​Buxton prove too strong for Banbury

​The Bucks took the lead in the 16th minute when Adam Livingstone sent in a fine cross from the right which left Jake Wright with the simple task of a tap-in at the near post.

The extremely physical Buxton outfit took no prisoners, picking up two yellow cards in the first 20 minutes of proceedings.

Banbury’s first free-kick conceded did not arrive until the 42nd minute, with the referee stating after the game that United had given away just five fouls throughout the game.

For the rest of the first-half, after the first goal, possession was shared but United lacked creativity, giving the Bucks ‘keeper an easier afternoon than his Banbury counterpart.

In the second minute of first-half additional time, the home side doubled their tally. Jack Harding saved well from a close-in effort from Wright, but was adjudged to have brought down the same player from the rebound. Connor Kirby confidently placed the spot-kick wide of Harding to make the score 2-0 at the interval.

Banbury made a second-half double substitution in an effort to change the course of the game, but further rough play forced new signing Rudi Pache off the pitch injured on the hour.

In his short time on the pitch, Pache had shown his quality and could turn out to be a very astute signing for the Puritans.

Following that substitution, Buxton got the all-important third goal when Eoin McKeown and Ben Andreucci combined well and when the latter’s cross came into the box, Kirby was left with an easy chance to score his second and the Bucks' third to wrap up the points.

After Charlie Waller had to leave proceedings in the 79th minute, United could have found an excuse to collapse, but they did just the opposite and Ken Charles scored his tenth goal of the season in the 88th minute to deservedly reduce the score-line to 3-1.

Banbury United: Harding, Davies (Hall 46), Maye, Waller, Fleming, Elliott-Wheeler, D’Ath, Charles, Wilson (Wood 46), Maja, Pache (Giles 60)