The two sides traded penalties in the opening half-hour, with Arjanit Krasniqi giving the visitors the lead, before Josh Ashby levelled, before Zac McEachran and Olly Sanderson struck either side of the break to see the points stay in Oxfordshire.

Following defeat against Ebbsfleet United on Good Friday, Ross Jenkins opted for two changes on Easter Monday, with Andre Burley and Olly Sanderson coming into the starting line-up in place of Jack Davies and Klaidi Lolos.

With the stakes high for both sides, it was perhaps unsurprising that the match had something of a cagey start.

The first real chance of the match came after 10 minutes, in the shape of the first penalty. Michael Folivi burst into the box for the Clarets, and was felled by Canice Carroll, with referee Stephen Parkinson with little hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Adnan Kanuric was unable to repeat his debut heroics from the spot, as Krasniqi sent the City stopper the wrong way to give the visitors the lead.

The game then entered into something of an end-to-end trend, with both keepers called into action. 

Firstly, a Chelmsford free-kick was cleared to the edge of the box, where Ody Alfa fiercely struck at Kanuric, with the Bosnian keeper doing well in preventing any follow-up.

McEachran then provided the first glimpse of what was to come as a bouncing ball in the City box fell to the midfielder, whose shot was tipped over the bar by Eddie Beach.

But just shy of the half-hour, City would level with a penalty of their own as Lewis Miccio was brought down in the box. Ashby stepped up and, as before, sent Beach the wrong way to level the scores.

City pushed on following this, and got their press into action, forcing the Clarets into mistakes across the field. 

Ten minutes later, McEachran was gifted possession on the half-way line, and with little in front of him, burst forwards unchallenged, pulling the trigger on the edge of the box as he picked the bottom corner perfectly to complete the turnaround.

Given more space, McEachran might have doubled his tally on the stroke of half-time as a fierce shot was unconvincingly saved by Beach in the swirling wind, with no City man able to get to the rebound.

The visitors, however, still posed a threat, and Canice Carroll had to be at his best just before the break as he threw his body in the way of a Giovanni McGregor effort at goal.

With the Clarets attacking with the wind in the second period, this of course changed the flow of play.

Kanuric was quickly faced with the same issue that Beach had in the first period as a Tyreke Johnson effort saw the keeper do well to parry and grab at the second time of asking with the uncertainty.

The visitors forced City back during the opening 15 minutes of the half, and ten minutes in, Lewis Coyle was positioned perfectly as a ball across goal looked to head towards Alfa to tap in, but the winger got the ball clear just in time.

Kanuric was then forced into a fingertip save as a free-kick looked to be looping into the bottom corner.

As the half wore on, the advancing Clarets left more opportunities for City on the break. Sanderson was particularly dangerous hanging on the offside line.

With 20 minutes to go, McEachran teed Reece Fleet to shoot, his shot was blocked as far as Sanderson who wasn’t quite able to guide his effort on target.

But just two minutes later, he got the all important goal that gave City breathing space. Again on the break, a inch perfect ball from Fleet was met by an inch perfect run from Sanderson, the Fulham loanee running one-on-one before slotting through Beach’s legs to all but seal the result for the Hoops.

Along with the calming winds, this cushion allowed the Hoops to manage the game, and introduced Klaidi Lolos, Jack Davies and Joe Wilson as re-enforcements as the Clarets looked to try and force their way back in the game.

City were the closest to adding to the score however, as neat passing saw Andre Burley down the right but he opted to square to Alfie Potter, who took a couple of touches before his shot was blocked by a defender on the line.

Certainly an important result in the race to seal third place, but there are still three games with equal importance coming up for the Hoops in the next few weeks. The first of these sees a trip to The Crabble next weekend to face Dover Athletic. 

We hope to see you again a week on Saturday for the last home match of the season with Havant & Waterlooville our visitors. 

Oxford City: Kanuric, Miccio, Ashby, Burley, Coyle, Fleet, McEachran (Davies 86), Potter, Sanderson (Lolos 84), Williams-Bushell (Wilson 90), Carroll. Unused: Iaciofano, Humphrey-Ewers

Attendance: 578