Post by Steve T on Apr 2, 2024 0:25:41 GMT 1
From Non League Matters "Where Did You Go?", Saturday 2nd April 2022
Banbury United 1-1 Tamworth
Southern League Premier Division Central
Attendance: 1,835
Admission: £11
Banbury clinched promotion with four matches to spare on a day of high emotions that comprehensively eclipsed the celebrations of previous successes. The attendance was the biggest for a league game since Good Friday 1968 and if the home spectators had the most minor of disappointments it was only that the moment the title was won came before the final whistle with the news that Coalville had failed to win. There was still time for Tamworth to win the match – they had threatened to do so – and also for Banbury, who missed an injury time penalty (it was their fifth failure from the spot this season but the first to cost points).
The visitors had had a mixed season. In early November they were sixth with seven wins in their first 12 matches but won only one of their next 15, falling 11 places. The arrival of manager Andy Peaks from Rushden improved matters. He'd been in charge since the second match in their unbeaten run of eight prior to kick-off. Before the match, he spoke of the previous week's 5-2 win over Needham Market. He was pleased with the result, but thought there was still plenty of room for improvement: "We weren't great defensively..."
Well, there was nothing much wrong with Tamworth's defence on this showing as they shut Banbury out for long periods, especially in the first-half. They took the lead in the 15th minute when Shaquille Whittingham thumped a 25-yard half-volley into the top corner and the same player could have doubled that lead shortly afterwards but grazed the bar with an angled drive. Banbury created few clear chances, the best of them falling to captain Giorgio Rasulo just after the half-hour but his shot lacked pace and was cleared by defender Chris Cox.
The second half was more open and there were more chances at each end. Jack Stevens should have equalised soon after the restart, did so in the 64th minute and was fouled for the penalty that was missed by Rasulo. Chris Wreh, a couple of yards out, managed to miss from an inswinging corner, while at the other end Jack Harding made two crucial saves.
If the game lacked anything it was the tension of a cup-tie, play-off or final match decider. It didn't lack the unwanted, with more pyrotechnics and a minor punch-up on the terraces in the first half. Banbury have attracted a lot of new supporters this season, especially since the turn of the year, and some of them have raised a few hackles, especially at Nuneaton and Rushall. Will they be seen in County Durham on a cold January afternoon next season?
Next season will see the club venturing into uncharted territory not just in terms of the standard but geography if they're placed in the northern section, which looks highly likely. Previously, the furthest north any United teams had played was Gainsborough for an FA Cup replay in 2019 and an Anglian (!) Floodlit Cup tie in 1971, though mention must be made of Spencer's appearance at Marine's ground on Boxing Day 1934 for a friendly against a Liverpool County amateur XI. Marine's ground is 0.08 degrees further north...
In 2004-05, Banbury's first season in the SL's reformed (and weaker) Premier Division, the then chairman of the club promoted the idea of a supporters trust. He was voted down by the board. In 2014, when the club was in chaos and on its knees after a bungled 'takeover', the idea surfaced again. It didn't receive universal support; the sports editor of the local paper produced an editorial saying it would never work. He has never retracted his words. Banbury were relegated (in 2015) before the Trust took over but came back up immediately. Beginners' luck? Not then. Not now.
Forum match thread: banburyunitedfc.proboards.com/thread/3358/tamworth
Banbury United 1-1 Tamworth
Southern League Premier Division Central
Attendance: 1,835
Admission: £11
Banbury clinched promotion with four matches to spare on a day of high emotions that comprehensively eclipsed the celebrations of previous successes. The attendance was the biggest for a league game since Good Friday 1968 and if the home spectators had the most minor of disappointments it was only that the moment the title was won came before the final whistle with the news that Coalville had failed to win. There was still time for Tamworth to win the match – they had threatened to do so – and also for Banbury, who missed an injury time penalty (it was their fifth failure from the spot this season but the first to cost points).
The visitors had had a mixed season. In early November they were sixth with seven wins in their first 12 matches but won only one of their next 15, falling 11 places. The arrival of manager Andy Peaks from Rushden improved matters. He'd been in charge since the second match in their unbeaten run of eight prior to kick-off. Before the match, he spoke of the previous week's 5-2 win over Needham Market. He was pleased with the result, but thought there was still plenty of room for improvement: "We weren't great defensively..."
Well, there was nothing much wrong with Tamworth's defence on this showing as they shut Banbury out for long periods, especially in the first-half. They took the lead in the 15th minute when Shaquille Whittingham thumped a 25-yard half-volley into the top corner and the same player could have doubled that lead shortly afterwards but grazed the bar with an angled drive. Banbury created few clear chances, the best of them falling to captain Giorgio Rasulo just after the half-hour but his shot lacked pace and was cleared by defender Chris Cox.
The second half was more open and there were more chances at each end. Jack Stevens should have equalised soon after the restart, did so in the 64th minute and was fouled for the penalty that was missed by Rasulo. Chris Wreh, a couple of yards out, managed to miss from an inswinging corner, while at the other end Jack Harding made two crucial saves.
If the game lacked anything it was the tension of a cup-tie, play-off or final match decider. It didn't lack the unwanted, with more pyrotechnics and a minor punch-up on the terraces in the first half. Banbury have attracted a lot of new supporters this season, especially since the turn of the year, and some of them have raised a few hackles, especially at Nuneaton and Rushall. Will they be seen in County Durham on a cold January afternoon next season?
Next season will see the club venturing into uncharted territory not just in terms of the standard but geography if they're placed in the northern section, which looks highly likely. Previously, the furthest north any United teams had played was Gainsborough for an FA Cup replay in 2019 and an Anglian (!) Floodlit Cup tie in 1971, though mention must be made of Spencer's appearance at Marine's ground on Boxing Day 1934 for a friendly against a Liverpool County amateur XI. Marine's ground is 0.08 degrees further north...
In 2004-05, Banbury's first season in the SL's reformed (and weaker) Premier Division, the then chairman of the club promoted the idea of a supporters trust. He was voted down by the board. In 2014, when the club was in chaos and on its knees after a bungled 'takeover', the idea surfaced again. It didn't receive universal support; the sports editor of the local paper produced an editorial saying it would never work. He has never retracted his words. Banbury were relegated (in 2015) before the Trust took over but came back up immediately. Beginners' luck? Not then. Not now.
Forum match thread: banburyunitedfc.proboards.com/thread/3358/tamworth