WITH one run, jump and head of a football, Sam Winnall gave Oxford United fans a moment they had waited 16 months for.
The striker arrived in September 2020 with a reputation as a proven Football League finisher, but his time at the Kassam Stadium has been underwhelming, to say the least.
A Valentine’s Day equaliser against Wigan Athletic and the strike that sparked last April’s stunning win over Gillingham were his only goals of real importance.
But this strike felt huge. I wrote last week about United’s 2022 lacking spark, but a turnaround triumph against Sheffield Wednesday reignited the fire as they claimed their first three points of the calendar year.
Winnall’s winner against his former club was not the only comeback story on a day when several players performed like they had a point to prove.
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Billy Bodin was outstanding on just his third Sky Bet League One start for the club, with his delivery from set-pieces a notable improvement on what we have seen from United this season.
Meanwhile, Marcus McGuane struggled against Wycombe Wanderers last weekend and took time to get going, but his energy and distribution helped turn the game.
Mark Sykes was also not at his best at Adams Park, but provided a firm answer to anyone questioning his commitment.
He was an unlikely candidate to play right wing back when United switched to 3-5-2, with Sam Long perhaps the obvious choice.
But Sykes' energy makes him well-suited to that role and he made some important defensive contributions, while also maintaining an attacking threat in an all-action display.
Read also: Karl Robinson on the tactical tweak that changed the game
We cannot go any further without focusing on the formation switch, as that ultimately changed the game.
Karl Robinson deserves credit for fixing a problem and matching Wednesday's 3-5-2, giving the U's more solidity down a left flank where they had been painfully second-best.
The U's have found the 4-4-2 diamond formation works well when they want to switch away from 4-3-3, so to have another system in their armoury is no bad thing.
Wednesday were not necessarily playing United off the park in the first half, but they deserved to be ahead and it felt like a familiar story when Barry Bannan put them 1-0 up.
The U's did not have an answer when conceding first to Lincoln City and Wycombe in the last fortnight, so to respond twice, not just once, and go onto win was hugely encouraging.
Josh Windass' strike could have been a hammer blow, but just 18 seconds passed between United restarting the game and Matty Taylor smashing home his 50th goal for the club.
After so many years of failing to rise to the occasion in front of big crowds, the U's managed to mix desire with a high standard of football in a thrilling last half an hour.
The sight of Winnall leaping to head home Bodin's corner and tearing away in front of a packed Jim Smith Stand was one of the moments of the season so far, especially at home.
United still needed almost 15 minutes of determined defending to get over the line and they earned the touch of fortune when Callum Paterson volleyed just wide in stoppage-time.
It felt like a big win. If the U's make inroads in the transfer market in the coming days, those feel-good vibes will be here to stay.
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