With a strong wind blowing down the pitch conditions were going to be tricky for both teams, but the promised rain did hold off until after the match.

Banbury won the toss and elected to play with the wind at their backs in the first half, looking to put Midlands 3 East (South) new boys Old Newts under pressure from the off. After some initial phases, where both teams looked to size each other up, Banbury started to take control. After some great lead up work by the forwards, who drove deep into the visitors 22, the ball was released to the backs. A poor pass initially slowed the passage of play, but some great hands from fullback Andrew Lace saw him scoop the ball off the ground and pass it to winger Jed Boyle in space. He stepped inside the cover defence to score and Lace nailed the conversion.

Further pressure in the Old Newts 22 had been soaked up well by the visitors and it looked like the opportunity for Banbury to add to the scoreline had passed. However, a great strike against the head by hooker Liam Stratford, gave skipper Simon Brand the chance to pick and go from the scrum. Breaking deep into Old Newts territory he was eventually stopped just metres from the line, before offloading to the supporting flanker, Eddie Cummings who burst over for the try. Again Lace was on target with the conversion.

The pressure was beginning to tell on Old Newtonians and repeated penalties saw them back in their 22 a number of times. However a combination of sloppy set-piece play and determined defending kept Banbury from crossing the line for a third time. Lace did though keep the scoreboard ticking over, kicking two penalties to give them a comfortable 20-0 lead.

But Old Newts were not to be outdone, and following some strong running and good support play, they took play into the Banbury 22 where player-coach Grant Holmes was adjudged to have deliberately slowed the ball down on the floor. He was shown a yellow card and Banbury were forced to realign their team to plug the gap at fly-half. Although the penalty kick was missed, Old Newts had their tails up and playing tight, with ball in hand they were able to keep the pressure on the Banbury defence. Eventually this told and Old Newts crossed over from close in for their opening score. A missed conversion brought the score to 20-5.

Banbury responded well to the Old Newts score and were soon crossing the whitewash again. A quickly taken penalty put the Old Newts on the back foot. There followed some good support running that put David Phipps into space on the left wing on the half way line. The experienced second row drew the defence towards him before releasing wing Andy Collett to streak away down the wing for another Banbury try. Full-back Andrew Lace coolly added the extras.

Further good running from centres David Taylor and first team debutant Jon Paton combined with increasing pressure from the forwards saw Banbury once again deep inside the Old Newts 22. After some good recycling of the ball, it was spun out to Boyle 15 metres from the line, but he was well covered. Showing great footwork, he beat three defenders and went over for a splendid individual finish. Lace was unable to keep his 100% record and pulled the conversion wide.

With the score at 32-5 at half-time it was always going to be a big ask for Old Newts to fight their way back into this game, even with the wind advantage. A flurry of midfield penalties saw Old Newts able to use the wind well to kick deep into Banbury territory from where they were able to claw back a try during this second-half period. Banbury again were reduced to 14 men, hooker Stratford receiving 10 minutes rest this time, and with the back-row one man down to cover the gap at hooker, the Old Newts Number 8 broke off the scrum and was able to muscle over and score.

A scrappy last period of the game dominated by the whistle, saw the Bulls still pinned in their half, making only the odd foray into Old Newts territory. The damage had been done in the first half however, and Old Newts had to be content with one final score ten minutes from time giving Banbury a deserved victory 32-15.

Banbury travel to Leicestershire to take on Vipers in their second away league fixture, keen to keep their winning run going.