ANOTHER clean sheet, another win on the road and, more importantly, another three points in the promotion locker.

A victory that should have been wrapped up long before the delayed five o'clock finish was thoroughly deserved but the failure of the Robins to take their chances again resulted in another nail-biting finale.

Goalkeeper Tim Clarke, who showed safe hands throughout, was rarely stretched and the nearest he came to being beaten was when Grant Pinkney turned a driven cross inches past his own post six minutes into stoppage time.

A couple of minutes earlier, Jack Smillie had volleyed a deep centre a foot over the crossbar but those were the only scary moments at the end of another accomplished defensive display.

Evesham dominated the opening 45 - that should be 52 - minutes of a wind-wrecked contest and the visitors should really have turned round at least two goals to the good.

As it was they had only Jermaine Clarke's 24th minute tap-in to show for all their good approach play - the striker scoring after he had broken down an Oxford move on halfway.

The ball reached Richard Ball on the left and his shot was parried by Matt Finlay straight into his strike partner's path six yards out.

Finlay had denied Ball in the opening minute when the forward should really have done better, while Clarke wasted an even clearer chance after ten minutes when he blasted over the bar with only the City goalkeeper to beat.

However, the pair atoned for those misses and Ball was denied a second when the referee adjudged that he had shoved a defender when heading in Gavin O'Toole's 29th minute flag-kick.

Ball then failed to hit the target with a free header from a cross from the impressive Simeon Williams before Simon Fitter's finishing also came into question when, after making space cleverly in injury-time, the midfielder blazed wildly wide.

The wind seemed to have dropped by the time the players returned but United put together their best spell of the game yet still couldn't wrap up the points.

Finlay spilled a shot from Ball and then nicked the ball off Pinkney with the goal gaping before producing the save of the match to turn over Fitter's 25-yard piledriver.

Finlay, Ball and Pinkney then turned in a repeat show 14 minutes from time before Ball raced clear only to see Finlay push his shot for a corner.

The visitors, now with Dave Carns, on leave from the Marines, back in defence for the injured Stuart Hamilton, looked comfortable but a further eight minutes of added time did nothing to ease the nerves of their followers especially when the recalled Pinkney almost gifted City the latest of levellers.

Oxford had gone five unbeaten at Court Place Farm before Saturday during which time four of United's promotion rivals had failed to come away with a maximum.