Banbury’s first game back in the national leagues for over twenty years, sadly ended in defeat as the Bulls went down to a strong Havant squad, 18-26.

The Bulls had a strong preseason with three wins from three games, but Havant looked like a tough opening fixture for Banbury following their promotion to the Regional 1 South Central Division. Havant finished 5th at this level last season with 18 wins and 8 defeats and would have to be one of the teams you’d expect to see at the pointy end of the table at the end of the season.

New additions, Alex Garbett, Louis Richards and Sonny Rowe all made their league debuts for the club. Whilst there were also welcome returns to Ben George and Ed Berridge who pulled the blue and white back on for the first time in a couple of years following stints away. Jacob Turner also led the Bulls squad out for the first time since he was voted in as captain.

Banbury had to do some strong defending in the opening stages with Havant dominating possession and territory, but the Bulls soaked up the pressure well and worked their way up the pitch for the opening points of the game. Louis Richards kicking a penalty to give Banbury a 3-0 lead.

Callum Horne was forced off with a shoulder injury in the early stages after a reckless looking clear out went unpunished.

Havant took the lead when Ben Holt sniped from the back of a rolling maul to sneak over from close range. Jacob Knight added the extras, 3-7.

Louis Richards kicked another penalty for Banbury after Havant were penalised for not rolling away, 6-7.

Ben Holt scored his second try of the afternoon after Havant broke down the left wing and Holt was on hand to finish off a 2 vs 1 as Banbury scrambled to get back. Knight added the extras to leave it 6-14 at the half-time whistle.

The away side got the first points of the second half as well with Sean Shepherd going over at the back of a rolling maul. Clearly one of their strengths throughout the game. Conversion missed. 6-19

Despite good pressure from Banbury, it would be Havant who extended their lead further. Wesley Dugan crossing out to the right. Converted, 6-26.

Will Brock was yellow carded for Havant after he put in a tackle in off the ball. Banbury took full advantage of the extra man to score their opening try. Ian Isham finished off a rolling maul after good work from the forwards. Louis Richards converted, 13-26.

The Bulls had their tails up and quickly added another try after Quinten Blythe sprinted over in the clubhouse corner. Ed Berridge with a quality offload out of contact to release Blythe down the right wing. Louis Richards’ conversion attempt went narrowly wide to leave it 18-26.

Banbury pushed hard for more points, but Havant controlled the game and the clock well in the final stages. Eventually kicking the ball out to bring up the final whistle.

A tough loss to start the season. It was cruel not to come away with at least a losing bonus point, but there were still plenty of positives for Banbury. The Bulls had two potential tries held up over the line. It’s a young squad and they’ll continue to improve, but a question of what might have been for the Bulls.

Speaking to Head Coach, Soane Tonga’uiha, after the match:
18-26, tough start. I think fine margins is the best way to describe today’s match, isn’t it?
“Yeah, it is fine margins. But we let ourselves down in certain areas. We had a gameplan and thought if we executed it, we could have got the win. Havant were a good side; we’re not going to take anything away from them. They were near the top in this league last year. But I’m disappointed in the performances we put out. We put out a plan as a coaching group and it wasn’t delivered so it’s disappointing from that standpoint.”

Do you think it was that first 40 minutes where it got away? Seemed to be a bit of nervous energy, a bit frantic to start the game.
“Yeah definitely, it was mixed. Nerves, excitement. It’s a good crowd, but it took us too long to settle down. I think it was probably 60 minutes for us to get into the game. There are some key areas for us to work on them hopefully if we fix them, we’ll get a lot more wins than losses this season. I was pleased with those last 10-20 minutes. For us to pull two tries back was good. But like I said, the disappointing thing was we didn’t start like that. If we do that in the first twenty and not the last, we’ll be in a good place.”

What are the keys between now and next weeks trip to Sutton & Epsom?
“I think for the forwards it’s maul defence. I think Havant got two or three like that today. That’s one key area we need to look at. I think other than that it’s keeping the boys together. We’ve got a good squad here and it’s about building on that. Disappointed to lose at home but it’s a long season and we’ll grow every week.”