The stakes are through the roof with a chance to earn a place in the First Round Proper. Banbury succeeded at this stage last year, beating Bury Town 2-1 at the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium. Unfortunately, Banbury failed to beat Canvey Island in the 1st Round Proper which saw a premature end to the season brought around by the outbreak of COVID-19. A chance to rectify last year’s disappointment has come around a lot sooner than expected which makes this year’s 4th Round Qualifier even more crucial.

Our fine form in the early stages of this season has seen us beat a club record best unbeaten start to a season. The record was initially set by Banbury Spencer in 1961 who went 13 games unbeaten. Banbury’s midweek triumph away to Sporting Bromsgrove extends our unbeaten start to the season to 14 games. A historic achievement from the current squad who are fully focussed on ensuring this run continues as we look forward to Bath City this weekend.

Our journey so far has been full of late drama. In the 1st Round Qualifier, we saw off our North Oxfordshire neighbours, Ardley United, winning 1-0 thanks to a long rage strike from Alex Babos. We were on the road in the 2nd Round Qualifier, away to Nantwich Town. A late goal from Sam Brown saw us take the spoils with a 2-1 victory. Away again in the 3rd Round Qualifer, this time to Basford United which was a very tense game, but more late drama provided us with a 1-0 win. Ethan Johnston scoring with his first touch of the game.

A look to our visitors. Bath City play at Twerton Park in the Vanarama National League South and are currently placed 14th. They come into this game off the back of mixed results, they’ve won three and lost two out of their last five games. The last time the two clubs met saw Bath emerge triumphant in the 2nd Round Qualifier of the FA Cup in the 2018/19 season. The game ended 2-0 at the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium causing us to bow out of the competition earlier than expected. Bath’s journey in the qualifying rounds has seen them win 0-1 on the road in the 2nd Round Qualifier at Shaftesbury, they then comfortably beat Frome Town at home in the 3rd Round Qualifier, winning 5-0.

Don’t miss this historic fixture, the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium is the place to be this Saturday! Tickets for the event are available here: https://banburyunitedfc.ktckts.com/event/ban2122fa4qf/banbury-united-v-bath-city.