With the Southern League Premier Central season getting underway next weekend, the Puritans will be aiming to finish their preparations on a high before travelling to Bishop's Stortford on the opening day.

The Puritans

Kelvin Langmead's side head into their final pre-season outing having enjoyed a productive summer, winning four of their six fixtures to date.

Tuesday night's 0-0 draw against an MK Dons XI offered another encouraging display, with United producing a disciplined defensive performance to keep a clean sheet against full-time opposition.

Speaking to Puritans Radio after the game, Langmead praised his side's work without the ball, highlighting their organisation, commitment and defensive resilience. The Banbury boss was pleased with another clean sheet and revealed the fixture gave him the opportunity to experiment with different tactical ideas, with the defensive display standing out as the biggest positive.

Attention now turns to the final pre-season test, where Langmead is expected to field a side much closer to the one that could start next Saturday's league opener. With the competitive campaign just a week away, the Banbury manager will be keen to build further chemistry while giving more players the opportunity to complete a full 90 minutes.

The trip to Quorn also provides ideal preparation for the opening day, with Saturday's match taking place on a 4G surface – the same type of pitch the Puritans will encounter when they travel to Bishop's Stortford next weekend.

The Methodists

Quorn, known as The Methodists, will provide one of Banbury's toughest tests of pre-season.

Last season, the Leicestershire side competed alongside the Puritans in the Southern League Premier Central, finishing an impressive eighth before being laterally moved into the Northern Premier League Premier Division for the 2026/27 campaign.

Managed by Ryan Beswick, Quorn have enjoyed a positive pre-season of their own. Their latest outing saw them draw 2-2 with Harborough Town, with new signing Musa Ceesay opening the scoring after joining the club last Friday, before Beswick converted from the penalty spot to earn his side a share of the spoils.

That result followed another encouraging run-out as Quorn continued to build fitness and momentum ahead of the new campaign.

Although the two sides will not meet in league competition this season following Quorn's switch of division, Saturday's fixture presents a valuable opportunity for Banbury to test themselves against opposition of a similar standard to those they will face throughout the Southern League campaign.