Winchester's South Premier League, Division 2 promotion dreams are effectively over after a 3-2 defeat by Banbury.

The result has left the city club seven points adrift of Maidstone and six behind Trojans.

Winchester had enough chances to put the game out of reach, particularly in the opening 20 minutes, but their normal conversion rate deserted them - Mark Vowles, Kent Langridge and Adrian Wilkinson all being thwarted by the Banbury goalkeeper.

Eventually the pressure told as Langridge forced a defensive error and Vowles fired Winchester ahead.

The hosts lost goalkeeper Ally Birch to an injury - teenager Harry Mousley replaced him - but on the pitch Winchester's dominance began to wane and before half-time Tim Loxton converted two of an eventual hat-trick to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

Winchester were guilty of over-committing themselves and were left with little cover as Loxton raced through to make it 3-1 soon after the interval.

Winchester did get some reward when George Lambert cut the gap to 3-2 but, despite finishing strong with four penalty corners, the city side failed to grab an equaliser.