Ashford Tn 3, Banbury Utd 0

Banbury United had a disastrous day as they crashed to defeat at mid-table Ashford Town in the Dr Martens League Eastern Division.

Their nightmare began when a motorway hold up saw their journey to Kent take four and a quarter hours - almost two hours more than scheduled.

It gave them little time to warm up, with the game kicking off 15 minutes late.

Worse was to follow as they lost the toss and had to kick against a gale-force wind for the first-half.

The enormous advantage was capitalised on by Ashford, who took the lead in the eighth minute, when Liam Hatch cut in from the left and shot home from ten yards.

Banbury fell further behind in the 18th minute when a left-wing cross from Ian Ross was turned into his own net by Terry Muckelberg, as he tried to clear the ball.

And the game was all but over for Banbury in the 26th minute when Ashford scored their third. Hatch's first effort was brilliantly saved by Simon Tricker, but Dave Hassett followed up to net from close range.

Unbelievably, the terrible conditions eased at half-time, and the advantage of playing with the wind didn't materialise for Banbury.

However, they had a golden chance to pull a goal just after the hour when Matty Gooderick rounded Ashford goalkeeper John Whitehouse only to blast the ball against a post with the goal at his mercy.

Liam O'Neill was denied by a good save, and Jon Corbett had a shot headed against the bar by a defender.

Banbury Utd: Tricker, Wallbridge, Muckelberg (Fuller 33), Sullivan, Simpson (McKay 46), Redknap, Corbett, O'Neill (Brock 90), Allen, Gooderick, M Travers.

Attendance: 284.