ROVERS left Oxfordshire wondering what more they have to do to win a football match.
This was so nearly an away day performance to match their antics on the road earlier in the campaign.
And while the scoreline to chances created ratio may suggest that familiar traits of recent weeks came to prominence again on Saturday, the Greens showed they have made gradual strides since the beginning of this eight-game winless run.
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For starters the second half meltdown that saw them surrender points to Halesowen, Cheshunt and Bedford all too easily seems to have been conquered.
Then there is the confidence factor.
While there are still pockets of nervousness and frustration lingering throughout the team, a change back to the 4-4-2 system saw greater assurance and comfort coming from the pitch.
It allowed Rovers to flex their attacking muscles further, and this should only be enhanced when left-sided duo Les Hines and Kevin Banner finally regain their fitness.
In midfield Matt Birley and Sam Alsop were at their most dangerous, forcing a nervy home defence to retreat towards their own goal.
And the Greens are nearing a winning formula up-front in the shape of on-loan Redditch United duo Damien Markman and Richard Ball.
The power and pace of Markman complimented by Ball's astute positioning and build-up play pose a host of potential problems for defences.
So the question remains, why is it that Rovers continue to stumble, despite having more than enough to overpower teams like Banbury United?
On this occasion it can be clearly put down to a mixture of bad luck and poor concentration.
Banbury's 36th minute opener was certainly a case of the latter.
After piling on relentless pressure with Birley, Ball and Alsop all going close, Rovers failed to clear their lines, allowing winger Stuart Bridges to press forward.
Goalkeeper Karl Lewis - handed a reprieve by Rod Brown following an injury to recent signing Stuart Brock - could only parry Bridges' shot into the air and Matt Murphy pounced to tuck in the rebound.
It was a hammer blow given the amount of joy the Greens had experienced in driving forward into the home side's half, but the defence was slow to close Bridges who should never have been allowed to get his shot on goal.
But the goal didn't seem to affect Rovers who began the second half in a similar vein to the way they started the first.
Again they had the better chances with Alsop and Cotterill both dragging shots wide, while Guy Sanders headed over from Paul Lloyd's cross.
However, missed opportunities were punished, continuing an all too familiar pattern from Rovers' displays of recent weeks.
Murphy produced an excellent solo strike to double Banbury's lead on 65 minutes.
Bridges was given room to cross and he found Murphy on the edge of the area.
The striker showed wonderful skill to strike a half-volley on the turn into Lewis' bottom left hand corner.
Even though the cold reality of another Rovers defeat was settling in, the visitors endeavoured to push forward in search of goals.
Too little, too late it may have been but Ball was deservedly rewarded for a debut performance that contained equal measures of role your sleeves up' commitment, intelligent link-ups and instinctiveness in the opposition box.
His goal arrived courtesy of more tigerish work from Alsop who stole the ball from Mike Feely on the half-way line and released Lloyd on the right flank.
Lloyd's overhit pass was gathered by Ball just inside the area, and his cross-shot to the back post hit the woodwork and crept over the line, with the linesman having the final say by raising his flag to award the goal.
What turned out to be a mere consolation strike was made all the more frustrating by opportunities squandered earlier on in the game, and the fact that Rovers never completely relinquished the momentum to the home side.
Taking advantage of winning positions has been the major stumbling block in recent weeks.
With performances like this one, it is much easier to see where the elusive win will come from.
But Rovers seem incapable of executing that final blow at present, and that is why the league table is beginning to make grim reading.
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