As they say, this was a ‘proper’ cup-tie, full of excitement and commitment by all, and a draw was probably a fair result, certainly for any neutrals present. The only thing missing was any ‘open play’ goals, with both scores coming from well taken penalty kicks. This was the home sides tenth game of the season and they are yet to be beaten.

The game started very evenly, and it wasn’t until the 26th minute that Prince Henry had a shot charged down for a corner and from the resulting corner-kick, Yaw Ofosu had a shot blocked on he line from point blank range, as Melksham rode their luck in defence. In fact, Ofosu was either heading away corners from his own penalty area, or causing problems in his opponents 18 yard box from Banbury corners, and the home side were finding the Banbury captain very difficult to play against.

Banbury went ahead after AJ George was tripped in the penalty area in the 37th minute, and George himself got up to notch his 4th goal of the season with a neatly taken spot kick which left ‘keeper Alfie Kelsey flat footed on his line.

The half didn’t end on a good note for Banbury though when George Ball was shown a straight red card. As this was on the stroke of half-time, it meant that Banbury were down to ten men for the whole of the second-half, and this gave the home side a great deal of confidence, but they made it almost impossible to penetrate the Banbury rearguard until the 54th minute when Melksham were awarded a penalty for a trip on Ralph Graham, and Jake Andrews rattled the ball home very efficiently, giving Jack Harding no chance.

Understandably it was backs against the wall stuff for United but they stood tall and defended magnificently, and fully deserved the chance to play the Town with a full eleven players again on Tuesday.

Melksham Town :- Alfie Kelsey, Caleb Summerfield, Jake Andrews, Robbie James, Mark Cooper, Ralph Graham (captain), Henry Sady (79 mins. Sam Hendy), Kyle Witt (72 mins. Elliott Haffenden), Alex Hallett, Nathan Davis, Theo Lyndon (82 mins. Jamie Bremner) Subs (not used) Luke Ballinger, Matt Jones

Banbury United :- Jack Harding, Tai Fleming, Gedeon Okito, Gift Mussa (24 mins. Tom Cartwright), Yaw Ofosu (captain), Matthew Ireland (63 mins. Ramello Mitchell), Harry Reilly, Archie Hollyhead (77 mins. Charlie Donaldson), Prince Henry (63 mins. Harvey Westwood), AJ George, George Ball. Subs (not used) Logan Elliott, Matthew Donaldson, Dylan Reason.

Attendance – 357