Banbury United 2 Farnborough 3

An extra time goal from Nic Ciardini takes Farnborough through to the Third Qualifying Round of the FA Trophy

This was a game in which Banbury began the better of the two sides. They would have the ball in the back of the net after just nine minutes when Jefferson Louis fired the ball home after being put through by Conor McDonagh but the assistant referee's flag was raised for off-side.
In the 13th minute a Louis drive from the edge of the Farnborough penalty area went just wide of the post but a minute later the striker put United ahead when he neatly brought a Tom Winters cross from the left down with his chest on the edge of the six yard box before knocking the ball past Aiden Upward in the Farnborough goal.

Banbury went close to doubling their advantage in the 20th minute when a cross from the right by Charlie Hawtin was headed up into the air in the centre by a defender with Upward coming to punch it away but only succeeding to find George Nash on the edge of the penalty area whose shot looked bound for the back of the net but CJ Fearn did fantastically well to deflect the ball off the line for a corner.

At this point though Farnborough would up their game and have a very good spell. In the 24th minute Harding did well to save a shot from 12 yards by Nic Ciardini and less than 60 seconds later he again came to United's rescue, doing well to hold a fierce drive from the edge of the penalty area by Jamie Cureton.

It was thus not a total surprise when Farnborough equalised in the 36th minute. Jake Evans passed the ball from the centre over to Josh Huggins on the edge of the Banbury penalty area down the right whose shot went over Jack Harding in the Banbury goal into the far top corner of the net.

Banbury had the better of the opening fifteen minutes to the second half but on the hour mark Farnborough went ahead with a penalty converted by Perry Coles after he himself had been brought down by George Nash by the by-line down the right.

In the 65th minute United went close to equalising when Conor McDonagh's low drive was well saved by Upward. However five minutes later and Harding again came to United's rescue, making an excellent save from Jamie Cureton with Nic Ciardini shooting the rebound well wide.
It was though all square again when Louis scored his second of the game on 73 minutes, this time from the penalty spot after Jack Barton had handled Leam Howards' cross.

Both sides went looking for the winner in the final 15 minutes in a very open finale to the 90 minutes of normal time. Shamsi flashed a shot wide from the edge of the box, Cureton curled a shot wide at the other end as did Louis whose effort was palmed away by Upward.
In stoppage time Cureton had a great chance to seal the tie but with the goal at his mercy he hit the bar.

So with it 2-2 at the 90 minutes, it was 30 minutes of extra time to decide the tie.

Seven minutes into the first period of extra-time and a cross rom wide on the right by Barton was allowed to go through to Nic Ciardini coming in at the far post and he knocked the ball home from close range,

Four minutes later a Shamsi shot from the edge of the box went just wide. In the final minute of the first period of extra time Barton passed the ball through the centre to Cureton who in on goal in a one-on-one with Harding slipped the ball past the custodian, only to be unfortunate to see his effort hit the post.

Louis flashed a shot from the edge of the area wide in the second period of extra time but United struggled to create a clear chance in this period and though Coles got a straight red card for kicking out at Tom Bradbury late on, United despite pushing everyone forward couldn't find the equaliser.

Banbury United: Jack Harding, Charlie Hawtin, Tom Bradbury, George Nash, Ricky Johnson, Luke Carnell, Jack Westbrook, Darren Pond (Leam Howards 62), Jefferson Louis, Conor McDonagh (Jack Self 80), Tom Winters (Ravi Shamsi 75). Subs (not used): Jordy Ngathe, Charlie Wise.

Farnborough: Aiden Upward, Josh Huggins, Adam Everitt, Jake Evans, CJ Fearn, Keith Emmerson, Jack Barton, Connor Calcutt, Jamie Cureton, Perry Coles, Nic Ciardini. Subs (none used): Brett Cunningham, Matt Roberts, Elijah Anyan, Jordan Beeney.

Attendance: 380