Banbury United’s defensive woes continued at Hitchin on Saturday as they crashed to their seventh successive Calor League Premier Division defeat, with a 5-0 thrashing at Hitchin Town

In their worst run of losses for 25 years, Edwin Stein’s men have plummeted down the table, and conceded 31 goals.

The game was effectively all over after 20 minutes with Hitchin tearing Banbury apart and scoring three goals.

Callum Donnelly put the Canaries ahead after two minutes with a deflected shot past Kwame Fordah in the Banbury goal.

Mitchell Bryant made it 2-0 after 11 minutes, shooting home from the edge of the penalty area, and Matt Lench got the third after being set up by Donnelly.

A long-range effort from Donnelly struck the Banbury woodwork before the visitors mounted a decent attack, with Adeyinka Talabi’s shot from the edge of the area being tipped onto the bar.

Seven minutes after the break, Simon Martin headed home a Donnelly corner.

Hitchin completed the scoring in stoppage time when Michael King ran through and stroked the ball past Fordah.

Banbury Utd: Fordah, Mullarkey, Fathers, Isaac (Green 61), Collins, Obeng, Dias, Bevis, Talabi, Martin, Evangelinos. Subs not used: Pinto, Cray.

Attendance: 322.