Fisher Athletic 0, Banbury Utd 1: Banbury moved up to third place in the Dr Martens Eastern Division, one point off the top, with this hard-fought win at Fisher on Saturday.

Without injured striker Norman Sylla, Banbury went close in the fifth minute when Jimmy Simpson jinked between two defenders and shot wide from an acute angle.

Fisher were dangerous, too, and the visitors had a let-off in the ninth minute when Ray Powell's shot beat goalkeeper Simon Tricker but came back off the far post.

Scott Taylor and George Redknap both beat Fisher's offside trap, only to see their efforts go wide.

In a physical match, there were many free-kicks, and from one of them, Simpson's splendid effort hit the crossbar and bounced down on the line before being cleared.

After the break, United pushed forward at every opportunity, but as the game wore on, it looked increasingly as though it would be goalless.

Redknap twice went close to breaking the deadlock, before Banbury's patience paid off in the first minute of injury time.

Redknap latched on to a ball from midfield, and with the Fisher defence again appealing for offside, he rounded Holder for his eighth goal of the season to seal three well-derserved points.

In an unsavoury finish to the match, Fisher's Richard Pensford was sent off for remarks made to a linesman, and at the final whistle, Ady Fuller needed assistance after appearing to be butted by a Fisher player.

**Banbury: Tricker, Fuller, Blossom, Sullivan, Allen, Simpson, Travers, Stanbridge, Taylor (McKay 83), Redknap, O'Neill. Subs not used: Corbett, Essex, Brock.

Attendance: 100.