Joe Coleman was back in the starting line-up after being out injured for a month, and after seeing Henry Rose score a hat-trick for the Reserves on Wednesday evening, Manager Billy Jeffrey added his name to the squad. When he was brought on in the second-half, he could quite easily have got another hat-trick, but for the phenomenal performance of Salisbury’s ‘keeper Tommy Smith, who was without doubt their saviour between the sticks.

Early on, Joe Murrell played his part with a good save to deny Adam Kelly, and in the 20th minute, Scott Cross found himself in the clear, but Smith showed the supporters a taste of things to come when he flicked the ball around the post to keep the score clear at the other end. Then, four minutes later, Murrell made a fantastic save when Dan Fitchett broke free of the Banbury rearguard.

However, with United matching Salisbury, the latter took the lead in the 30th minute when Ollie Stanbridge’s pass was cut out, and Jason Silver slotted the ball past the advancing Murrell to put the visitors ahead.

Banbury strove to get back into the game, and they started to put pressure on their more illustrious opponents, and Nabil Shariff was causing Whites’ captain Chris Giles all sorts of problems, but Banbury lacked the penetration in front of goal to get the goal that their play deserved.

The turning point arrived ten minutes into the second-half with the introduction of substitute Rose, and his presence upset City’s back line. Within three minutes of coming on, Smith had frustrated United when he somehow flicked Rose’s point blank effort over the bar for a corner. Roared on by an appreciative crowd, United were now almost camped in the Salisbury half, and it looked just a matter of time before the visitor’s defence capitulated.

In the 76th minute, Smith was at last beaten by a back-header from Rose, but Giles managed to hack the Ball off the line to deny United. Then, with just a few minutes left, a loose ball was blasted goal-ward by Rose from close in, but unbelievably, Smith again made a wonderful save to preserve his clean sheet.

Henry Rose was a very unlikely star of the proceedings, and he took his chance well, and he will be very disappointed if he does not retain his place in the starting line-up next Saturday.

Banbury United: Joe Murrell, Ollie Stanbridge, Aynsley McDonald, Delroy Gordon, Adam Learoyd, Ross Oulton, Joe Coleman, Declan Benjamin, Nabil Shariff, Scott Cross (Henry Rose 55), David Staff. Unused Subs: Harrison Foster, Luke Cray, Marvin Martin.

Salisbury City: Tommy Smith, Jamie Turley, Ryan Brett (Michael Cooper 78), Ben Adelsbury, Brian Dutton, Chris Giles, Adam Kelly, Lee Collier, Dan Fitchett, Jason Silver (Josh Casey 67), Charlie Kinght. Unused Subs: Dan Sheehan, Mikey Harris, Michael Neish.

Attendance: 316