Rectory Fields, Bedworth – Saturday 26th September

Match report by Ed Phillips, photo by Simon Grieve.

Banbury’s first away game of the season saw them win in style away to the newly promoted Bedworth. Banbury scored 11 tries in an impressive win that saw some great running rugby as the Bulls attacked from all areas of the pitch.

Bedworth go off to a poor start in the first minute of the game, when their kick off didn’t go ten metres, and from the resulting scrum Banbury broke free and full-back Joe Mills (pictured above) opened the visitors scoring, his first of a remarkable 5-try haul. This somewhat set the tone for the match as Banbury’s skipper Ed Phillips quickly scored their second and went 12-0 up a few moments later.

Bedworth then managed to get some possession of their own, and were relatively effective with a straight forward game plan, and got on the score sheet themselves to make the score 12-7. Until mid-way through the first half this continued with both sides exchanging tries before Banbury’s dominance stared to show through and the Bulls added 3 more scores to go in at the break 40-14 ahead.

The Bulls received some stern words from the coaching staff regarding their defence at the break. Taking this on board, at least initially, they added 5 more tries to their tally, whilst starving the home side of possession. But again when Bedworth finally saw some more of the ball they got points on the board, and fully deserved their 4 try bonus point lifting them from the foot of the table.

Banbury were deserved winners and looked very dangerous with the ball in hand, the pick of the 11 tries was a simple finish for Josh Deegan in the corner but only after a superb backs move spreading the ball from the one touch line to the other.

For the second week in a row, the Bulls enjoyed a solid platform from the pack who were superb all afternoon, particularly at the set piece. However, Kerr’s men will need to work on improving their defence before they host Berkswell & Balsall at Bodicote Park on 10th October.

Final Score 73-26 to the Bulls.

Banbury’s try scorers were: Joe Mills J (5), Ed Phillips, Josh Deegan, Carl Daniels, Simon Brand, Sam Mills and Adam Walsh. Alex Stephenson converted eight tries and Ed Phillips converted one.