Goals from Leam Howards and Ricky Johnson proved enough to earn United three points against Didcot despite having to play the last thirty minutes a man short following the dismissal of Charlie Wise for a second yellow card offence.

After a rather uneventful opening ten minutes United would go in front in the 12th minute when a long ball from the back from Charlie Wise was headed on by Ricky Johnson to Leam Howards who used his pace to get ahead of Adam Learoyd and through on goal lofted the ball over the stranded Leigh Bedwell from the edge of the penalty area as the custodian came out.

Four minutes later George Nash put Zac McEachran through down the left hand side of the Didcot penalty area but Leigh Bedwell in the Didcot goal came out and blocked the United player’s cross into the centre to snuff out the danger.

The next ten minutes were notable for a couple of very long throws from the right by Andy Ballard deep into the Banbury penalty area which caused some problems in the home defence but the ball on each occasion was eventually cleared.

In the 35th minute a good Didcot move down the left ended with Jack Powell’s shot from 10 yards being well blocked by Andy Gunn though the loose ball went to Josh Dutton-Black who shot straight at Jack Harding in the Banbury goal from around the same distance and was comfortably saved when the Didcot man should probably have done better.

Two minutes later a George Nash shot from 30 yards was blocked on the edge of the Didcot penalty area with the ball falling to Leam Howards but Bedwell was quick to come off his line and deflect the shot from the United striker away for a corner.

The last minute of the first half saw Callum White pass the ball out of defence up to Howards on the half way line who then laid the ball off to McEachran who surged forward to the edge of the Didcot penalty area where the ball ran loose into the path of Howards but his shot sailed over the bar.

The 1-0 lead that United had at the break was fullly deserved and five minutes into the second half their advantage was doubled when Jon Steedman fed the ball through to Leam Howards down the left who then crossed the ball into the centre where Ricky Johnson headed the ball into the top corner of the net from six yards.

Five minutes later and Didcot were awarded a penalty when Andy Gunn felled Adam Learoyd when attempting to clear the ball. Luke Carnell’s kick was saved by Harding but in attempting to get to the loose ball the custodian brought down the following up penalty kick taker and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot once more. This time Jack Longford stepped up to take the kick and he made no mistake putting the ball high to Harding’s left into the top corner of the net.

Just sixty seconds after restarting it got a lot more difficult for United as Charlie Wise received a yellow card for a wild tackle on Longford and having been booked for protesting at the penalty decision just seconds earlier the referee had no choice but to swiftly follow the yellow with the red.

United now had to play the last thirty minutes plus at a man disadvantage. Ricky Johnson was sent back to play in the defence leaving just Howards as the lone striker up front. However, though Didcot put pressure on Banbury in this period, the home side defended very well and despite the visitors now having much the better of the game they failed to create many chances. The only two of note would come in the last ten minutes. In the 81st minute a 30 yard superb strike from Lance Williams had Harding struggling to get across to the ball but it whizzed inches wide of the post and in the 87th minute Didcot again went close to equalising when a corner from the right taken by Powell was met at the near post by Carnell but his glancing header went just wide of the far post.

There were six minutes of stoppage time for the United faithful to endure but Didcot couldn’t create that clear chance that they needed and the game finished 2-1.

Banbury United: Jack Harding, Callum White, Jon Steedman, Duran Martin, Charlie Wise, Andy Gunn, Ollie Stanbridge (Darius Browne 46), George Nash, Ricky Johnson, Leam Howards (Louis Joyce 77), Zac McEachran. Subs (not used): Nicholas Kalakoutis, Daniel Garceran Moreno, Jacob Blackstock.

Didcot Town: Leigh Bedwell, Jamie Heapy (Kieran Collins 53), James Organ, Andy Ballard (Lance Williams 79), Luke Carnell, Adam Learoyd, Josh Dutton-Black, Jack Self, Jack Longford, Graham Edney (Jimmy Deabill 63), Jack Powell. Subs (not used): Matt Woodley, Josh Gannon.

Attendance: 290