KEVIN Francis made it a debut to remember with a match-winning performance for Oxford United last night.

The 6ft 7in striker, who joined United for £100,000 from Birmingham on Mon-day, scored one and made one in a 2-1 victory over West Brom before a sell-out Manor Ground crowd.

Francis struck the winner nine minutes from time to make it a miserable return to Oxford for former manager Denis Smith.

And Smith admitted afterwards he had tried to sign Francis himself when he was Oxford boss.

"I thought Kevin Francis would suit Oxford with the wingers they have and do a good job here," Smith said.

"He's created a goal and scored a goal, so that's been proved right.

"Just before I left, I was trying to do a deal with Purse and Francis but it didn't come off."

New United boss Malcolm Shotton did manage to pull off the deal.

He said: "Kevin's a giant. I'm absolutely delighted for the kid.

"Joey Beauchamp, Paul Powell and Mark Angel can all deliver quality balls into Kevin, so he's going to be effective. And we've only worked a couple of days on it.

"To lay one off and then score the winner in front of the London Road near the end . . . you couldn't ask for any more.

"Night games here are magnificent. The support that's generated for a small ground is tremendous and the people really got behind the players brilliantly again tonight.

"It's early days yet but I'm very pleased with the way things have settled down very quickly. "We were excellent in the first half and could have been three or four up. We were the better side for long periods until West Brom scored and then we lost the plot a bit.

"But in the end there was only one winner.''

It was United's third win in four games since Shotton was appointed.

And he said: "Winning's a very good habit to get into. I try to instill that into the players, even in the five-a-sides you've got to be a winner.

"Performances will get better as the team get fitter and they know what we are after, but the three points in the bag moves us up the table slightly and I'm delighted with the win."

Smith said: "I'm sure Oxford will be pleased with their performance.

"After the way we've performed lately we're not happy with ours. In the first half we were poor.

"It's disappointing to come here and lose, but I'm more disappointed for the West Brom fans and players because we're in the top six and we were looking to come here and get at least a point."

Said Francis: "I came here to enjoy myself and I cert- ainly did that tonight.

"With the players we've got here it can be really good. We've got quality in youth which is better than quality in depth because a lot of these young players have got a long way to go."

The gate, United's second biggest of the season, was less than 200 below capacity with just 40 spaces left in the Oxford sections and 150 remaining at the West Brom end.

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