Banbury Bulls secured a vital win in their latest Midlands Three East South league fixture with a miraculous come from behind effort to beat Leicester Forest by 29 points to 27, having been down 12-27 with 12 minutes remaining in the game.

The win was a much needed one after two tough encounters against the leagues second and third placed sides, with those results compounded with the additional four points lost due to administration problems.

The Bulls started the game much the better of the two sides, injecting pace into their game from the outset and moving the ball freely through the backs which at times had the opposition stretched to the limit. It was vital for the Bulls to turn this constant early pressure into points, which was something they have failed to do in previous matches, but this time around they didn’t have to wait long to register the first points of the game.

From a lineout drive near the twenty two metre line captain Simon Brand ran hard at the opposition before off loading to the supporting Liam Stratford. From there some quick ruck ball was sent into the backline where Dave Taylor was able to get on the outside of his man and as the cover defence stopped him he stayed on his feet to pass the ball back inside to Pete Flemming who then moved the ball on to Grant Holmes who was in support to crash over to score. The conversion missed but the Bulls had the early advantage.

Soon after the restart some foolish play deep inside their own half enabled the home side to register their first points of the match with a penalty kick that reduced the gap to two points.

From a line out inside their own half the Bulls decided to throw the ball wide where centre Dave Taylor found space on the outside of his opposite number once again and after jinking his way back inside he managed to get the ball away to Pete Flemming who passed the ball over the top of the opposition and found wing Adam Walsh who out sprinted the cover defence to score. The conversion from wide out was successful and the lead had been stretched to 12-3.

Again a lapse in concentration cost the Bulls dearly. After seeing a penalty attempt go wide the Bulls restart never made it over the line so a scrum back on the twenty two to Leicester Forest put them under pressure, from which some disorganisation in defence let the home side crash over to score a converted try.

This kick started a very poor period for the Bulls which lasted right up to half time and beyond and everything they tried to do never paid off and some poor option taking put them under undue pressure, from which again the home side made them pay dearly, crossing over for their second try of the game right on half time to take the lead for the first time and with the conversion going over they lead 17-12 at the break.

The opening 15 minutes of the second half were all one way traffic as the home side went on the attack, while everything the Bulls tried to do seemed to end with a simple knock on, a wrong option taken or something that put them back under pressure. They were resolute in defence as Leicester tried their hardest to cross over to score, which they eventually managed to do but it had taken them a long time to cross the Bulls line. The conversion went over and all of a sudden the Bulls were looking down the barrel at 24-12.

With their tails up the home side continued to test the Bulls defence which managed to hold firm even though the home side were able to find some holes in the defensive line the cover defence was very good. Another sustained period of pressure near the Bulls line looked ominous but they managed to hold them out to the point where the Leicester fly half opted to slot a dropped goal and stretch the lead out to 15 points with only 12 minutes left on the clock, enough you would say to make the game safe.

The final frenzied 12 minutes were amazing, the Bulls somehow found the right attitude, started to play to their strengths and all of a sudden looked a different side, however they were still looking for that bit of brilliance to turn the game and sure enough it came.

A chip kick in behind the Bulls defence saw wing Ashley Woodward back track and take the high ball before managing to wrestle his way out of the tackle and dart through a gap from which he was able to out sprint the chasing defence to score out wide. The conversion from Lace was successful and the Bulls had closed the gap to 8 points.

From the restart the Bulls went left, then right, then left again and with a much quicker pace in their game looked much the better side. Eventually after a ruck in midfield the ball went left where right wing Woodward popped up on the outside to take the ball through a gap in the defence to score. The conversion missed but with three and a half minutes left on the clock and only three points separating the teams there was a real belief and passion in the Bulls team that they could pull off what would be a great come from behind victory, and pull it off they did, but only after using up all three and half minutes. A lineout 40 metres out was called as the last play of the game by the referee and the Bulls threw caution to the wind and ran their opponents all over the park until finally after numerous phases where players piled into rucks to win back the ball, the ball was spread wide on the left where it fell in the hands of hooker Liam Stratford who ran through a gap before throwing a pin point accurate pass to flanker Andy Ell who dashed to the line to produce one of Banbury’s greatest comebacks in recent history.

The celebrations said it all as the team knew how crucial it was to win this game and to do it in the fashion they did - coming back from the dead is credit to the entire squad.

Bulls coach Grant Holmes was full of praise for the fighting spirit of his side as they came from almost an impossible position to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

“For a long time in the game nothing seemed to go our way. We let them back into the game after a very good start and then when we absorbed the pressure they threw at us we invariably gave the ball back to them to put ourselves under more pressure, mainly due to some very basic mistakes and some indecisive decision making,” said Holmes.

“We started so well, controlled possession, played at a very high pace which they struggled to cope with and scored two very good tries, then the wheels seemed to fall off for some reason. Whether mentally we felt it was going to be easy and took our foot off the pedal or not, I am not quite sure.”

“What we did do was give our opponents a sense of self belief by playing so poorly and giving them easy possession to attack us with.”

“Nothing seemed to be working for us for about 40 minutes, 20 either side of half time as we were second best, but one thing I saw today that I have not seen for a long time with this side is passion, determination and a real hunger”

“When the dropped goal went over to make it 27-12 with only 12 minutes to go we could have gone back to the restart thinking the game had slipped away from us, but we didn’t, we finally got our hands on the ball, reverted back to the right game plan of playing at a quicker pace and spreading the ball across the field and it paid dividends for us.”

“In that last 12 minutes the guys on that field showed me something I don’t think we’ve seen for a long time at Banbury. They showed a heck of a lot of metal, a passion that I’m sure they will all agree with has often been missing from our game and there was a determination to right a lot of the wrongs that went on throughout the game.”

“For me to be on the field playing as part of that team in the last 12 minutes was quite special, the guys showed me how much it means to them and this could well be a defining moment in our season.”

“We are at the half way point in the league season now and could well have been clear in fourth place if we hadn’t been penalised four league points. Hopefully this will give the guys a real boost and enable us to start moving forward.”

“Ultimately we won’t get too carried away with what happened as we are all well aware that there were a lot of poor points to our game, but to come back like we did is fantastic and we will enjoy the moment for a short time and then refocus on our next major league assignment which is in two weeks against third placed Northampton Old Scouts, where a lot of us will be looking to get some revenge after losing at their place after dominating the game and coming away with nothing.”