Banbury went in to the game favourites, but Bicester were in good form in their league and were clearly pumped up at the prospect of causing an upset. The Bulls handed first starts of the season to Tom Eyston and Kit Buchan. Whilst a number of players filled in out of position due to unavailability’s.

Banbury were dealt an early blow when Jack Briggs limped off with a shin injury. Sam Stoop coming off the bench after only 5 minutes. Bicester started the game well and after 20 minutes neither side had scored, Bicester slightly edging the first quarter but with no reward.

Callum Horne opened the scoring for Banbury. The Bulls had a 5-metre scrum which Bicester did well to keep out, but 2 phases later Callum Horne smashed his way over from close range. Ed Phillips converted, Banbury 7 Bicester 0.

The Bulls extended the lead when Dan Brady scored in the corner. Sam Stoop whipped a beautiful pass to Duncan Leese who broke down the side-line before drawing the fullback and passing to Dan Brady who dived over out to the left. The conversion was wide, 12-0. The scores remained the same until halftime. Some pushing and shoving in the tunnel as the players headed in showing Bicester’s frustration not to get on the scoreboard.

Banbury’s second half was fantastic, and Dan Brady got the Bulls off to the perfect start. Duncan Leese threw a lovely blind pass to Dan Brady who weaved his way through the Bicester defence. Despite having men outside him Brady backed himself and dived over the line to the right of the sticks. The conversion went wide, 17-0.

Sam Stoop scored his first try with a lovely solo run. Showing off some lovely feet to step inside his man before running in untouched under the posts. Ed Phillips converted, 24-0.

Joe Mills made a good break for Banbury and as the Bicester defence tried to get back onside Ed Phillips got the ball out quickly to Sam Stoop who found a huge hole in the Bicester line to score his second try of the evening. Ed Philips added the extras, 31-0.

After a break from Kit Buchan, Ed Phillips exploited a slow retreating Bicester line to play in Tom Burman down the right side-line. The winger only just making it to the line after both legs cramping up 5-10 metres out. The conversion attempt fell short, 36-0.

The Bulls were on fire and good counter rucking from Oscar Gudge and Ed Phillips helped turn the ball over for Banbury. Sam Stoop quickly played in Joe Mills and he dived over in the clubhouse corner. Ed Phillips who had a bit of an off day with the boot by his own high standards pushed his conversion wide, 41-0.

Banbury finished the game with an incredible try from Justin Parker. Sam Stoop tried a cross-field kick which Justin Parker caught in his own half, he then produced one of the runs of the season, stepping his way around seemingly half the Bicester side before diving over under the posts. Ed Phillips converted to make it 48-0.

Bicester battled on until the final whistle but couldn’t get the score their play deserved over the 80 minutes. Fair play to Bicester, they never stopped battling and their away support was one of the loudest of the season. Good luck to Bicester for the rest of their season. Sam Stoop was Banbury’s man of the match. Coming off the bench after 5 minutes is never ideal preparation, but Stoopy had a fantastic game, two tries, two assists and a thoroughly deserved man of the match award. Banbury now face Chinnor Falcons in the County Cup Final on Thursday 18th of April at Iffley Road.

Speaking to Head Coach, Matt Goode, after the game:

48-0, tough game but the boys turned it on at the end, what pleased you most today? “Probably to nil them, we set out to do that, we wanted to set the tone early on. Bicester had a lot of territory in the first 30 minutes and came away with nothing, we had one dangerous attack and scored. It was probably a bit harsh, but I was impressed with our defensive efforts. It shows their character that it took us 30 minutes to even get on the scoreboard.”

Let’s talk about that first half, not Banbury’s best performance, was it nerves or the number of changes that affected things? “It was a typical cup game, Bicester were outstanding in that first half, they were unlucky not to score points. I think a lot of changes messed things up a little bit, but the boys that came in and played did brilliantly for us. The substitutes that came on were good. I know we’ve got good strength in depth and I know we can bring people in and it’ll be fine.”

You’re now in another final, taking on Chinnor Falcons, will this be the toughest final Banbury have played in so far? “Without a shadow of a doubt, they’ve got some class national league players. Their 2’s and 3’s are both solid. It’ll be a really interesting one. My focus isn’t on that though, we’ve got to switch our focus to Salisbury away and plan how we can try and get 5 points from that game.”