Oxford set up League One playoff final with Bolton after holding Peterborough

Cameron Brannagan’s penalty earned Oxford United a place in the League One playoff final as they drew 1-1 at Peterborough to progress to Wembley 2-1 on aggregate. Oxford followed up their 1-0 first-leg triumph last Saturday to hold on for a draw in a pulsating second leg and set up a showdown with Bolton on 18 May.

Brannagan, a penalty specialist, made no mistake from the spot in first-half stoppage time after Des Buckingham’s side had briefly fallen behind to a Josh Knight goal. That is the way it stayed despite Peterborough piling on the pressure to no avail in the second half.

Peterborough were the highest scorers in the regular League One season with a vast array of attacking riches, but it was a central defender who carried their biggest threat during the first half, with Knight tormenting Oxford at set pieces. He glanced a header from a Joel Randall corner over the crossbar before pouncing on Harrison Burrows’s free-kick only to see a deflected shot beaten away by the Oxford goalkeeper Jamie Cumming. But the same combination did provide the breakthrough six minutes before half-time as a devilish delivery from Burrows was steered past Cumming by a fine sidefooted volley at the back post from Knight.

However, Burrows, League One’s player of the season, soon went from hero to villain when he conceded the penalty that allowed Oxford to level in the third minute of stoppage time at the end of the first half. He blocked a Brannagan free-kick with a raised arm and the same Oxford player was only too happy to again prove he is a master from the spot, sending Jed Steer the wrong way to convert his 10th penalty of the campaign.

The hosts reacted to that self-inflicted blow well to dominate the second period and leave Oxford hanging on to their aggregate advantage. Randall’s first-time strike was bravely blocked by the face of Joe Bennett before Oxford’s captain, Elliott Moore, was fortunate to see his attempted clearance from a dangerous Burrows delivery roll straight to Cumming.

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Manager Darren Ferguson threw on Malik Mothersille as the game entered the last quarter and the two-time League One golden boot winner Jonson Clarke-Harris then joined Peterborough’s attacking arsenal as their search for a goal grew more desperate. But it was a fruitless chase, despite a host of close shaves, with a Clarke-Harris header cleared off the line by Sam Long before Cumming produced a flying save to deny Knight a second and earn Oxford’s ticket to Wembley.

“It will be without doubt the proudest moment of my life to lead my hometown club out at Wembley in my first season here,” Buckingham said afterwards. “We’ve had some tough moments along the way, but people have stuck together so strongly and this is fantastic for everyone associated with the football club.

“We knew coming here would be tough as Peterborough are an excellent team with some wonderful players,” the 39-year-old added. “They were the highest scorers in the league for a reason. We knew we would have to weather a storm, but we didn’t plan on having to weather it for quite as long as we did! But the players showed a really good desire to defend what we had.”

Ferguson admitted: “I know it’s raw right now, but this is as disappointed as I’ve ever felt as it’s such a big opportunity wasted. But I’m also proud of my team. We played like we have all season … we absolutely battered them, but we didn’t get the bit of luck you always need in the playoffs.

“We dominated the ball and got the goal we needed, but conceding so quickly after it is what has cost us the tie,” he added. “All we can do is congratulate our opponents on getting to Wembley – very luckily, but they are there. We were one game away and felt we could win there, but we all know football is a cruel game and all we can do now is go again.”