Banbury Men’s 1s Seconds Away from All 3 Points in Tough Away Fixture
Banbury Men’s 1s – 2 Bournemouth Men’s 1s – 2
Banbury came within 5 seconds from bagging all 3 points in a difficult away match against mid-table Bournemouth who have proved very difficult for any visiting teams to gain any points. Bournemouth’s last second equaliser made it honours even at the end of a hard fought contest
which saw Banbury play most of the second half with just 10 men.
The match started with Bournemouth dominating possession and territory putting the Banbury
defence under pressure but being held well by Captain Darsh Theara, man of the match - Josh
Nunneley, and Pete Lamb in the heart of defence. After 15 minutes Bournemouth won a short
corner which they converted with a low drag-flick to make it 1-0 to the home team. Banbury found it hard to impose their style of play on the match as Bournemouth were quicker to close down and Banbury gave away too much possession, but they kept in the game and the halftime break came with them still in the game and only 1-0 down.
The second half couldn’t have been more different. Banbury took the game by the scruff of the neck and the midfield engine of George Brooker, Steve O’Connor, Harry Simons and Joe Allen contained the opposition well and were much more effective in linking Banbury’s defence and attack units.
George Godwin and Jacob Buckner Rowley saw more ball upfront and it was Bournemouth who
were on the back foot defending hard. Banbury won 2 quick penalty corners which were well saved from Nunneley’s drag flicks and the Bournemouth keeper had more to do with strikes from Godwin and Brooker in the first 8 minutes. After 10 minutes Banbury won yet another penalty corner as Brooker carved through the opposition defence and Nunneley scored with a top class drag flick high into the Bournemouth net to draw the match level at 1-1.
Shortly after Banbury were down to 10 men for the rest of the half and so the advantage was given to the home team. After the initial onslaught Banbury built from the back again and Godwin’s smart work which won another penalty corner. Nunneley converted the corner again with an unstoppable high drag-flick to give Banbury a deserved 2-1 lead with just 10 minutes left on the clock. But victory was cruelly snatched from Banbury in the final 5 seconds when Kit Lamb made a great save and the loose ball was struck into the net despite a brave tackle by Long. The game finished 2-2 and honours even.
Banbury Manager, Andy Camp, said: “It's very difficult to come here and get any result – we knew
this. We had a couple of key players out today and we played most of the second half with just 10
men against a tough team. The lads turned the match around and all credit to them as they worked doubly hard to get the lead and keep it all the way to the final seconds. We have an easier run now against the 4 teams at the bottom of the league and so we are still in the race for the title”.
Photo: Simons on the rampage
Photo: Brooker dominates midfield
Photo: Brooker turns over another Bournemouth attack
Photo: Captain Theara makes another critical tackle
Photo: Lamb builds another attack
Photo: Man of the match, Nunneley, dominates in defence