Banbury came out on top in a back-and-forth contest vs Sutton & Epsom. A man of the match performance from Tommy Gray helped the Bulls to a 22-26 victory.

The Bulls were forced into a couple of changes after Callum Horne was ruled out for 6-8 weeks with a shoulder injury and Jack Briggs and Pete Boulton picked up short term injuries in the match against Havant.

The hot summer weather had made the Sutton & Epsom pitch dangerous to play on, so the match was moved to Cobham RFC’s artificial pitch. Before the match there was a two-minute silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II.

Banbury got off to the perfect start when Tommy Gray crossed in the opening minute of the game. Quinten Blythe broke down the right wing and as he was tackled, he offloaded to Tommy Gray who sprinted over for the easy finish. Ed Phillips added the extras, 0-7.

The Bulls had a rolling maul held up over the line and it would actually be the home side who drove their own rolling maul try over the line shortly after. James Craig crossing for S&E. Freddy Bunting added the extras, 7-7.

James Craig was yellow carded for a high tackle on Alex Garbett as he broke down the left wing. The Bulls took advantage of the extra man with Louis Tooth bursting through a hole in the S&E defence to score to the left of the posts, converted, 7-14.

The half-time whistle followed shortly after. The Bulls lead could have been more comfortable but with the set piece struggling and the error count high, there was a worry that the missed opportunities may come back to haunt Banbury.

Sutton & Epsom narrowed the lead after the break when Robbie Martey exploited some poor tackling from Banbury to score out to the left of the posts. Conversion missed, 12-14.

Nick Agbo was yellow carded when he deliberately knocked on following a break from S&E. The home side converted the extra man into points when they kicked a penalty after Banbury were penalised for being offside, 15-14.

With a little over twenty minutes left, the Bulls found an extra gear that would see them wrestle control of the contest. Tommy Gray broke through the opposition but was stopped narrowly short of the line. The ball was recycled quickly, and Louis Richards tipped a quick pass on to Alex Garbett who sprinted over for his first try for the club. Ed Phillips added a tricky conversion, 15-21.

Tommy Gray pounced on a mistake to extend the lead further. S&E overthrew a lineout and Tommy gathered, put in a brilliant sidestep and then sprinted over in the corner for a lovely solo effort. Conversion missed, 15-26.

Sam Hurley exploited some poor tackling from Banbury to make it a nervous few final minutes for the Bulls when he scored a late try. Freddy Bunting converted but Banbury would hold on for a 22-26 victory.

A hard-fought victory for the Bulls. A lot of the damage done was self-inflicted and on another day the mistakes Banbury made could have cost them the game. But in the end Banbury got the bonus point victory and if you can win playing ugly, then that’s usually a good sign. Tommy Gray was picked as Banbury’s man of the match. Two tries capped a brilliant overall performance, and he constantly looked a threat with ball in hand.

Match Stats:
Tries: Tommy Gray (2) Louis Tooth and Alex Garbett
Conversions: Ed Phillips (3)

Speaking to Director of Rugby, Matt Goode, after the game:

22-26 victory, bonus point victory on the road, it doesn’t get much better than that. But if we’d lost today, I think we’d be having a very different chat, wouldn’t we?
“Absolutely. I think to get a bonus point win is on the road is really important to us. I think our performance was a little bit below par. But I think Sutton & Epsom grew into the game and played some good rugby. All in all, I’m happy with the result. It’s going to a tight old league but we’re growing into it, bonus points are going to be important and I’m happy we got that today. Bracknell next week should be another close game.”

Touch of class from Tommy Gray today, two tries but a very good overall game from him, wasn’t it?
“Tommy was outstanding. He led the way; his comms and his performance were second to none. On that note I thought Louis Tooth was outstanding as well. He really fronted up. He’s growing in age every game.”

Two back-to-back home games now. Home games are to be crucial if the Bulls are going to do well in this league, aren’t they? I imagine you’ll be looking for a big crowd and big performances from the boys?
“Yeah, we love playing at home. Obviously last week wasn’t the best result. We should have got more last week, but we’re looking forward to being back in front of our supporters. They give us that extra boost. They’re brilliant, we’ll know we’ll hear them and we’re looking forward to being on home turf.”