Time for United to hand out the justice

The FA’s decision to allow Farnborough to remain in the competition and give them the luxury of a Saturday to fulfil the fixture instead of another midweek trip has left a bad taste in town.

So there will be no better way of putting matters right than by settling the issue on the field in Saturday’s second qualifying round replay at the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium. Farnborough should have been made to come back to Banbury in midweek and they have been handed an advantage by the FA on that front.

Now it is up to the Puritans’ players and supporters to make sure the right team goes through to face Hartley Wintney in the next round.

The Puritans go into Saturday’s replay on the back of an encouraging draw with Slough Town in midweek and manager Mike Ford says his players must simply concentrate on the football.

Ford said: “The situation we found ourselves in was very frustrating but the FA has made it’s decision and we just have to get on with it. But the backlog of fixtures because of the FA Trophy business may have worked in our favour because it means a difficult month could become less difficult but not certainly not easy.

“We’ve got to forget about what has gone on off the field and just treat it as just another game. There has been a lot going on concerning this tie and we fought hard to bring Farnborough back here.

“I want us to grab the initiative and the players are really looking forward to the game.”