Banbury into England Hockey Cup semi-finals at home to Manchester team Bowden

The game started with both teams attacking at pace. Darsh Theara and Josh Nunneley in the heart of defence were too strong for Wimbledon and it wasn’t until the 24th minute that they took the lead from a scramble in front of goal

Banbury soon equalised when man of the match Joe Allen found Tyson Nunneley, who hammered the ball into the Wimbledon D and George Brooker’s deft deflection beat the keeper to make it 1-1.

Then Banbury took the initiative with Pete Lamb and Tyson Nunneley breaking fast down the flanks and forwards George Godwin and Captain Will Kellett coming to scoring. But Wimbledon went into the break 2-1 up when they converted a penalty corner in the last minute.

The second half was just as competitive but Banbury looked more hungry and the midfield of Joe Allen and Harry Simons working with the growing threat of Sam Chadbourne started to dominate.

Jacob Buckner Rowley, Kellett and Godwin put more pressure on the Wimbledon keeper which paid off when Chadbourne found Godwin whose great individual skill won a penalty corner. Josh Nunneley converted this with an absolute rocket for 2-2.

Just 10 minutes later Chadbourne weaved his way through the Wimbledon midfield and defence only to be fouled in the D resulting in a penalty flick. Nunneley stepped up to make it 3-2.

The final period saw Wimbledon throw everything at Banbury and it took an outstanding one on one save by keeper Kit Lamb and stoic defence especially by Pete Lamb and Ben Clarke to keep the lead. The last minute saw Wimbledon win a penalty corner but Kit Lamb and his defence kept it out to win with a great 3-2 victory.

Banbury manager, Andy Camp said: “What a match. Wimbledon are a very strong team and made it very difficult for us but we dug in and every single Banbury player worked a huge shift today to win the game. We are now in the semi-final of the cup against Bowden at home - just 70 minutes away from the final in the national stadium!”