ONE of the reasons we love football is its ability to change in an instant.

As the clock at Plough Lane ticked over to 60 minutes, Oxford United's evening had gone exactly to plan.

The U's had kept it tight against an AFC Wimbledon side as high on confidence as themselves and Josh Ruffels' strike appeared crucial in a contest seemingly destined to be decided by the odd goal.

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Yet within five minutes they were a goal down, a man down and chasing the game.

James Henry's handball was about as blatant as they come, but it is difficult for any of us to say instinct would not have made us do the same.

The corner itself was very avoidable, though, with Nesta Guinness-Walker allowed to advance too far into the U's half before he was stopped.

Once Joe Pigott scored from the spot, United would have wanted to keep it tight for the next 15 minutes and try to hit Wimbledon on the counter-attack late on.

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That went out of the window within seconds, as Sam Long lost a 50/50 - a rare event - enabling Ollie Palmer to race away.

Alex Woodyard arrived late to tuck home the winner, with the Wimbledon captain in acres of space - possibly because United had not yet reset after the sending off.

The U's, to their credit, looked dangerous when they were down to ten men and Dan Agyei continued his excellent run of form by driving at the home defence, which is so hard to defend against.

It is natural that teams leave themselves open when they are chasing the game, 11 men or ten, and Wimbledon looked very capable of sealing victory on the break.

The hosts set up in an orthodox 4-4-2 and had a real balance to their side, with strikers Palmer and Pigott never giving the United defence a moment's rest.

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With the U's impressive too, it was a high-intensity game that neither team deserved to lose.

It is obviously a blow to United's Sky Bet League One play-off hopes, but this season has been so unpredictable that it is too early to say they are completely out of it.