From the first whistle, United attacked down the left and Stourbridge initially had no answer to the threat posed by Joel Anker. The Banbury winger repeatedly probed at the Glassboys’ defence, going around his full-back before delivering an inviting cross towards the far post.

Levi Steele was waiting just eight yards out and made no mistake, smashing the ball home to beat a surprised Charles Price in the Stourbridge goal.

Banbury almost doubled their advantage just two minutes later when Anker again burst down the left and comfortably got beyond his marker. His cross found Joey Evans in the middle, but Evans’ glancing header flew narrowly wide of the far post, with Price once again left watching.

The visitors quickly recognised the threat and began doubling up on Anker, which helped to quieten the United attack somewhat. The game subsequently developed into a competitive midfield battle, as might have been expected between two sides determined to collect all three points.

Stourbridge had a golden opportunity to draw level in the 18th minute when the lively Liam Brazier was brought down inside the penalty area.

Charles Wragg stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick, but Jack Harding produced an excellent save to keep United’s lead intact.

Banbury responded with another opportunity of their own when a cross from the right picked out Anker, but his header sailed over the crossbar.

Both sides remained committed to playing for the win, with the next goal looking increasingly important, but neither could find a way through before the interval.

The second half continued in much the same competitive fashion, with both teams working hard and continually looking for opportunities to move forward. Matches between Banbury and Stourbridge have traditionally been hard-fought affairs, and this encounter was no different.

As the half progressed, United began to look the more likely side to find the next goal.

However, against the run of play, Stourbridge drew level in the 67th minute in somewhat fortunate circumstances.

United had been on top when a goalmouth scramble saw a powerful Banbury header come back off the crossbar. The ball was eventually cleared by the visitors, and Charlie Pavey immediately broke away down the left, leaving United players in his wake.

Pavey cut inside from the flank before firing a low shot from the edge of the penalty area which found the bottom corner, beating Harding at his near post.

The equaliser gave the Glassboys renewed impetus, but both sides continued to look for a winner rather than settling for the point.

There were further attacking moments at either end, but neither team could produce the decisive final touch required to take all three points.

In the end, a draw was probably a fair reflection of a competitive afternoon, although Banbury will undoubtedly feel that they had opportunities to have made more of their early dominance and their second-half spell on top.

United can nevertheless take encouragement from another committed performance, particularly the way they started the match and the attacking threat they carried throughout.

Banbury United

Jack Harding, Harrison Mole, Finn Howell, Aaron McCreadie, Jacob Scott, Oran Jackson, Joey Evans (64 mins, Connor Ferguson), Alex Prosser (captain), Levi Steele, Rico Patterson (79 mins, Ben Nash), Joel Anker (71 mins, Josh Cavallo).

Substitutes not used: Emil Lulchev, Otis Castle.

Stourbridge

Charles Price, Jack Fletcher, Josh Quaynor, Harvey Portman, Ashley Carter (captain), Nathan Hayward (80 mins, Jourdain Masidi), Charles Wragg (76 mins, Layton Love), Dominic Lewis, Liam Brazier (68 mins, Jai Verma), Charlie Pavey, William Etheridge (59 mins, Dan Jarvis).

Substitute not used: Krystian Pearce.