Because of results elsewhere, United won the Premier Division Central championship on Saturday, still leading the table by twenty points. It was always going to be a difficult game against a side with a new manager, but the fact that both sides were supporting an eight-game unbeaten run made it almost inevitable that honours would be shared, and so it was proved to be. On this showing, the Lambs already look like one of the favourites for next season’s title, but with only two defeats so far in the League this season, and with the best defensive record, Banbury have been very miserly in their quest to keep the goal tally to a minimum as they looked for league honours.

The visitors took the lead in the 14th minute after a period of pressure saw the Puritans hack the ball away to clear their ranks, but it fell to Shaquille Whittingham who had been left unmarked, and he brought the ball down and immediately smashed the ball into the top corner from well outside of the penalty area to score one of the best strikes seen at Banbury this season. This wonder-goal stunned the massive crowd (the biggest for a league game since Good Friday 1968) and Tamworth almost doubled their lead ten minutes later when the same player clipped the top of the crossbar with another top class effort.

Banbury at last sorted themselves out and they went close on 34 minutes when Giorgio Rasulo saw his on-target shot charged down by Chris Cox, with Jasbir Singh beaten. As United pushed forward, Sam Brown’s long throw-ins from both flanks were creating problems for the Tamworth back-line as both Kelvin Langmead and James Golding used their added extra height to supplement the attack as Banbury searched for the equaliser.

After the interval, United were probably the more dominant, and as has happened on more than one occasion this season, going a goal down is not necessarily too much of a problem, and sure enough, United deservedly snatched the equaliser in the 64th minute when Jack Stevens fired home from 15 yards following a couple of rebounds from some last-ditch defending from the Lambs.

The celebrations started when news leaked through that Coalville had managed only a draw. There was still time for either side to win the game and Banbury should have done so when they were awarded a penalty in the 94th minute after Stevens was upended in the area, but Singh made a fine save from Rasulo’s spot-kick and the points were shared. To be honest, a draw was a true result of a fine competitive game, leaving Banbury very worthy champions.

Banbury United :- Jack Harding, Sam Brown, Kelvin Langmead, Jay Williams, Giorgio Rasulo, Chris Wreh (79 mins. Henry Landers), Morgan Roberts, Ben Acquaye, James Golding, Alex Babos, Jack Stevens. Subs (not used) Theo Lewis, Aidan Hawtin, Ben Taylor, Max Hercules.

Tamworth :- Jasbir Singh, Lucas Yeomans (52 mins. Cameron Howkins), Henri Wilder, Ryan Beswick, James Hurst, Chris Cox, Jack Concannon, Gift Mussa, Daniel Creaney, Shaquille Whittingham (88 mins. Wahib Tahra), Eoin McKeown. Subs (not used) Alex Smith, Thomas Parker, Dexter Walters.

Attendance - 1,835