WE have marvelled at Oxford United’s free-flowing football several times this season.

This was certainly not one of those occasions, but it did not matter one bit.

Two of United’s best performances since the turn of the year, the thrashings of Charlton Athletic and Burton Albion, have been followed by gritty triumphs on the road.

READ MORE: Karl Robinson explains how tactical tweak helped Oxford United overcome Shrewsbury

The U’s were far from their best at Crewe Alexandra and against Shrewsbury Town yesterday, but it is not just the points on offer that make those wins equally as important.

Teams who gain promotion do not get there just by playing pretty football, so it is pleasing to see United dig deep to get over the line.

From the moment the team news came out you suspected it would take a backs-to-the wall effort, particularly in defence.

Jack Stevens, Elliott Moore, Sam Long and Ciaron Brown had all featured in the win at Crewe just 19 days earlier, but all four players were sidelined through injury or illness. That gives you a sense of how depleted United's back line was.

In the circumstances, it is fair to say that no defensive combination would have been ideal and you can see why Karl Robinson stuck with the 3-4-1-2 formation that has served the U's well in the last two months.

It could have gone disastrously wrong, but Simon Eastwood and the trio in front of him all stood up to the challenge.

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United's goalkeeper has received plenty of stick since the 2020 play-off final, some of it unfair, but his save from Ethan Ebanks-Landell matched Stevens' flying stop on this ground last season.

In front of him, you would not have known it was John Mousinho's first Sky Bet League One start since December 2020.

The captain summed up the old cliche that the first yard is in your head, getting himself in the right position time and again to ensure he did not have to rely on pace.

Steve Seddon has had a tough time and, after a difficult start, certainly improved in the second half as Shrewsbury targeted his side of defence. Hopefully that will give him a confidence boost.

There is not much more you can say about Luke McNally but he showed his defensive ability in a fierce battle with Dan Udoh, while one silky turn in front of the press box left us drooling.

Further up the pitch, United’s front seven was mainly unchanged from the win at Burton so you felt the best policy for the division’s highest scorers could be all-out attack, but it was a different type of display.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the goals here

Matty Taylor’s 21st goal of the season typified a performance that saw the U’s fashion a lot out of very little, the striker barely touching the ball after his 11th-minute strike.

The visitors also needed things to fall their way and the marginal decisions went in their favour, particularly when Seddon got away with an early handball and Ryan Williams used his experience to win the late penalty that Cameron Brannagan converted.

They also benefitted from a glaring miss by Ryan Bowman at 1-1, 15 minutes after the forward fired home Shrewsbury’s equaliser. It was a good day to play League One’s fourth-lowest scorers.

United stood firm and struck after the 80th minute for the tenth time in 2022. Without those goals, which have earned them eight points, they would be ninth in the table.

It sealed another triumph in the face of adversity as the U's showed the characteristics required to keep fighting at the top end of League One.

Fans want to be entertained, but a few more wins like that before the end of the season will do just fine.