St Leonards were condemned to their ninth successive league defeat when they went down 2-1 to second-placed Banbury United.

It started well for Saints who took the lead through skipper Peter Baker after five minutes. His 25 yard shot was parried by Banbury goalkeeper Simon Tricker and Baker pounced to bundle in the rebound.

The game was then held up for 15 minutes after an assistant suffered concussion when he was hit in the face by a stray clearance.

The break seemed to inspire the hosts who levelled on 19 minutes when Norman Sylla beat Peter Newstead with a lob which went in off the underside of the bar.

Newstead then denied Sylla but it wasn't all one-way traffic. Roy Godden missed a good chance with a header from six yards and Baker was inches away with a right-foot free-kick from 25 yards on the stroke of half-time.

Banbury dominated the second half with George Redknapp and Sylla both going close before Jason Allen headed the hosts into a 69th minute lead.

Newstead made further saves in the last 20 minutes to leave St Leonards' coach Ryan Light reflecting that his side must soon start to turn the corner.

He said: "We had a young side out who did well against the second placed team, but once again two lapses in concentration have cost us. We have got to start turning performances into points."