Ed Phillips settled any early nerves for the Bulls, kicking a penalty to make it 3-0 after Witney were punished for offside. Dan Boshell levelled the score with a penalty of his own after Banbury were penalised for hands in the ruck.

Freddie Cracknell scored the first try of the match, punishing a mistake from Witney. Ed Phillips kicked behind which Jack Birks tried to let roll into the in goal area, but the fly-half got his feet in a muddle keeping the ball in play before Freddie Cracknell dived on the lose ball to score out to the left. Ed Phillips was off target with the conversion to leave it 8-3.

Banbury extended the lead, punishing another mistake. Sam Stoop chipped to the corner which Witney accidently carried into touch to give Banbury a lineout 5 metres out. Ian Isham found his man in the lineout before gathering the ball at the back of the rolling maul. As the pack moved closer to the try line, Ian Isham peeled off and crash through two Witney defenders to score out to the left. Ed Phillips converted to make it 15-3.

Witney turned down two kickable penalties instead kicking for the corner in hopes of a try to get back into the game. Banbury defended for their lives before eventually winning a penalty at the breakdown for probably the loudest cheer of the day. Jamie Burke was yellow carded after throwing the ball at Matt Goode’s face after taking exception to a big hit from the Banbury Head Coach.

Despite being a man down Witney retained the ball very well and had a long period of possession but couldn’t add any points before the half time whistle.

Banbury started the second half brightly. Jimmy Manley extended the lead with a try for Banbury. Sam Stoop threw a lovely pass to pull the Witney defence out of position and Jimmy Manley charged through the gaps in the line to dive over out to the left. Ed Phillips just pushed his kick wide to leave it 20-3.

Freddie Cracknell got his second of the game in a near repeat of the last try. Sam Stoop looped another pass to pull the Witney line out of position and Freddie Cracknell gathered, stepped round the last man before diving over out to the left. Ed Phillips converted to make it 27-3.

More good play from Freddie Cracknell saw Banbury camped in the Witney 22. The tricky winger chased down a kick and forced his opposite number into a knock on. Banbury went through phase after phase and eventually the pressure told. Joe Mills found Sam Stoop who charged his way through the Witney defence to score out to the left. Joe Mills took over the kicking duties after Ed Phillips went off but was off target with his first attempt to leave it 32-3.

Dan Brady came on as a substitute and scored with nearly his first touch of the game. The Banbury pack won a scrum against the head 5 metres from the Witney try line. Sam Stoop got the ball wide to Tommy Gray who drew the last man before passing on to Dan Brady who sprinted his way in for a score in the clubhouse corner. Joe Mills missed the conversion to leave it 37-3.

Banbury scored again immediately from the kick off with one of the tries of the season. Witney kicked deep from the kick off. Joe Mills tried to clear the Banbury lines, but his kick was charged down. Tommy Gray gathered the ball from Banbury’s own in goal area passed the ball on to Dan Brady who instead of clearing his lines decided to back himself from distance and brilliantly broke all the way to the halfway line. Dan Brady offloaded to Joe Mills who got close to the 22 before offloading to Tommy Gray who out sprinted the covering defence and finishing the try off with an infamous Tommy Gray swan dive under the posts. An incredible score which summed up Banbury’s second half display. Joe Mills converted to make it 44-3.

Arron Lambourne scored a consolation try for Witney with the final play of the game. Sneaking his way over in the corner. Witney missed the conversion to leave the score 44-8 at the final whistle.

An incredible second half from Banbury blew away a strong Witney side. Witney had long periods with possession of the ball, but Banbury’s defence was up to the challenge. Conceding only 8 points in their last 3 games is an incredible achievement.

Speaking to Head Coach Matt Goode:

44-8 victory, how good does that feel? “it’s amazing, we’ve had to work really hard for it. Witney put up a phenomenal fight and they smashed us round the park a bit. But I thought we were clinical and our defence was phenomenal. I’m so chuffed, chuffed for the club, so chuffed for the boys. What a way to finish the night.

A tight first half, was it always going to be a bit of a nervy one? Then played your game in the second? “It’s always going to be tight in the first 20-40 minutes then we showed our class towards the end. Sam Stoop was brilliant, Tommy Gray was excellent and Kallum Dixey could easily have been Man of the Match as well. The most amazing thing about it all is that 80% of our lads are Banbury Colts. It’s a real honour to play for the club with these boys.”

Was this one of your main targets as Head Coach this season? “Absolutely, it was on our target list. Perform well and reach for the top 3 in the league. We’re there and hitting those targets. I’m asking a lot of questions of the boys and they’re responding really well. We’re delighted to win the cup and we want to win it next year as well.”

Are you hoping to use this momentum in to the last few games? “Yes, we’re going for a win every game. Right now, we’ll enjoy this and the focus on Stratford Away next week. We want to keep winning, it’s a lovely feeling right now.”

Banbury Try Scorers: Freddie Cracknell (2) Ian Isham, Jimmy Manley, Sam Stoop, Dan Brady and Tommy Gray.

Banbury Line-up:

15. Tommy Gray (Sponsored by: Edd Frost & Daughters)
14. Joe Mills (Sponsored by: DTC International)
13. Jimmy Manley (Sponsored by: Godiva Insurance)
12. Matt Goode (Sponsored by: Hook Norton Crop Consultancy)
11. Freddie Cracknell (Sponsored by: F M & P Consultancy)
10. Sam Stoop (Sponsored by: H Colegrave & Son)
9. Eddie Phillips (Sponsored by: P Montanaro – ITSM Consultancy)

1. Ian Isham (Captain) (Sponsored by: Fieldcraft)
2. Giles Saar (Sponsored by: Jamie Briggs Removals & Storage)
3. Pete Boulton (Sponsored by: BRUFC SAGA Department)
4. Kallum Dixey
5. Sam Carr-Archer
6. Jacob Mills (Sponsored by: Hire Safe Solutions)
7. Matthew Powell
8. Chris Phillips (Sponsored by: Lorne Alway)

Replacements:

16. Ken Key (Sponsored by: Lockwoods Ski and Outdoor)
17. Matthew Brock
18. Nick Pratt
19. Jack Briggs
20. Dan Brady