Connell's praise for captain fantastic Brown

Connell felt the midfielder had come through “a big psychological moment” with flying colours after opening the scoring with a first-half penalty at Canford Park Arena.

Brown, who had missed from the spot during the midweek draw with Plymouth Argyle, sent Oxford goalkeeper Monty Marriott the wrong way with an emphatic penalty.

The Cherries skipper added to his 27^th-minute opener by netting a clinically-taken second goal on the stroke of half-time which was teed up by Baylin Johnson’s electrifying run and pass.

Victory extended to five games the Cherries’ unbeaten run in all competitions – with just one goal conceded in the process – and saw them maintain pole position in the South West Division.

Connell told afcb.co.uk: “Lewis is always one who fronts up, he is very accountable with everything he does and he leads by example.

“He wanted to take the penalty on Tuesday and the Plymouth goalkeeper made a very good save. It affected Lewis because he’s desperate to do well for himself and his teammates.

“There was never any doubt in his mind that he would take one if we got one today which we did and he converted it with aplomb.

“As a coach, what pleases me is that you want young players coming through to have challenges and that was a big psychological moment for Lewis.

“To step up and take that penalty and to score it so confidently took huge character which we know he’s got. It gave us a nice platform to build from in the game as well.”

Striker Jonny Stuttle won the spot-kick after being upended by Marriott just inside the box, the Oxford goalkeeper receiving a yellow card for the foul.

And after Johnson had embarked on a lightning run down the left flank and cut the ball back for Brown, he gave Marriott no chance with a powerful finish.

Connell added: “I was pleased with the second goal. It was a fantastic move, a brilliant run from Baylin and an excellent finish from Lewis.

“We always have difficult games against Oxford and they are a really tough opponent with good players.

“They ask you questions and we’ve had some really good battles with them over the years and today was no different.

“We knew we would have to be on it and I thought we were from the first minute. We moved the ball well and created some good openings.

“Generally, I felt we were in control of the game most of the time, whether that was with or without the ball.

“We were in a similar position against them last season and they came back so the way we handled the second half and the way we dealt with their threats really pleased me as well.”

Click here to read a match report.