Greenbridge Road, Swindon – Saturday 3rd December 2016

Match report by Chris Phillips

On a cold, crisp December afternoon; Banbury put in a dogged performance to start December how they finished November, and make it 4 wins in a row. The 10-21 win was not plain sailing in a game that didn’t flow the way either side would have wanted, marred as it was by too many handling errors.

The visitors were the first to strike. Veteran lock Matt Brock (pictured) broke around the ruck and lolloped deep into the hosts 22. He was hauled down within sight of the try line but the ball was recycled quickly with Ed Phillips releasing the backs.

As Jack Briggs burst toward the line, he was in turn stopped. This allowed the forwards to link together in a well driller manner linking 3 off loads in quick succession and gifting Michael Fox a chance to cross the line at a canter and dot down. This was easily converted by Phillips to give the Bulls and early 0-7 lead.

It was the usually reliable boot of Phillips that extended the lead further to 0-10 with a penalty. However he failed to extend the lead further by missing what was another very kick-able penalty.

Swindon made inroads in Banbury’s territory, helped by some silly mistakes by the Bulls and soft penalty infringements. An attack down the left was halted by Banbury’s defence, but Swindon quickly changed the point of attack with a cross field kick. Originally looking as if the kick was too long, the winger rose to tap the ball cleverly back into play. It was gathered and grounded in fine style, the unconverted try taking the score to 5-10 and the half-time whistle.

Banbury started to ease away slightly in the second half, with Phillips adding 2 more penalties to make the score 5-16.

The Bulls further extended the lead through Jack Briggs. A turn over in midfield by the returning from injury Jimmy Manley created the platform. A quick break to the left saw Briggs still with some work to do. Shrugging off the first defender Briggs set up a foot race that he would ultimately win. Standing the full back up Briggs took him on the outside and scored in the corner. The kick was just too wide for Phillips to convert; 5-21 to the Bulls.

Banbury now needed to keep the ball so as to close the game out. For the most part they did what was needed, retaining the ball and kicking well into the hosts 22. One wayward kick, drifting infield to the fullback, allowed Swindon the chance to pounce.

As Banbury have found this season teams at this level will punish mistakes quickly. Swindon did so to notch the last score of the game when they were able to put the winger into space by going wide quickly. He was able to use his superior speed to out-pace the covering defence and cross the whitewash to make the score 10-21, which is how the game would end.

The win takes Banbury to 8th place in the league yet only 4 points off 4th place! Next Saturday sees the Bulls host Windsor at Bodicote Park where they will attempt to extend their winning streak to 5 on the trot.