THE end result may well have been the same, but in every other respect York City were a side transformed.

Against a distinctly average Boston United side at the weekend, a weary, nervous City eked out a point.

A solitary reward was all that was pocketed again last night but City produced arguably their best performance of the season and deserved all three.

The Minstermen were as brash and as bold as they were at the start of the campaign.

Their passing was as crisp as crackling and their tackling as sharp as a razor blade. Effort and commitment was equally outstanding.

And all this against an Oxford United side arriving at Bootham Crescent nursing just one defeat all season and boosted by an emphatic 4-0 win over Bury.

The visitors were also given a massive helping hand, quite literally, by City player-boss Chris Brass on just four minutes.

Scott McNiven centred from the right to the back post where Brass lifted his arm above his head to push the ball into his own net.

Quite probably the luckless Brass was nudged in the back by an Oxford attacker.

To add insult to injury, the City chief was given a slap in the face by way of a thank-you from the lumbering Julian Alsop - just one of many incidents referee Carl Boyeson failed to spot.

It was hardly the start City, who looked edgy on home soil at the weekend, needed nor deserved after Lee Nogan came within a whisker of turning Jon Parkin's first-minute cross home at the opposite end of the field.

But credit to City, who refused to panic and the own goal notwithstanding, went on to dominate the rest of the first-half.

Just like their football, the chances flowed and the Minstermen's reward for patience, composure and some considered passing was duly rewarded on 37 minutes with one of the best-worked goals of this or any other season.

Just about every outfield player bar Richard Hope and Chris Smith got a touch as the ball was worked from back to front and from right to left, then back again.

Parkin's sharp reverse pass on the edge of the Oxford area finally opened up the visiting defence enabling a rampaging Brass to get to the by-line and centre for his assistant Nogan to head home from six yards.

It was the least City deserved and if nothing else proved passing and movement are the best way, the only way, forward.

The increasingly frantic rants and finger-pointing from riled United manager Ian Atkins merely underlined City's dominance.

The second half took a while to find its feet but when it did it was Oxford who started to dominate possession and carry the greater threat.

However, if City had got their reward for some sharp football in the first half they were rewarded in the second for stoicism and concentration in the face of adversity.

After repelling Oxford's more determined thrusts, City broke free from their shackles as a Richard Hope shot from 25 yards was deflected wide for a corner.

Hope remained upfield and from Mitch Ward's resultant in-swinger Hope stooped in front of his marker to head City in front from eight yards.

Substitutions from both sides disrupted the game's ebb and flow thereafter but City looked increasingly assured and resolute at the back as the clock ticked down.

It made the blow of conceding a late leveller then even more frustrating as another momentary lapse in concentration cost City dear.

Just as City looked home and dry a long clearance out of the Oxford defence was knocked on by Matt Bound to Jefferson Louis.

Louis flicked the ball up and over a flat City defence and Chris Hackett raced clear to coolly, and cruelly, lob the advancing Mark Ovendale.

It was a real body blow for City and one they did not deserve. For, in a season of spectacular highs and some crushing lows this was a performance back up among the very loftiest peaks.

Now if City can maintain such high standards in terms of performances then the right results will surely follow.

City 2 (Nogan 37m, Hope 63); Oxford 2 (Brass 4m og, Hackett 85m)

Ovendale 6, Cooper 7, Smith 8, Brass 8, Hope 8, Merris 8 (Wood 77m), Dunning 8, Ward 8, Bullock 7, Nogan 9, Parkin 7 (George 78m)

Subs not used: Porter, Dove, Brackstone

Star Man: Lee Nogan

Gargantuan effort. Never stopped running and finished off a wonderful move for City goal

Key

10 Faultless, 9 Outstanding, 8 Excellent, 7 Eye-catching, 6 Good, 5 Average, 4 Below-par, 3 Dud, 2 Hopeless, 1 Retire

Oxford: Woodman, McNiven, Ashton, Crosby, Bound, Robinson, Whitehead, Wanless (Hackett 74m), Hunt, Basham (Louis 52m), Alsop (Waterman 90m). Subs not used: Townsley, Brown.

Yellow cards: Cooper 10m, Hope 21m, Robinson 27m, Alsop 72m, Hackett 85m

Red cards: None

Referee: Carl Boyeson (East Yorkshire) Rating: Poor. Inconsistent and missed incidents.

Attendance: 3,002

Weather watch: Bone-chiller

Game breaker: A momentary lapse in concentration costing City three points

Match rating: Great entertainment from start to finish

Updated: 11:42 Wednesday, October 22, 2003