Barnet 0 - 3 Oxford United: Callum O'Dowda double helps Oxford to comfortable win at Barnet

Callum O'Dowda bagged a brace as promotion-chasing Oxford tightened their grip on second spot in Sky Bet League Two with a 3-0 win at Barnet.

The winger put his side in control early in the second half before substitute Danny Hylton sealed victory late on to move the U's six points clear of third place.

Bees goalkeeper Jamie Stephens produced fine stops to deny Oxford trio O'Dowda, Alex MacDonald and Liam Sercombe in a goalless first half, while Curtis Weston saw his close-range header touched wide by U's keeper Benjamin Buchel at the other end.

O'Dowda then took over, slotting in from a tight angle in the 58th minute when his cut-back from the left was sliced back to him by Barnet centre-back Nelson before finding the bottom right corner on the rebound 12 minutes later after he had run from halfway and initially been denied by Stephens.

Barnet captain Andy Yiadom threatened to pull one back with five minutes remaining but his shot from distance was tipped over by Liechtenstein international Buchel.

Hylton then had the final say when he collected John Lundstram's centre inside the penalty box and smashed the ball home to the delight of the 1,568 travelling fans.