Boss Mark Gee could not hide his dismay as North Leigh went down to a 4-3 penalty shoot-out defeat to Banbury United in the final of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup at the Kassam Stadium, writes Matthew Bruce.

Joel Meade scored the winning penalty after the game ended 4-4 after extra time.

It was looking good for North Leigh when Jamie Cook and Kieran Sanders put them two goals to the good.

But Banbury hit back with a Jacob Walcott penalty and goals from Jack Westbrook and Leam Howards.

A Callum McNish double restored North Leigh’s advantage, but captain Tom Ryan’s last-minute equaliser sent the game into extra-time and penalties – where the Puritans finally claimed victory.

“We dominated proceedings up to when it was 2-0,” said Gee.

“Then we gave away a silly penalty and I think that gave them confidence.

“It was a very disappointing result; I thought we were never out of control of the game and yet we’ve ended up drawing 4-4.

“It probably came about ten days too late for us. It felt more like a pre-season friendly the way both sides approached it.

“It’s the story of our season really – we scored four goals and still ended up losing the game.

“It reinforced my opinions on the side.

“I think we were very good in possession, but we need to be better without it. We need a couple of additions in defence to really shore us up and that will be my first priority.”

North Leigh went ahead on seven minutes when Cook nodded home Michael Hopkins’s cross.

They doubled the advantage on 21 minutes when skipper Stuart Hole picked out Cook, who bamboozled keeper Leigh Bedwell before squaring for Sanders to hammer home.

However, just four minutes later Banbury were awarded a penalty for a trip on Shepherd Murombedzi, with Walcott firing in the spot-kick past keeper Matt Bulman.

Ten minutes before the break the sides were level, thanks to a 25-yard volley from Westbrook.

The second half was 15 minutes old when Banbury took the lead for the first time.

A reverse pass from sub Carl Tappin found Howards who rolled the ball home.

North Leigh equalised against the run of play, with a clearance going in off McNish.

He then netted his second goal nine minutes later when he held off two challenges before unleashing an unstoppable effort.

North Leigh had one hand on the cup, but their dreams were crushed in the 90th minute when Ryan headed home a Hicham Abdellah cross to send the match into extra time.

Sanders nearly won it for the Millers late on, but his longrange shot was tipped over.

And Bedwell was the hero in the resulting penalty shoot-out, saving North Leigh’s fifth spotkick from Morgan Williams with the score locked at 3-3.

Joel Meade then blasted in the decisive kick for his side to seal North Leigh’s heartbreak.

North Leigh: Bulman, Hole, Hopkins, Osborne-Ricketts, Westlake (Williams 75), Caton, Bowles, Woodley (Turk 61), Cook, Sanders, McNish (Gunn 105).

Subs not used: Else.

Attendance: 400.