The Glyn Mitchell Memorial Ground – Saturday 24th October 2015

Match report by Ed Phillips

The weather was at its worst at kick off and Banbury in particular struggled to get to grip with the conditions. Numerous knock ons and handling errors from the Bulls gave the home side territory. Droitwich took advantage of this by slotting a penalty from straight in front of the posts, and narrowly missed out on a six point lead when hitting the post with another very kickable penalty.

Another period of scrappy play followed as the two teams continued to struggle with the conditions. Banbury’s first score came from a long clearance, the Droitwich full back failed to gather and Sam Stoop dived on the loose ball for his first try in Banbury colours. Phillips was off target with the conversation, 5-3 to Banbury.

Phillips added a Banbury penalty to go in at half time 8-3 up. Banbury felt they were the stronger team, but the score line suggested it was a close battle.

The Bulls sparked into life in the second half, the handling was better and they managed to put more phases together, and again looked dangerous on the counter attack.

Phillips went over from close range and converted his own try (15-3), followed by Matt Goode crossing the white wash in almost the identical spot, and Phillips was off target on this occasion (20-3).

The Bulls now had their tails up and were in the hunt for the bonus point try. Banbury were attacking with far more confidence, and Jed Boyle (pictured) was next to score under the posts after beating 3 or 4 would be tacklers with amazing footwork. An easy conversation followed for Phillips, 27-3 to the Bulls.

Droitwich continued to show gritted determination and battled back to grab two late try's that turned out to be little more than consolation, but Banbury will not be happy with the soft manner in which they were conceded.

The Bulls went out on a high and crossed the line once more with a strong finish from Adam Walsh. Struggling with the windy conditions, Phillips missed again. The Bulls collected the restart and cleared the ball into touch to finish with 5 tries and a 32-17 bonus point away win in the wet.

The next game is at home to Dunlop on Saturday 7th November.