ANDY Whing paid tribute to Banbury United’s travelling support after they started the new year with two fantastic followings.

Several hundred Puritans fans were at Alvechurch and Redditch United on Saturday and yesterday respectively to watch their side claim consecutive 2-0 wins.

Match report: Banbury beat Redditch to go 14 points clear

Banbury are runaway leaders in Pitching In Southern League Premier Central and reached the Emirates FA Cup first round earlier in the season, with 2,400 supporters watching their televised defeat to Sky Bet League Two outfit Barrow.

Their backing has grown with the team’s success and manager Whing wants more of the same.

“At the last two games we’ve had more away fans than home fans. They were in fine voice, as well,” he said.

“We had so many chances, but the fans were brilliant and stayed behind us.

“It’s a great football club to be at right now and hopefully the fans keep coming.

“We’ve gone from an average of 300 to 400 up to 700 to 800 and we get the odd game of more than 1,000.

“We’ve got to keep our foot on the gas.”

The games at Alvechurch and Redditch had overall attendances of 564 and 598 respectively, with no away figure given.

Estimates have ranged from well over 200 to more than 300 Banbury fans at each match – numbers that would not be out of place several divisions higher.

Those travelling fans were rewarded with two wins that put Banbury 14 points clear at the top of Premier Central, although Coalville Town have the chance to close the gap to 11 against Alvechurch tonight.

The Puritans were down to the bare bones at Redditch, but still found a way to win.

Giorgio Rasulo and Morgan Roberts missed out with chest infections, while Jack Stevens pulled out of the squad minutes before kick-off and Henry Landers was substituted with a hamstring injury inside the first half an hour.

But replacement Victor Sodeinde and Lewis Johnson struck in the final five minutes to secure victory and Whing was thrilled with how his players rolled with the punches.

He said: “It’s been a tremendous effort from everybody. I know we’ve got some really good players, but the grit and the determination just runs through the team.

“I said before the game that I didn’t care about the performance, let’s just win the game.

“There’s no egos, we want to keep winning. That mentality is why we are where we are.

“We’re a little bit stretched, but the players have been remarkable."