Bodicote Park – Saturday 6th February 2016

Match report by Ed Phillips, action photos and video clip by Simon Grieve.

The Midlands quarter final of the RFU Intermediate Cup was a highly anticipated clash against a Kidderminster Carolians side who had always put up a stern test for The Bulls, resulting in some close encounters in the past, and this would be no different. The game as a spectacle may have been somewhat spoiled by the driving wind and rain, but the visitors mastered the conditions the better and won a hard fought game 11-5.

Banbury won the toss and elected to play against the elements in the first half. This plan was immediately tested, when Kiddy had the lions share possession and territory. The visitors soon turned this into points. They recycled the ball well using strong forward runners, and moved the ball well in the conditions to score in the left corner. The conversation was missed leaving the score 0-5.

Banbury had a hard task ahead of them in the first half, and for once this season they didn’t seem up to it. The forwards found it hard to retain the ball for long periods and when they did, stand in fly half Ed Phillips lacked fluency and imagination, and too often kicked the ball away. The visitors made the most of this and dominated field position. It wasn’t a day for running in multiple tries, but Kiddy kept chipping away and took two penalties in front of the posts to make the score 0-11 at half time.

Banbury will have been optimistic at the turn around, they knew they hadn’t really got out of 2nd gear and now they had the strong wind at their backs. But this did little to change the flow of the game. Banbury did naturally have better field position, but The Bulls looked like a rudderless ship at times, leaving the forwards a near impossible task.

Just as it looked as if the game was going to fade out of the Bulls grasp, they managed to put some phases together and Sean Banister (pictured above) crossed in the corner, and Phillips narrowly missed from the touch line. This gave Banbury the lift they required, and they soon earned a penalty on the edge of Phillips’ range, but he put the ball to the right of the posts in the blustery conditions.

Banbury continued to battle on, but often coughed the ball up in the Kiddy 22. Kiddy showed Banbury exactly what they should have done in the first half and retained the ball for multiple phases and worked their way firstly out of their own 22 then out of their half. This really frustrated Banbury as they could not get their hands on the ball, meaning they were trying to force the issue when they did, this somewhat summed up the final encounters, Banbury knew a try in kickable range could give them the win but they couldn’t create the final spark and the visitors deservedly took the spoils 5-11.