An injury-time goal from Oxford United's James Roberts denied Exeter City the chance to move into the League Two play-off places as they were held to a 2-2 draw at the Kassam Stadium.
Before the 18-year-old substitute curled in an unstoppable left-foot strike in time added on City looked as though they were going to leapfrog Stevenage into the top seven places thanks to goals from Arron Davies, in the first half, and Alex Nicholls, with four minutes to go. As it is, The Grecians drop to ninth as Bury took advantage of other teams' failure to win to steal a march in the race for League One football next season.
Paul Tisdale made two changes to the side that started the last match at Mansfield Town, with Nicholls and Graham Cummins coming into the side for the injured Clinton Morrison and Ryan Harley.
Christian Ribeiro, who missed the Mansfield game with a hamstring problem, recovered in time for the game but was kept out of the starting line-up by Arron Davies and Scot Bennett on the right side of City's five-man defence.
However, it wasn't long before the 25-year-old Welshman was introduced to the proceedings. He came on for a limping Bennett who struggled against the pace and trickery of Callum O'Dowda in the opening 20 minutes of the match.
The Oxford left-winger created the first chance of the afternoon as he dispossessed Matt Oakley on the edge of the box and pulled the ball back for Patrick Hoban. City were thankful that their man-of-the-match Craig Woodman got across to block Hoban's shot.
United had the opening goal, their start to the game deserved, on 17 minutes though. Again it was O'Dowda who created the chance as he outpaced Bennett on the left and delivered a cross to the back post where Danny Hylton side footed home.
The ball took a deflection on its way to Hylton, but for Oxford's leading scorer to be left with time and space to execute a controlled volley raised questions about City's defending. Especially as, two weeks previous, City had allowed the league's leading scorer Marc Richards to send an unmarked header past Hamon to give Northampton Town a 1-0 lead at St James's Park.
At this stage Oxford were comfortably in control of the game and knocking the ball around the spacious Kassam Stadium playing surface well. City by contrast were going long, with little success, as United's centre-back pairing dealt with the high ball up to the edge of their box with ease.
However, eight minutes before the break one of City's direct balls forward paid off. Tom Nichols won a free-kick inside City's half well and Craig Woodman had the presence of mind to play it quickly towards Graham Cummins. As a result, the Oxford centre-back pairing were caught off guard and this allowed Cummins to win a knockdown and Davies to follow up and volley into the bottom right corner of the net.
City started the second half brighter, with Ribeiro making a surging run into the box and firing over before Liam Sercombe's powerful drive was blocked by an opposition defender.
Nichols then had a good sight of goal on 60 minutes, following a good run and pass from Woodman, but he sent his 20-yard shot wide of the right-hand post.
Oxford United hit back with a couple of chances, but Hoban's route to goal was well blocked at the near post just as it looked like he was going to pull the trigger. Then Josh Ruffels sent a half-volley high and wide after the ball dropped to him on the edge of the box.
It was City who were looking the more composed on the ball as the game entered the final quarter of an hour though as David Wheeler just failed to get on the end of an inviting cross from Davies and Nichols denied from close range by a good save from Clarke on 85 minutes.
In the end it was a late goal from a corner that looked to have won it for City. The ball got played into the box and half cleared. It was headed back into the danger area by Davies where Nicholls, on the edge of the six-yard box, flicked another header, which looped over Clarke and into the back of the net.
However, in stoppage time Oxford United flooded men forward and substitute James Roberts curled a shot from outside the area that hit the inside of the post on its way into the back of City's net.
Exeter City (5-3-2): Hamon; Davies, Bennett (Ribeiro, 20), Oakley, Moore-Taylor, Woodman; Noble (Butterfield, 80), Sercombe, Nicholls; Nichols, Cummins (Wheeler, 69). Subs not used: Pym, Keohane, Tillson, Jay.
Booked: Noble
Oxford United (4-4-2): Clarke; Long, Mullins, Wright, Meades; Rose, Ashby, Ruffels (Burns, 89); O'Dowda (Roberts, 65); Hoban, Hylton. Subs not used: Crocombe, Whing, Burns, Humphries, Dunkley, Campbell.
Referee: Graham Horwood
Attendance: 6,791. Away: 512
