The Banbury Bulls proved that the previous weekend’s comprehensive win over Chinnor II in the county cup was no fluke with another commanding performance in their latest league fixture to disperse of a struggling Huntingdon side by 53 points to nil.

The big win goes a long way to securing their position in Midlands Three for next season, but coach Grant Holmes believes one more victory within their last five fixtures is required to rule out any mathematical scenarios going against the Bulls.

Saturday’s performance was again a combination of the forwards dominating up front at both the set piece and in the looser aspects of the game, but it took the Bulls some time to settle into their rhythm as in the early exchanges they too often passed the ball about without actually creating anything and it often resulted in basic errors creeping into their game that gave away possession too easily.

However once they regrouped and began to control the ball and put phases of play together they looked a totally different side.

The score line suggests that the game was all one way traffic however Huntingdon certainly had their chances in the first half, playing with the wind at their backs they kept the Bulls deep in their own half for a sustained period of time and only some fantastic defence from the home side kept them from scoring.

First points of the game came mid way through the half after the Bulls had relieved pressure on their own try line and with centre Dave Taylor cutting through the midfield defence he drew in the last line of defence before off loading to the supporting Nick Pratt who out sprinted the scrambling defence to score under the posts. Taylor added the conversion for a 7 point lead.

It wasn’t long before the Bulls were able to stretch their lead as they went on attack, firstly targeting the right hand side where both backs and forwards combined well to drive deep into Huntingdon’s territory and when the ball was moved back to the left captain Simon Brand threw a wide ball out to left wing Carl Daniels who took on his opposite number before off loading to flanker Chris Phillips who dived in to score in the corner. The conversion missed but the Bulls now lead by 12 points playing into the strong breeze.

The half finished with the Bulls defending their own line as Huntingdon went in search of an all important score before the break but they were denied by a resolute Bulls defence that kept them out.

With the wind at their backs in the second half the Bulls had the luxury of being able to kick themselves out of their own territory and attack the opposition in the right half of the field, but that didn’t stop them attacking from inside their own half which they did with fantastic conviction and once they scored their first try of the half the floodgates opened and the points started to rack up.

Seven tries were scored in the second half with centre Dave Taylor grabbing two of the first three. Tries were also scored by hooker Liam Stratford, number 8 Simon Brand, fly half Grant Holmes and right wing Mike Smith scored his second brace in as many weeks. Taylor managed to convert three of the seven second half tries which saw the Bulls go over the 50 point mark for the first time in several seasons.