Allington Fields, Frogwell – Saturday 10th September 2016

Match report by Ed Phillips, action photos by Jessica Rogers.

With the ball in hand Banbury looked their confident selves, but only in patches, and their inability to retain the ball at crucial times in the second half nearly cost them the spoils.

On the road again The Bulls started in similar fashion to their trip to Witney, with all of the early possession and territory, but found themselves a try behind after the home side’s first meaningful attack. Again it was from Bulls mistakes that Chippenham scored, showing the sides in this league don’t need a second invitation to take advantage. With the Chippenham fly half off target from the conversion, Banbury had the chance to be in the lead, but The Bulls were off target twice from the tee.

This frustration was compounded when a three-man overlap was not taken advantage of moments later, but it was Banbury who scored next. Chippenham cleared from a 22 drop out and The Bulls return was as precise as it was skilful. Josh Deegan started and finished the move, he fielded the ball and passed it inside to Chris Phillips who off-loaded out of contact to Simon Brand who in turn stepped the first defender before finding Deegan’s support who ran in untouched from the 22. Banbury were off target from the tee again. 5-5.

Chippenham were next on the score sheet. Pressure told after good ball retention and ground was made by the forward pack who released the backs to score in the left corner, but were again off target with the conversion leaving the score 10-5.

Both teams looked better with the ball in hand, and the game was starting to race from end to end and Banbury took advantage of this. Phillips scored the first of his 2 tries, somewhat fortuitously. Brand took the ball into contact 2 metres out from the line, the support of Chris Phillips dislodged the ball backwards and Ed Phillips swooped to collect and dive over the line in one movement. Phillips took over the kicking duties to give Banbury a 12-10 lead at half time.

In the second half Banbury started confidently and built up a 12 point lead. Banbury were gifted a penalty straight in front of the posts, Phillips made no mistake in adding the 3 points. The next 10 mins saw Banbury back to their best, moving the ball well and keeping possession for multiple phases, despite this they made hard work of their third try, twice seeing overlaps going begging, but with a third overlap in as many phases, Ed Phillips took advantages from the base of the ruck and dived over for his second try of the game, again adding the extras.

If Banbury were at their best early in the half, they were at their worst for the final 20 minutes. As they went in search of the 4 try bonus point, that they will feel they should have secured, errors crept in, and they failed to stop the rot. This gave Chippenham a foot hold in the game and they took advantage well. They scored twice, adding both conversions, the second from the touch line, completely turning the tables, going from 12 point behind to 2 points in front with the score now at 24-22 to the hosts.

Banbury were only in Chippenham’s half once more in the closing stages and were awarded a penalty 6 metres in from touch just short of the 22. Phillips and the captain Ian Isham – also man-of-the-match - agreed to kick for goal instantly; Phillips on target again gave Banbury a 1 point lead with 3 mins to go. 25-24. This gave Chippenham one last chance and they pressed hard, but a turn over from James Burge gave Banbury the chance to kick the ball dead and win the game.

Still lots to work on for Banbury, but two decent enough performances and 5 points to show from them will give them the motivation to work hard on the areas concerned and look for back to back wins with Grove visiting Bodicote Park next week.