Banbury boss left satisfied after draw at AFC Telford

George Ball celebrates scoring at Telford. Photo: BUFC.

Simon Hollyhead was pleased with aspects of Banbury United’s performance as they drew 1-1 at third-placed AFC Telford United on Saturday.

George Ball put the Puritans ahead on 68 minutes but the home side equalised just three minutes later through Matt Stenson.

And having changed his formation before the game and overseen what was a third draw in six winless matches, Hollyhead felt it worked well.

He told Puritans Radio: “Systems and tactics look great on a board but the lads have to roll it out on the pitch.

"It’s been good to be able to get some training into the players in the last couple of weeks as quality time like that is precious to work on certain things.

"I thought the work rate out of possession was magnificent and really did delay Telford in what they wanted to do – we knew they’d be quite direct and we made it even more predictable that they’d be direct.

"We went with a back four which we haven’t done very much this season and in the end the lads are disappointed with the result but we’re pleased with many aspects of the performance.

"The five or ten minutes after you score is always when you’re most susceptible and it was such an innocuous goal with the mis-kick and then a slight deflection and it felt really harsh at the time because we had deservedly got ourselves in front.

"But then what pleased me was that in the last 15 minutes or so of the game I felt there was only one team that could win the game.

"The home fans were getting frustrated that we were playing more football than them and if we’d just been that little bit more careful in and around the box then I think we would have been travelling home with three points.”

Banbury now prepare to host Barwell on Saturday before a quickfire Christmas double sees them go to Redditch United on Boxing Day and then welcome St Ives Town 48 hours later.

Hollyhead added: “We went to Barwell earlier in the season and got a 1-0 victory that was based on possession work. We’ve got a week training then from Saturday it’s five games in 14 days, but a performance like at Telford gives us a real platform to approach those games with good belief.”