Quite simply the most intense, gripping and emotionally draining match we've attended to date.  It was set up well with Oxford needing to win to stay in the league and Orient needing to win to be sure of going up.  Getting tickets proved problematic, partly because I'd lost my credit cards and had to put them on stop.  By the time I'd got new cards, you couldn't book online at either club and phone lines were not being answered.  By midday on the preceding Wednesday, it was predicted to sell out in two hours.  In desperation I tried Tom.  To cut a short story short, Tom came up trumps, and tickets were on the way within one hour.  As ever, very grateful to Tom for his help.  It was a good job too because Oxford ended up out of the league so it's a venue we would have missed.

I know this area well as we have an office two miles from the ground.  It's a great area for quaint village pubs with real beer and good food.  Knowing that the pubs near the ground are few and semi-demolished, we treated ourselves to lunch at the Bat and Ball in Cuddesdon, one of the best pub restaurants there is; highly recommended if you're in the area.  It's not cheap but the food is excellent and it feels like a pub.  Two pints of a delicious new beer on me, Pheasantly Plucked, a pale ale brewed by Clark's of Wakefield, were quaffed.  This is a pub themed on cricket; Ian would love it.  Lots of interesting cricket memorabilia are on display.  You'd never get Richard out of there, unless you nicked his Telegraph and ran off.

We went with a couple of Oxford fans from work, got caught up in the passion and felt like Oxford fans by the end.  You approach the ground through the not-very-salubrious Blackbird Leys Estate.  I think My Beautiful Laundrette may have been filmed there.  It's a three-sided ground, with three respectable and well appointed new stands, with nothing at the one end, just a brick wall separating the ground from the car park and neighbouring retail estate.  It was very colourful, with the stand on the opposite side resplendent in the red of Leyton Orient and the other two sides a sea of yellow.

The Oxford fans generally were (rightly) fearing the worst.  In fact, they have had a terrible foreboding for two months, ever since it became clear that Accrington were going to be promoted, giving rise to the potential irony that they would replace the team that replaced them 44 years ago.  At least Oxford should find it easier to re-enter the league than it was in 1962, when Hartlepool were probably being re-elected for the 17th time.  By the way, Big Ron played in Oxford's first ever League game (at Barrow).  And another thing.  To top another cr@p season for Villa, Accrington have pushed us down to 3rd on alphabetical order.

As for Leyton Orient, I just love the name.  Leyton Orient.  It's a name that seems to just sum up the tradition of football in England.  Leyton Orient.  Leyton Orient.  When they dropped the 'Leyton' all those years ago, it wasn't the same.  Leyton Orient.  Great. 

I was cheered to hear that Oxford were recalling experienced keeper Billy 'Poser' Turley for this final game.  You might recall, but probably won't, that we saw our Billy a few seasons ago when he was Rushden's keeper during their meteoric rise through the lower echelons.  He then had an over-confident swagger, a luminous red kit, and astute positioning in front of the nearest cameraman.  How times have changed.  Here he was, thrust into a game to try and save Oxford going down with, yes, Rushden.

As we awaited the kick off, fans without tickets were congregating behind the brick wall at the open end.  We watched with interest as a white truck pulled up, and the driver and a few mates erected scaffolding on the back of the truck and then a wooden gantry.  About 20 people then climbed onto the truck to watch the game.  Unfortunately, the police and stewards turned up to disperse the group.  This seemed mean to us.  When tickets were in short supply, and no doubt "true" fans couldn't get tickets, this seemed a mean act.   Presumably this was for health and safety purposes.  It became even more odd as fans later climbed the wall and sat atop it.  There must have been more than a hundred, and the drop was greater than from the truck, so we couldn't understand what was wrong with the rather ingenious truck idea. 

The game started and Orient quickly showed they were up for it, sweeping attack upon attack on Oxford.  Great football for this division and, within, six minutes, Turley had pulled off two stupendous saves.  One was a point blank stop, the other a great tip onto the post from Lee Steele, a former Oxford player who looked very lively.  Orient continued to dominate so it was a surprise when Oxford went in front after 15 minutes or so.  A free kick from the right wing was beautifully delivered by another ex-Rushden man, Andy Burgess, inswinging to the near post and Eric Sabin prodded tentatively home. 

The lead lasted just two minutes.  Turley appeared to make another great save on his line from a close range Easton header but, apparently, he took it over the line and the goal was given.  The remainder of the half was a storming battle between Orient's superior skill and Oxford's spirited but guileless resistance. 

At half time, enter Oxford's Commercial Manager (or something like that), Peter Rhoades-Brown.  Remember him?  I always remember him as a tall, wimpy winger for Chelsea and Oxford.  He compered the interval, which consisted of nubile dancing girls and under-13 academy players dribbling.  Well, who wouldn't?  I was told by my Oxford fan buddies that Mr R-B should not be mocked, that he is a great bloke, who does loads for the club and community.  I was told. 

They played Yellow Submarine at half-time.  I asked whether this was usual.  Only since Jim Smith returned apparently.  It was Oxford's "tune" in Mr Smith's previous reign, and the Manor then of course. 

The second half continued like the first, and Turley made further great saves to keep Oxford in it.  Orient keeper Glynn Garner then made a great save to keep out Steve Basham's looping header.  The game was starting to become really open now as both sides went for the win.  Oxford left themselves stretched and an Orient 3-on-2 ended with a classy finish from Gary Alexander.  This time is was Oxford's turn to bounce straight back and centre half Chris Willmott coolly place a header home after a scramble. 

Not long later, and further problems for Oxford.  Willmott was sent off after a scuffle with John Mackie (no. 19 in a series of irritating footballers).  Mackie's one of those players who just seems to rile opponents.  It looked like Willmott was trying to free himself from shirt pulling but the elbow was high and off he went.  This was really sad because he had put in a wonderful performance; Oxford's best player by a mile.

The chanting from both sets of fans had been virtually continuous and it was now reaching fever pitch.  I was taken back 30 years when the Oxford fans suddenly chanted  "Attack .... Attack ...Attack Attack Attack"

Oxford were throwing caution to the wind now, but Turley came up with more saves to keep the game alive.  Oxford brought on Jamie Brooks, a legend in these parts who has suffered from a debilitating illness for a couple of years.  Oxford fans were praying for the fairy tale ending of Brooks bagging the winner.

90 minutes were up and, incredibly, the referee came up with 5 extra minutes.  No-one could believe it.  There had been no injuries and no time-wasting.  Oxford went at it again, but left themselves way open.  Lee Steele inadvertently blocked a shot from his own player on the line, but then turned up to finish off a 5-on-2 situation, and that was it.

The whistle blew.  The far side was a blaze of red as Orient celebrated.  The Oxford fans were silent.  Their players just stood, not really knowing what to do.  For some, such as battling captain Chris Hargeaves, Brooks and Willmott, it was hard to take.  You got the impression that some others were turning their thoughts to next season's meal ticket.

And so the Accrington omen struck.  There were a number of other ironies not lost on the Oxford fans.  Jim Smith had taken them into the top league before he left for Q.P.R. and now he returns to lead them out of the League.  Ian Atkins was sacked earlier in the season and he joins Torquay to lead their amazing charge at the end when they racked up 13 points in 5 games to survive.

As we left the ground, it looked like getting nasty as a group of ugly looking Oxford fans congregated at the back of the stand accommodating the Orient fans.  Police on horseback dispersed the group.  One fan near us commented that he'd heard that seats were being thrown on.  His mate replied: "doesn't matter, they won't be needing them". 

To me, Oxford is another example of poor leadership in the boardroom (Mr Kassam) ending up with a team on the slide.  So many of the teams who have done well over the past few years, and are currently  doing well, have leaders in the boardroom driving their clubs forward and appointing ambitious young managers (Bolton, Wigan , Blackburn, Charlton, Middlesbrough, Man City, Leeds, yes Leeds, Reading, Watford, Preston, Colchester, Swansea, Leyton Orient, Carlisle to name but a few).  Those going in the other direction tend to have doddery, uninspiring leaders in the boardroom who change thier manager every 2-3 years to protect their own position, and expect their fans to get excited about the balance sheet.  I wonder how much of the £28m p.a. Sky money O'Leary will get?  Probably £1.5m to sign another Djemba Djemba.  The rest will be needed to pay for the missing fans.

Oxford will bounce back fairly soon of course.  They have the infrastructure and appear to have a leader in the boardroom now, Nick Merry.  I don't expect Jim Smith to be around long though.

Finally, for only the second time on our travels, we could not get a programme.  Last time was last season at Tranmere v Hull.  I was able to purchase it later on ebay for a couple of quid.  I got onto ebay last Monday to see if anyone was selling the programme. Since Monday, I have found 10 people selling the programme on ebay, most with the match ticket stub.  Range of those sold so far is £8.55 to £29.  One programme, signed by the Oxford team, went for £78.  A good return: 2500% in 8 days.