Injury-struck Banbury United end ‘horrible week’ with ‘excellent’ draw at Bury Town
Interim Banbury United manager Craig McKay couldn’t be prouder of his players after the Puritans came from behind to salvage a 2-2 draw away at Bury Town on Saturday (October 31).
After an incredibly difficult week which began with a 3-0 defeat to Worcester City and the resignation of boss Kelvin Langmead, Banbury showed grit and determination to earn a deserved point in Suffolk.
Gus Sanches opened the scoring for Banbury just before half-time but Bury came out of the blocks firing in the second period, as Ollie Canfer and Alfie Wellens’ quickfire double edged the hosts ahead.
The Puritans were stunned by how quickly the game had been turned on its head, however they fought back valiantly to equalise on 69 minutes, when new signing Tolu Ikuyinminu nodded home from a Ben Nash corner.
Banbury then thought they had scored a dramatic late winner but it was disallowed for offside.
Nonetheless, McKay, who was Langmead’s assistant and is now in charge of Banbury’s first team until further notice, was delighted with what he saw.
“It was a really good game of football. I thought we were excellent,” McKay told Puritans Live.
“If I say we were well worthy of a point, that would do us an injustice as I thought we were the better team.
“We dominated the ball really well, we got it across the pitch, we stuck to the game plan. It’s a really good point away at second in the league, you’ve got to be happy with that.”
What made the result and performance all the more impressive was the fact that the squad depth was severely limited due to injuries, with striker Levi Steele deployed as a makeshift defender.
“It’s really stretched,” McKay admitted. “Skip (Yaw Ofosu) should be nowhere near the bench. He trained on Thursday but he only had 20 minutes in him if it was an emergency.
“We had no Alex Prosser, no Aaron McCreadie, no Josh Smile, no Finn Howell and Jacob Scott is still injured.
“More than half the team is missing, and big players as well. So, to go and perform like that in an unbelievably horrible week was excellent.”
The Puritans are next in Southern League Premier Central action this Saturday (November 7), at home to Leamington.