Yemi Odubade tipped Eastbourne Borough to prove the bookies wrong by avoiding relegation despite running rings around his former club on Saturday.

Odubade was in inspired form as Oxford scored three times in the final 21 minutes to seal their first points of the season after Borough had fought back from going 2-0 down inside seven minutes.

The former Eastbourne United striker failed to get on the scoresheet but played a part in three of the goals as Borough came back down to earth with a bump following their historic victory at Stevenage in midweek.

The scoreline was harsh on Borough who had matched their illustrious opponents for more than an hour before the effects of three tough games inside a week finally took their toll.

Odubade, who moved from Priory Lane to the Kassam Stadium for £25,000 in January 2006, said: "Borough are my old team and I really want them to stay up. I've still got a lot of friends at the club so I'd hate them to go back down.

"From what I have seen I think they have got enough to avoid relegation. They are a completely different team to when I was there and have improved so much.

"They pass the ball much better than before and have got a lot of firepower in Andy Atkin and Allan Tait.

"What they need to do is find some consistency away from home. It is vital in this division to pick up points when you are not playing well and grind out those ugly 1-0 wins."

Borough's success in recent years has been built on their defence but it was left in tatters on Saturday.

They were caught cold by a short corner routine involving Odubade after just two minutes which was converted by James Constable.

It got worse five minutes later when Marc Pullan failed to deal with a long ball and Levi Reid made him pay by blasting a shot past Hook into the roof of the net.

At that point the small band of Borough supporters must have feared the worst but Borough's response was impressive.

Pat Harding halved the deficit three minutes later when he bundled home after Allan Tait's volley had come back off the bar and the home crowd were stunned in the 16th minute when Mo Harkin and Paul Armstrong combined to set up Tait to equalise from 12 yards.

Borough looked the most likely to go on and win at that stage with Tait failing to score after being sent clear, Andy Atkin having a header tipped over the bar and Armstrong¹s fierce 20-yard drive crashing against a post.

But a moment of madness from Ben Austin handed the initiative back to Oxford just before the break when he headed a harmless cross from Odubade against the unfortunate Pullan who watched in despair as it rebounded into the net.

Again Borough fought back with Armstrong timing his run to perfection to meet Neil Jenkins' cross with a sweet sidefoot volley to level the scores with 25 minutes to go but that just stung Oxford into an emphatic response.

The visitors were still reorganising at the back after Pullan had limped off when Reid floated a cross over for Hutchinson to restore the lead and Odubade then gave Borough fans a reminded or his electric pace by setting up Constable for his second.

Barry Quinn completed the scoring with two minutes to go from corner and Borough boss Garry Wilson admitted his side had only themselves to blame for letting the game slip away.

Wilson said: "It was very unlike us because defending is usually our strength. We were woeful at the back and you simply cannot afford to make the mistakes we did against teams like Oxford.

"We had the worst possible start and at 2-0 I feared the worst but I was so pleased with the way we bounced back.

"Perhaps we should have regrouped when it was 3-3 and tried to keep what we had but instead we kept pushing on and left big gaps which they exploited.

"There are a lot of positives to take from our attacking play though. It is a big learning curve in this division and this shows our boys the level they have to aim for."

Oxford: Cole, Day, Quinn, Foster, Carruthers, Haldane, Murray, Burnell(Hutchinson, 17), Reid (Deering, 84), Odubade, Constable. Subs not used:Hinchliffe, Fisher, Taylor.

Booked: Murray.

Eastbourne: Hook, Austin, Jenkins, Baker, Pullan (Lovett, 62), Smart, Armstrong, Harding (Wormull, 84), Harkin, Tait (N Crabb, 81), Atkin. Subs: Winterton, Sigere.