HELLENIC LEAGUE

Trowbridge Town 1, Banbury United Reserves 0

A FLUKE goal direct from a corner kick sent Trowbridge seven points clear at the top of the Hellenic League Division One West.

Substitute Nathan Flower's 88th minute flag kick curled underneath the bar and inside the far post to give the misfiring Bees three points they never looked like collecting.

Manager Paul Shanley later admitted "that was the only way we were going to score," after an afternoon of few chances for the hosts.

The goal brought great relief to the 170 supporters inside Woodmarsh who had gathered to watch the league leaders in action.

It was a record home crowd for the Bees this season, boosted perhaps by news that plans for the new £2m stadium will be submitted by the start of November.

Shanley said he too was delighted to hear the project was moving forward, after two months of silence from the stadium developers.

He has made no secret of the fact the players who signed during the summer did so on the basis they would be playing at a new ground in the near future.

He said: "This has given us a big incentive to keep things going on the pitch. It's what everyone wanted to hear.

"The players have been asking me what's going on with the new ground and now we can see something is happening."

Shanley sat the players down before kick-off to explain the situation with the new ground, but one player missing from the discussions was Booker Woodford.

The six-goal striker was taken ill (flu) earlier that morning, forcing him to pull out of the squad.

Trowbridge dominated possession but, uncharacteristically, they failed to create many scoring opportunities.

Dave Percival pounced on a mistake by the Banbury goalkeeper, but the ball got stuck under his feet and the chance slipped away.

Craig Brown saw his shot turned round the post as the Bees swarmed around the Banbury goal.

At the other end, Eddie Quelch made two comfortable saves on the way to recording his second clean sheet in two starts.

The game looked destined for a draw until the late introduction of Flower, whose curling corner sent the home crowd into raptures.

Trowbridge have been given a bye in the Wilts Senior Cup tomorrow because opponents Aldbourne have pulled out of the competition.