OXFORD United’s travelling fans made the 3-0 win at Barnet feel like a home game, according to two-goal winger Callum O’Dowda.

Nearly half the 3,264 crowd at the Hive were in the away end and they were richly rewarded with a victory which strengthened United’s push for automatic promotion in Sky Bet League Two.

Having seen the visitors forced to cope with lots of pressure in the first half, they had an excellent view of their three goals after the break.

O’Dowda bagged two, the first time he had done so in a senior game, and the 20-year-old enjoyed celebrating with the buoyant away fans.

He said: “It was class, I absolutely loved it.

“I have been quite frustrated not to score a few goals (recently), so this was such an incredible feeling.

“At times in the game it actually felt like we were the home side.

“We absolutely dominated on and off the field in the second half.”

Oxford Mail:

  • Oxford United's 1,568 away fans made up nearly half the crowd at Barnet

Danny Hylton came off the bench to net the third goal late on, as Michael Appleton’s side continued to march towards promotion.

With Plymouth Argyle losing, the U’s have a six-point gap on third place.

O’Dowda, who misses the next two games due to international duty with Republic of Ireland’s under 21s, admitted it was hard not to look ahead.

He said: “The cliche is you’ve got to think of the next game and you have to do that, but obviously you do think what it could take to get promoted.

“I see it as the quicker we get there, the better. It’s got to happen.”

The winger from Kidlington now has seven goals for the campaign – three more than last season’s total.

And the double at Barnet boosted his hopes of reaching the individual target set last summer.

O’Dowda said: “I said at the start of the season I wanted ten goals.

“I’ve been in and out of the team which hasn’t helped, but we’re getting the results, so I can’t complain.

“The main thing we got out of it was the three points. I’m really chuffed for the team."