Banbury Bulls welcomed Droitwich to Bodicote Park on Saturday last for their latest Midlands 2 West (South) fixture. An extremely unseasonable February day saw the home side put in a sterling first half performance in the bright sunshine, only to fade badly in the second and finish up on the wrong end of the 17-30 scoreline.

A late injury to hooker Phil Fox, saw a call-up to the starting front row for Owen Perkins alongside hooker Andy Ell, in what was otherwise a relatively settled Banbury side. Droitwich had shown earlier in the season that they would be dangerous opponents and it was up to the Bulls to get in amongst them early on.

This was exactly what the home side did stringing together some delightful passages of play to take the early lead. With the ball well-recycled by the Banbury pack deep in the opposition 22, skipper Ed Phillips scuttled across in front of the Droitwich defensive line looking for a pop pass. However, when one of the defenders bolted out, Phillips took advantage of the gap and was through to score under the posts. Centre Mike Smith easily slotted the extras and Banbury were off to a flier.

More was to follow when backs and forwards combined in a splendid flowing move to release Adam Walsh. The pacy winger went over to score in the corner and with the conversion missed, the Bulls were 12-0 up and playing well. Droitwich responded with a penalty goal as they exerted some pressure in the Banbury half, but the home side were to score again. And again it was a splendid handling move that saw the ball shipped wide out to Walsh once again. This time the winger showed his strength to plough through two would-be tacklers and score. Again the tough conversion was missed but Banbury were winning 17-3.

Droitwich then reduced the arrears as they took advantage from a loose ball on the Bulls 22, which was quickly picked up by the visiting flanker who had an easy run in to score. With another penalty also going to Droitwich before half-time, much of the Bulls work had been undone and the teams turned round with the score at 17-13.

Despite the excellent showing in the first half, the second-half was to be quite a different story. Banbury struggled to gain possession, losing several scrums against the head, and when they finally did get the ball they were unable to keep hold of it. Droitwich had the majority of possession and territory and when the Bulls lost first Phillips and then full-back/centre Pete Flemming to injury midway through the half things looked grim. Droitwich were able to score three unanswered tries, with one converted to run out comfortable winners 17-30.

Banbury will have to take heart from the excellent play shown in the first half and look to replicate this for the full 80 minutes when they take on Kidderminster Carolians this Saturday, kick off 2:15pm