Oxford United 2 - 3 Leyton Orient
Coca-Cola League Two

LEE STEELE'S injury time winner clinched automatic promotion for Orient on an incredibly dramatic final day.

Promotion appeared to be slipping away from the O's as their Kassam Stadium clash drew to a close, with Grimsby leading against Northampton and looking likely to snatch third spot.

But deep into injury time news began to filter through that the Cobblers had forced a leveller and almost immediately the O's broke and made sure of their destiny with Steele's 95th minute finish.

It all meant that Oxford lost their League status after a 44-year stay but their despair came in stark contrast to Orient's joy.

In a fitting end to a rollercoaster ride of a campaign, Martin Ling's men recovered from the early blow of falling behind to Eric Sabin's goal to draw level and then take a second half lead thanks to strikes from Craig Easton and Gary Alexander.

But Oxford hit back and two minutes after Alexander's measured finish Chris Willmott headed them level.

With renewed hope of grabbing the win that would keep them in League Two, Oxford poured forward but had their efforts hampered by Willmott's dismissal five minutes from the end.

And, as Orient also threw caution to the wind in the hope of grabbing a promotion-clinching winner, Steele popped up to add the finishing touch to an incisive move and sent 4,500 travelling fans into raptures.

Orient began brightly and former O's keeper Billy Turley was immediately in the thick of the action, flying to his right to beat away Joe Keith's second minute volley and then, three minutes later, pulling off a wonder save to tip Steele's stinging drive onto the post.

The O's continued to impress in the opening stages and Wayne Corden, who performed fantastically from the wing, had a low shot well saved by Turley with ten minutes on the clock.

An Orient opener seemed inevitable, but they were stung on 14 when Andy Burgess delivered a free-kick from the right for Sabin to steal in front of his man and bundle home.

That strike came from Oxford's first real threat, but Orient grabbed the goal their early endeavour deserved three minutes later when Corden crossed from the right and Easton charged in to send a header goalwards that Turley appeared to save.

But in attempting to stop the O's midfielder's towering effort, Turley was forced back over the line and the O's were level.

The home side struggled to deal with Orient's width, with both full-backs showing tremendous energy to support their attacking movements at any opportunity.

Corden always looked capable of finding a way through and he began to pepper Turley's goal with shots.

The Oxford keeper had to get down smartly to his right to field Corden's 27th minute effort, and two minutes later the same player drilled wide from the edge of the box after Keith's cross had only been half cleared.

But Oxford wasted a glorious chance to retake the lead on 32 when Sabin robbed Lockwood on the half-way line and dashed towards goal.

Gabriel Zakuani moved across in an attempt to cover but Sabin was still able to get a shot in from 18 yards that, thankfully for Orient, flashed past the near post.

The second period began in much the same way as the first and Turley was called on again five mintues after the break when Alexander's powerful downward header skidded off the turf and hit the home goalkeeper before flying over the top.

And 13 minutes later Alexander ended his three-month goal drought with a supremely confident finish.

Oxford were undermanned at the back and Alexander was able to take his time after latching on to Keith's through ball before waiting for Turley to commit himself and dink home.

But if the travelling support throught the tension would start to lift they were brought back down to earth with a bump two minutes later when Oxford equalised from another set piece.

Burgess was again the man to deliver and although Garner brilliantly parried the first header, Willmott reacted first to nod the loose ball home.

The hosts now approached the game with renewed vigour, but Orient were always able to create chances when they kept the ball on the deck and worked it wide.

With 71 minutes on the clock they broke beautifully from a corner, with Corden carrying the ball to halfway before passing to Easton.

The Scotsman waited for Steele to make his run and picked his striker out perfectly, but unfortunately he couldn't get enough power on his shot and Turley saved down low to his right.

A gloom then descended when Grimsby went one-up and left Orient needing another goal, and Steve Basham almost made matters worse 16 minutes from the end with a header that Garner had to spring across his goal to tip away.

Oxford abandoned any premise of defensive shape and, when Willmott saw red for shoving John Mackie in the face, they operated with just two at the back.

Orient, for their part, had thrown on Shane Tudor and Jabo Ibehre as they went with four out-and-out attackers, and the former chipped a delightful effort onto the top of crossbar with five minutes to go.

It looked as if their efforts were to be frustrated, especially when Ibehre wasted a one-on-one chance with two men free square to his right in stoppage time.

But then, in the fifth minute of five allowed by referee Andy Woolmer, a deafening cheer erupted in Orient's stand to signal Northampton's equaliser and, just as the good news was received, O's broke again with men over and Alexander sensibly passed for Steele to take a touch and fire past the exposed Turley to set the seal on an amazing campaign.

2	OXFORD UNITED	COCA COLA LEAGUE 2		LEYTON ORIENT	3
19	Billy TURLEY	Kassam Stadium - 6/5/06		Glyn GARNER	1
2	Lee MANSELL	Ref: Andy Woolmer (Northants)		Matt LOCKWOOD	3
3	Matthew ROBINSON	Att: 12243 (4603 away)		Michael SIMPSON	4
4	Barry QUINN	Goals:		Adam TANN	5
5	Chris WILLMOTT RC	Sabin (14)		John MACKIE (C) YC	6
8	Jay SMITH	Easton (17)		Wayne CORDEN	7
10	Chris HARGREAVES (C)	Alexander (63)		Craig EASTON	8
15	John DEMPSTER YC	Willmott (65)		Gary ALEXANDER	9
17	Andrew BURGESS	Steele (90+5)		Lee STEELE	10
18	Eric SABIN			Joe KEITH	11
33	Tcham N'TOYA			Gabriel ZAKUANI YC	14
	SUBSTITUTES	Replaced (time)		SUBSTITUTES
1	Chris TARDIF(GK)			Donny BARNARD	2
9	Steve BASHAM	18 (69)		Glenn MORRIS (GK)	12
14	Tim SILLS		11 (77)	Shane TUDOR	16
20	Jamie BROOKS	2 (76)	4 (86)	Daryl McMAHON	17
28	Billy BEECHERS	8 (89)	7 (81)	Jabo IBEHRE	19