall instantly broke and had several dangerous moments before Buchel gathered to calm fraying nerves.

The goalkeeper was quickly pressed into action again, watching carefully as Morison's shot took a deflection.

It was as close as they came late on and United preserved their lead to become warm favourites to reach the final for the first time.

Millwall (4-4-2): Forde, Cummings, Webster, Beevers, J Martin (O'Brien 64), Wallace, Williams (Upson 77), Abdou, Ferguson, Morison, Gregory (Onyedinma 84).

Unused subs: Archer, Nelson.

Booked: Webster.

Oxford Utd (4-4-2): Buchel, Baldock, Mullins, Wright, Evans, MacDonald, Sercombe, Lundstram, Maguire, Roofe, Hoban.

Subs used: O'Dowda (Hoban 77), Hylton (Roofe 86).

Unused subs: Slocombe, Dunkley, Ruffels.

Booked: O'Dowda.

Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).

Attendance: 7,275 (1,222 visitors).