In front of a surprisingly sparse crowd, United who had looked the better of the two sides during the original goal-less draw on the Saturday, looked completely out of sorts, and never threatened the Stones goal except for a couple of hopeful long range efforts that were easily gathered by ‘keeper Jonathan North, who was otherwise a spectator for long periods.

The first half started well enough for Banbury, with Simeon Williams proving a particular threat to the Wealdstone rearguard but in the 19th minute, that all changed when a cross from the right reached Chris O’Leary, unmarked in the middle, and he quickly despatched the ball to put the home side one up. Two minutes later, and it was all up for United as a breakaway through United’s static defence let in Richard Jolly, and he had all the time in the world to clip the ball past the stranded Andy Kemp to double the host’s lead.

Any hopes of getting back into the game with a half-time cup of tea quickly came to nothing, just three minutes into the second-half when some pretty woeful defending let in Jolly for his second and Wealdstone’s third. The home side worked the ball up the left and along the bye-line and when the ball was crossed to the near post, Jolly had enough time to stop the ball, look up and side-foot the ball into the empty net with absolutely no-one near him, inside the six-yard box. Wealdstone compounded the embarrassment in the 79th minute when Jolly completed his hat-trick when the defence collapsed again.

If this is indicative of a team in the lower half of the Ryman League, Premier Division, it has to be assumed that it is a stronger League than the Southern League, as Wealdstone were quicker and slicker than Banbury, and certainly had the attitude that United lacked. With a home game against Uxbridge in the first round proper as the prize, this was a golden opportunity wasted.

Wealdstone: Jonathan North, James Hammond, Scott McCubbin, Wes Parker, Alan Massey, Alex Dyer (Connor Smith 78), Kurtney Brooks, Kurtney O’Leary (David Hicks 80), Peter Dean, Richard Jolly (Britt Assombalonga 80) Nikki Ahamed. Subs not used: Scott Fitzgerald, Eddie Adjei.

Banbury United: Andy Kemp, Simeon Williams, Tommy Kinch, Liam Dolman, Ben Thackeray, Nick Kingston (Ollie Stanbridge 67), Joe Coleman (Liam Richardson 80), Ryan Howell, Will Green, Aaron Woodley (Danny Edmond 61), Glenn Walker. Unused Subs: Ben Polk, Joe Eyre.

Attendance: 222