CIARON Brown was thrilled to be the unlikely hero as Oxford United ground out a 1-0 win at Crewe Alexandra.

The defender hooked into the net from close range just nine minutes after coming on to open his account for the U’s.

United were unable to break down Sky Bet League One’s bottom side until just after the hour mark, but they held on to secure back-to-back wins and stay fourth in the table.

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It followed an emotional few days after the death of Joey Beauchamp on Saturday and Brown was delighted to give U’s fans something to smile about.

“To see them react the same way as I did to putting the ball in the net is very nice,” he said.

“It’s more special because I know it means more to the fans.

“If I can score a goal which means so much to the fans I’m happy to do it.

“Hopefully I can get many more.”

The defender needed to get up to speed quickly after joining the action when U’s captain Elliott Moore was forced off through injury ten minutes into the second half.

Crewe forward Christopher Long hit the crossbar moments later as United had to dig deep.

“When you’re on the bench you’ve got to keep yourself ready for when you do get on,” Brown said.

“These are the games that we need to win, so as soon as the final whistle went on Saturday we knew we needed to focus on Tuesday.

“It’s cold, it’s windy and it was a battle. We needed to make sure the mindset was correct.”

United were well on top before the break, but could not convert any of their chances into goals.

The visitors came out stronger after the restart and went so close through Long, only for Brown to settle it in the 64th minute.

Gavin Whyte and Cameron Brannagan almost sealed victory late on, but United had to endure a nervy finish to take the points.

It was a very different win to Saturday’s 4-0 thrashing of Charlton Athletic, when the U’s put on a show with four fantastic goals.

But after a difficult few days for the club following the news of Beauchamp’s passing, head coach Karl Robinson suspected his side would not match the levels they reached at the weekend.

He said: “This was a difficult one – physically and emotionally, we always knew there was going to be a fatigue element.

“We’ve celebrated that win more than any win this season.”