Oxford's victory over Charlton was a momentous day for all the 8 thousand plus fans who attended an unlimited capacity game at the Kassam for the first time since February 2020.
Regardless of the result, it would have been an occasion to remember, but the Us put in a performance worthy of the wait, and in doing so Robinson may have stumbled upon the blueprint for success against the top sides in this division.
United's struggles against the top teams in League One last term was well documented.
They picked up a meagre two victories over top ten sides last term, both within the final quarter of the season, and their return of 13 points from a possible 54 was too steep a hurdle to overcome for promotion.
With Oxford looking to go one further than the playoff finish they achieved last season, improving on these results is going to be crucial, and it is a point which is amplified by the strength of the division this time round.
Freshly relegated Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham and Wycombe can all stake claims of being big clubs in this division, whilst Saturday's opponents Charlton and fellow League One old boys Portsmouth, Ipswich and Sunderland are also big fish in a small pond.
Add in Leam Richardson's new look Wigan side and Michael Appleton's Lincoln and you have nine teams who would all realistically be hoping to challenge for the top two places in the table, whilst the likes of Doncaster and MK Dons also harvest hopes of breaking into that group.
Improving on their performances against top ten teams this year, then, becomes even more important than ever, considering the amount they will have to play against them.
Oxford performed admirably in some of the tough fixtures last season, only to fall to narrow defeats all too often.
However, there were also several occasions where Oxford were outclassed by higher placed opponents, none more obvious than in their four meetings with Blackpool last term.
Robinson remained committed to an expansive passing game, and United were completely dominated by their opponents in three of the four encounters.
Against physically stronger teams who hassled Oxford, they appeared to have no answer, and they were blown away in similar fashion by Peterborough, Lincoln and Sunderland in the opening stages of last season.
Much of the criticism for defeat in the playoff semi-final was that Robinson did not seem to have a plan when playing these stronger teams, and hadn't learnt from previous experience.
That seems to have changed on the evidence of Saturday.
The United head coach spoke at length before the game about the need for extra physicality against a strong Charlton side from open play and set pieces.
The inclusion of Winnall may have been somewhat affected by Elliot Moore's absence, but starting Gorrin in a more balanced midfield than the one that had played at Cambridge a week earlier seemed to show an admittance that Oxford needed to be more balanced and physical to beat the top teams.
Winnall's inclusion was entirely justified and, despite having a winger at Right Back, Oxford matched Charlton for physicality and were deserved winners on the day.
The stats also bare out Robinson's alteration in tactics, as United attempted far less build up play in favour of being more compact and mitigating the opponents threat.
In the first two competitive matches of the season against Cambridge and Burton, United averaged 60% possession, but would register only 48% against Charlton.
Part of this, of course, is down to game state. With United leading since the 23rd minute, Charlton were always going to have more of the ball when chasing the game.
Yet it is still true that Oxford made a concerted effort to play less passes than usual, and ensure they played forward quickly through Charlton's press in order to break the lines and prevent unnecessary pressure being placed on themselves.
They completed just 292 passes against the Londoners compared over 400 in each of their previous matches, and then 350 against Crewe on Tuesday.
Their long ball percentage also jumped to 21% against Charlton, compared to last season's average of 17%.
United's passing accuracy also dropped from 72% in their three other competitive matches to 70% against Charlton, and was similarly lower from last season's average of 75%.
It is not to say that Oxford were on the backfoot. They had a similar number of shots and corners, and actually registered more shots on target against Charlton than in any other match so far this season.
Far from being negative, Oxford were simply more efficient with the ball when they got it.
Their forward pass percentage of 71% against Charlton was considerably higher than in either of their two other league games, as they got the ball forward through Charlton's press quicker and more effectively.
Similarly, the percentage of passes that Oxford aimed into the final third was drastically higher against Charlton, and the number of passes played within their own half also far lower in this match.
What is also notable when looking at these statistics is how much of the game was played in the middle third against Crewe compared to at Charlton.
Nearly 50% of passes being played in the central area of the pitch against the Railway men indicates that it was two sides who looked to get their foot on the ball, and Oxford, perhaps feeling the more dominant of the teams, felt they could win the midfield battle and play through the middle. On the evidence of this data, they did.
Compare this to against Charlton where 37% was played in the middle and you can see that, against the stronger side, United decided to play less through the thirds and more directly into the front line, drawing Charlton onto them at the back and then playing forward quickly with limited numbers of passes.
This is another indication of how Oxford did not look to overcomplicate things against Charlton, and how, by playing less passes in the middle third and looking to break quicker into the opposition's area, Oxford could be more effective against the stronger teams in the division.
It was a bold move from Robinson to change the team so drastically from the side that played superbly in the season opener against Cambridge, but the additional physicality allowed Oxford to compete more with Charlton than they did when they were outmuscled and outplayed by the same side around this time last year.
All this comes with the caveat that Oxford's defence was made up of McNally starting his first league game and Ryan Williams at Right Back, meaning Robinson's side perhaps felt more comfortable defending when the ball was in the opposition half and less enticed to build from the back.
However, Robinson seems to have learnt from Oxford's struggles last year and, though it won't work for every match, United may have found a method to beat the better sides in the division, which could be enough to push them to the next level this season.
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