A freezing cold Friday night saw Banbury take on Oxford University Greyhounds under lights in this season's Oxfordshire Cup.

A relatively settled Banbury line-up was looking to follow up the previous week's victory and kick on to two tough league fixtures. However things got off to a disastrous start. The kick-off was short by the Greyhounds and a scrum was taken on halfway, but a fumble from the base by Number 8, Simon Brand, saw the student's scrum-half snaffle the ball and race in under the posts. Banbury were 7-0 down in the first minute!

And things were to get worse for the home side in a torrid opening 15 minutes. The Greyhounds looked to keep the ball alive and unleash their pacy backline at every opportunity and poor defensive backline work, in both tackling and communication, saw the visitors rack up three more quick tries to go into a commanding 26-0 lead.

Banbury looked out for the count already, and really needed to get a grip on the game to avoid a complete rout. A switch of technique saw the Bulls begin to exert control on the game through some strong running displays from the pack. Banbury kept possession for long periods and steadily made their way into the opposition's half. This pressure inside their own 22 began to tell on the students and it was a mistake just yards from their line that led to Banbury's opening try. Flanker Chris Phillips put boot to the loose ball to nudge it into the try area, where he was able to ground the ball for the score.

The match continued in this same vein, with Banbury exerting pressure through the forwards, and the Greyhounds breaking out through their exciting backs. Solid defence from full-back Carl Daniels however, helped to keep the Banbury line intact, and a wonderful flowing move led to Banbury's next score. Solid running and excellent support play from the forwards saw them break down the left wing, when the ball was offloaded to fly-half, Jed Boyle. He beat two men and broke into the opposition 22 before being tackled. However the move did not die there, Brand was on hand to take the ball up again and when he was held up just inches from the line, centre James Heywood was on hand to scoop up the ball and score.

Greyhounds responeded quickly and hit back with an unconverted score of their own to extend their lead and go in at half-time 31-12 up. The Bulls had shown themselves how they could win this game and kicked off with a degree of confidence in their own abilities, despite the scoreline.

The students continued to struggle with Banbury's forward power, with repeated drives making up to 50 yards in one series of phase play. Banbury were to score next through skipper Ed Phillips, who took a quick tap penalty, chipped over the cover defence and won the foot race to touch down the ball. At 31-19 Banbury did not look out of the game at all, and soon after Ed Phillips scored his second try of the game. Bulls pressure had gained them a scrum 5 metres from the Greyhounds line, from which the skipper took the ball, handed off two would-be tacklers and scored wide out on the right. Converting his own score, the Bulls had brought the gap down to just six points and a heroic comeback seemed on the cards.

But it was not to be, as Greyhounds scored an opportunist try as the Banbury effort tired. This was followed up by two further late scores to break the 50 point mark for the students and seal the victory.

Despite the scoreline, Banbury could take plenty from the game into next week's league fixture with Old Laurentians, namely that they shouldn't concede 4 tries in the opening 15 minutes!