I DID fear for my sanity when I arrived at the Kassam Stadium at 7.20am yesterday to buy tickets for Oxford United’s trip to our rivals Swindon Town on Sunday, August 21.

But three hours later, the move was vindicated when I was holding two of the hottest tickets in town.

As a U’s fan of around 30 years I am used to putting myself through the whole gambit of emotions, but clambering out of bed at 6.45am yesterday in the hope of getting tickets for a game – there were 377 seats of the U’s allocation left – was a first.

We haven’t played Swindon in the league for 10 years, so everyone was desperate to get a ticket.

And as I set off towards the ground, I was thinking “there’s going to be no one there or loads of people” – sadly there was a massive queue of similarly anxious fans. In a way, though, it was reassuring to know I wasn’t the only one.

It was two hours later that the queue started moving and at 10.17am – that’s what it said on my receipt – I got a pair of tickets.

“There’s only ten tickets left mate’, said the man at the ticket office.

Three minutes later the away allocation was sold out. – with at least 200 people missing out. I hope all my efforts are not wasted and I can see for the first time the U’s clinch victory at the County Ground.

Of course, it’s not about the result. It’s about savouring the local derby atmosphere again.

But a win would be good.

Daniel Ferguson, 19, from Grove, was one of those camping out in front of the stadium.

He said: “We thought it would be really busy and we did not want to risk missing out on a ticket.

“There is a really good feeling about this game.

“It is a massive game that has not happened in a good ten years. Everyone is looking forward to it.”

Tom Chivers, 19, from Wantage, also camped out.

He said Oxford United would win the game 2-0.

He said: “We knew come the morning there would be a massive queue.

“It was a small price to pay to make sure we got a ticket.”

Oxford United ticket manager Matt Everett said: “We expected the queues to start early, but were impressed that they started at 10pm on Wednesday night for our 9.30am opening on Thursday morning.

“To arrive at the stadium and see supporters camped out shows exactly what our fans are about.”