ROSS Jenkins felt the impact of a record-breaking Court Place Farm crowd as Oxford City moved one step closer to promotion.

The hosts beat Eastbourne Borough 2-0 in their Vanarama National League South eliminator in front of 1,349 fans, the ground’s highest ever competitive attendance.

Elliot Benyon and George Harmon headed home either side of half-time to set up a semi-final at Dorking Wanderers on Saturday.

Read the match report here

City fans are already planning their trip to Surrey and Jenkins was thrilled to give them an evening to remember.

The head coach said: “They’ve supported us all season – home and away, rainy days, sunny days, so it’s important that we got everyone smiling.

“Hopefully we sent them home with a smile on their face because the boys were certainly smiling in the changing room.

“At times it was really loud, when we had some good bits of play or attempts on goal you could really hear them.

“It gave us a bit of a lift, so it’s important we try to take some of our fans down to Dorking.

“It’s another big challenge, but as long as they’re behind us we’ll do everything we can on the pitch.”

Benyon gave City lift off when he climbed to head home Josh Ashby’s corner midway through the first half and the hosts were relatively comfortable from then on.

They had to wait until the 76th minute for Harmon to score the second, but Jenkins thought his side executed their game plan to perfection.

The City boss said: “Everyone was playing with a smile on their face and everyone had a good appetite for the game.

“We deserved that win, I thought we were pretty excellent.

“I wouldn’t say we were comfortable, they were a good team and they’re in the play-offs for a reason.

“They have threats and so do we, so it was important that we focus on ourselves a little bit more.

“We did our work on Eastbourne and I thought we got it down to a ‘T’.

“The boys worked so hard in and out of possession and we played some great football.

“It was a really gritty performance, we defended well but played some good football.”

Benyon’s goal capped an impressive performance from the former Football League striker, who showed his experience with an excellent all-round display.

Jenkins said: “Age is irrelevant when it comes to games like this. It’s a bit of nous, a bit of know-how.

“He’s got that in bundles, so it’s important we use it.

“We’ve got the likes of Jacob Bancroft on the bench to come on with lots of energy, so we’ve got a good mix there.

“I felt we needed a little bit of experience against a good Eastbourne team.

“Him popping up with a goal tops it off, because I thought he played very well.”