The Banbury Bulls experienced first-hand why Dudley Kingswinford are top of the Midlands One West league when their trip to the black country resulted in the Bulls being on the receiving end of a 58-0 beating.
Looking for a much improved performance to that witnessed by a good sized crowd at Bodicote Park the previous week there were encouraging signs early on as the Bulls defence held strong for the first 15 minutes of the match as the home side attacked from the outset.
The turning point of the half came on the quarter of an hour mark when Bulls outside centre Dave Taylor was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock on and during the 10 minute period Dudley Kingswinford made the most of it by running in two tries, one conversion and one penalty goal for a comfortable 17-0 lead.
Also during this period the Bulls also had a great chance to register some points of their own when a quick tap penalty by newly appointed captain Eddie Phillips resulted in his brother Chris taking the ball on and driving over the try line, only to be denied by the referee who deemed that he had been held up.
Once back to a full complement of players the Bulls started to gain a greater share of possession but time and again when they looked like stringing phases together and asking questions of the opposition they would invariably turn over possession.
A try against the run of play to the home side all but sunk the hearts of the Bulls players before the break as an attacking opportunity for the Bulls soon turned into a length of the field counter attack which finished with the Dudley centre running in to score.
Just before the break the home side were able to extend their lead with another try, this time they kicked a penalty to the corner and from the following catch and drive they were able to rumble over the line to score.
The half time whistle soon sounded but at 27-0 down and running into the wind in the second half it was always going to be tough for the Bulls to get anything out of the game.
The Bulls got off to a bad start in the second half conceding an early try which all but signalled there was no way back into the game but from this score for the next 20 minutes the Bulls played their best rugby of the game.
Finally able to maintain possession for longer periods of time and going through several phases the Bulls looked a different proposition as they asked big questions of the home sides defence, who to their credit showed that they are not only a good attacking side but they are equally good at defending their line, keeping the Bulls out when a try looked likely.
The final 8 minutes of the game were a disaster for the Bulls as the effects of a tough defensive display took its toll and they faded badly as the home side poured the pressure on to score 19 points in this 8 minute period to inflate the final score line.
Bulls coach Grant Holmes was understandably disappointed with the end result but saw enough in his player’s performance to suggest that a first win of the campaign is not too far away.
“Credit where credit is due, Dudley Kingswinford are a very good side, they are very organised on both attack and defence, they have the ability to attack from anywhere on the pitch and defensively they were very solid and even on the odd occasion when we had them stretched they were able to regroup quickly.”
“Our inability to hold on to possession for long enough was a real problem for us, particularly in the first half when we had to absorb a lot of pressure on defence and did well to hold them out and turnover possession, only to undo all that good work by gifting it back to them.”
“Our second half performance was better but still nowhere near where we need to be to be a competitive side in this league. We need to work on holding onto possession and asking more questions of our opponents defence and when we do have them under pressure we have to be clinical and make sure we come away with points.”
“We have other issues which come about from having to make several changes in personnel from one week to another which has plagued us from the start of the season. New players are being brought into the side who are unsure of our patterns of play and often find themselves in no man’s land on the pitch which means we lack player numbers at certain times and in certain situations.”
“At half time the boys were asked to show more commitment and passion in the second half and I we saw it from them. There was a real desire to try and play some rugby even though we had little possession and we chased down everything defensively when under the cosh. It was a real pity that we leaked so many points in the final 8 minutes of the game.”
“The frustrating thing for me is that we have shown in small doses that we can play some good rugby at this level but we must show more consistency and most of all work harder to maintain possession for longer periods so we can put our opposition under the microscope and really test their defence.”
“Our own defence still needs a lot more work, we were certainly a lot better this week than the previous week, unfortunately the final score line does not indicate that but we were. We just need to become slicker at organising our defence, especially when defending 3rd and 4th phase play and getting the right people into the right places much quicker, as at the moment we are faced with too many miss matches once the opposition start going through the phases.”
“This weekend is a big one for us. It is a must win game against Leamington, the only side below us on the league table. A bonus point win is our target and will be needed if we are to give ourselves a real chance to climb up the league table.”