Bodicote Park - Saturday 19th March 2016

Match report by Ed Phillips, video by Jack Grieve, photos by Simon Grieve.

A strong Malvern team had been unbeaten in their previous 5 games and looked much better value than their league position would suggest.

Banbury were playing into the wind in the first half, which hindered their clearances down field but to say it was the only reason Banbury spent most of the first period in their own half would be doing Malvern a serious injustice. The visitors started the contest with more hunger and desire than the league leaders and were looking to claim a big scalp. They were fully deserving of their half time lead and it was only a couple of moments of individual brilliance that got the Bulls going again in the second half.

Malvern kicked off, and Banbury immediately made an error which the visitors took advantage of by not leaving the hosts half for any great amount of time in the first period. Banbury’s defence was resilient for the most part of the half but Malvern were able to get on the score board, first with a penalty to make it 0-3 to the visitors.

But they didn’t stop there, they continued to press the home side and were bringing them back down to earth after the cup semi-final victory the previous week. They crashed over in front of the Clubhouse after some uncharacteristic missed tackles from the Banbury backline. The conversation was missed and the sides went into half time 0-8. For the first time this season Banbury went into half time scoreless, and needed to get into their rhythm and make more of an impact with ball in hand in the second half.

By the time the second half had kicked off news of Matt Goode’s broken arm had filtered its way back from the Horton and Phillips set about erasing memories of his last outing at fly half. However, with Sam Stoop and John Fox unavailable he had little choice but to get on with the job in hand.

Banbury used the wind to gain field position and remained patient in the opening exchanges of the half. The territorial gains saw their confidence grow, and this was turbo charged when Phillips cleverly dummied and stepped past his opposite man to score under the posts. He converted his own try to make the score 7-8 and Bodicote Park breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Banbury now started to play a bit tighter and the forwards worked together to punch holes in the visitors defence. The second moment of individual skill came as Simon Brand ran into the Malvern defence and produced a pin point off-load to the onrushing Ian Isham who broke clear, drew the full-back and put Phillips (pictured above) in for his second try under the posts in 5 mins, and again he converted his own try. At 8-14 Banbury started to look more like the side they have been all season.

The Banbury faithful were now treated to a moment they had been waiting for all season - a try from the fan’s favourite, the Argentinian prop Manu Paniagua! Manu was put-in right in front of his loyal supporters clinging to the Clubhouse rails, and only had the winger to beat and he did just enough to dot down to a giant roar and was mobbed by the rest of the Bulls. Phillips added the extras from the touch line to make the score 21-8.

Malvern were able to do want Banbury couldn’t and score while playing into the wind, and converted it too. With 5 mins on the clock this left them within one score of victory. Banbury got busy again with Phillips using the wind to gain territorial advantage. Phillips tried to put the game out of Malverns reach but missed a penalty from right in front of the posts and left a drop goal attempt just short as the pressure mounted again.

However with 15 seconds left on the clock, and a penalty awarded to the Bulls 10 metres out from the Malvern line, Phillips made out as if to kick to touch for a line-out and ask his forwards to drive over for the 4th try bonus point. Cheeky as you like, Phillips tapped and went before the Malvern players had retreated. As he was tackled he off-loaded from the back of the hand to a supporting giant in the shape of Isham who left a field of debris behind him as he crossed the whitewash.

Phillips, with a wide grin, converted the try with the last kick of the game to give Banbury a 28-15 win. At times scrappy, but always dogged, the Bulls did what great sides do and ground out a win on an off day. Phillips must now be counting down the hours before he proudly leads the Bulls out at Iffley Road in the Oxfordshire Cup Final.