CHESHAM United were as good as they can be on Tuesday night, when they demolished Banbury 8-0 at The Meadow.

But Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to Hitchin takes some of the shine off the week for manager Andy Leese, whose team remain second with a clutch of teams gathering in their slipstream.

He said: “Banbury are a decent side, but we opened with a real tempo and never stepped off it.

“Suddenly they were 3-0 down, but we were relentless. We’ve had some good first halves at The Meadow and not followed it up.

“But we could’ve gone better than eight. Pretty much everything we tried came off and their keeper had to make two or three excellent saves.

“But it’s only one game and it doesn’t take away the disappointment of Saturday.”

The chasm between results just four days apart does raise questions, but every team in the league has hitting unexpected lows this winter and Leese knows everything is still there for them.

Chesham remain 11 points adrift of leaders Hemel while third-placed Cambridge City are three further back with three games in hand.

St Albans in fourth place also have two games in hand on them.

Leese said: “We won’t rule out any outcome this season, that includes winning the league. But we know we could also find ourselves down in fourth or fifth.”

Counting in their favour though is the form of their strikers.

Drew Roberts, left, scored three against Banbury to take his tally to 29 while Chris Dillon is on 14.

Leese believes the pair are probably the best attacking combination he’s had as a manager.

He said: “They’re a fantastic pairing and a great foil for each other.

“They have that telepathy and want to play together and that’s why we were able to get them in the summer – other clubs were looking at them individually.

“Dillon is a proper number nine and Drew bangs in 25-30 goals a season whether he’s playing for a good team or an average one.

“Their movement is incredible and they don’t give centre backs a moments rest.

“They’re up against some solid centre backs every week in this league, but they’re a great pair and get all types of goals. That’s why I wanted to get them.”

Chesham go to Burnham on Friday and then have a Bucks Cup semi-final against Aylesbury next Wednesday.