Oxford United beat Banbury United 4-0 last night, to repair the damage done to the pre-season optimism following the defeat at Brackley on Saturday. Two goals from new signing Jamie Guy, plus one from James Constable, and a first from triallist Craig Reid reflected United's dominance over their hosts. In addition, Guy, Constable, Yemi Odubade, and Lewis Haldane all went close to adding to the scoreline.

United looked particularly impressive in the first half, and went close through Constable, Guy, and Yemi, before Constable opened the scoring after 17 minutes, after being put through by Guy. Andy Wheeler then saved well from Guy before Constable and Haldane went close to extending the lead. Despite their pressure, United went in at half time only 1-0 up.

Right at the start of the second half Guy doubled the scoreline with a shot that took a deflection off Constable. Shortly afterwards a sublime piece of skill from Guy took him around Banbury's substitute keeper Joe Murrell for him to make it 3-0. Craig Reid replaced Constable with 15 minutes remaining, and five minutes later he scored with a curling shot from the edge of the area to complete the scoring. With five minutes to go Chris Fower was given his first taste of first-team action, alongside fellow first-year scholar Adam Bowerman. Reid and Rob Davies are now the only triallists at the club following the release of Gary Silk, and it seems probable that both will be offered contracts. There will be further additions to the squad, especially in the light of bad injuries to midfielders Declan Benjamin and Phil Trainer.

As things stand, the likely first team looks very strong, but there remains a question mark over the side's strength in depth. Going forward the side now looks very strong, but it was difficult to tell from this fixture how well the defence will cope with pressure, as The Puritans failed to muster a single shot to trouble Jake Cole. With stronger pre-season opposition to come, it will be interesting to see how they get on.