Banbury RUFC welcomed Kidderminster Carolians to Bodicote Park on Saturday last, looking to get revenge for their away loss earlier in the season. Banbury had looked to go into the game with a fairly settled team, but with scrum-half and skipper Ed Phillips, prop Rory Dymond and full-back Pete Flemming all failing late fitness tests the day before the match, a certain amount of last-minute reorganisation was required by the Bulls coaching team.

With the conditions once again being mainly good, Banbury received the kick-off playing into the stiff breeze but quickly found themselves under pressure. The Bulls struggled to clear their lines due to the strong wind, giving the experienced Kidderminster pack an attacking lineout just outside the Banbury 22 from which they set up a strong rolling maul. The Banbury pack found the maul too difficult to stop legally and were penalised for collapsing it. Sensing they had the upper hand, Kiddy kicked to the corner and repeated the same move. Again they proved too strong and the Kiddy number 6 emerged from the pile of bodies having scored the opening. With the difficult conversion slotted over by the fly-half, Kidderminster led 7-0 try after just 4 minutes.

Banbury looked to try and get into the game but field position was difficult to come by. After some intelligent kicking from the Kiddy fly-half., the Bulls were forced to run it out of defence again, only to be penalised at the breakdown for not releasing. The visitors looked to turn the screw and kicked to the corner once again. Banbury would need to dig deep especially as they were forced to make an early substitution as flanker Ant McClellan left the field with an injury. A try for the visitors looked to be a near certainty as the rolling maul inched towards the Banbury line. However it was not to be, as the ball was held up over the line, but Banbury would have to defend an attacking 5-metre scrum. Despite holding firm in the scrum, the Kiddy pack got the slight wheel on that allowed Wilkinson, the big number 8 to pick up and drive over in the corner. This time the kick was off target but after 14 minutes, Banbury were 0-12 down.

With such a long time left in the half, Banbury would need to pick up there game if they were not to concede more points before the break, and this is exactly what they did. As the personnel changes began to gel together, the Bulls’ play improved markedly as they looked to bring their dangerous backline into the game more often. With the forwards providing good continuity of ball, the visitors found themselves increasingly pinned back in their own half. Banbury finally got their reward after 28 minutes as the pack took the ball forward up the right hand side, driving into the opposition 22. With the Kiddy defence stretched, fly-half Jed Boyle unleashed his outside backs whose smart handling skills put winger George Williamson into space on the left wing. The young flyer then had a simple job of running in for Banbury’s opening score. Centre Mike Smith was off with the conversion, but Banbury were back in the match at 5-12.

The remainder of the first half continued in the same vein and whilst Banbury seemed to be gaining the upper hand, Kiddy were always a threat on the break. One such opportunity came as the visiting left-wing broke through the Banbury defensive line around half-way. It seemed he was clear and in space and it would have spelled serious danger had he not been brought down by a fabulous tap-tackle from Man-of-the-Match, hooker Andy Ell. This commitment in defence was echoed across the team as Kiddy struggled to make any further in-roads. Despite their being no further score before half-time Banbury were still in touch and seemed to be growing in confidence.

The second half began with both sides wrestling for field position, but the Bulls were to slowly gain the upper hand and drew level after 55 minutes. Again Banbury attacked into the Kiddy 22 and the ball was shipped out to Boyle. The lively fly-half cut back against the grain, stepping several defenders as he headed towards the posts. Finally brought down, 10 metres short he popped the ball to supporting Number 8, Simon Brand, who drove through two attempted tackles before diving over close to the posts. Smith was on target with the simple conversion and the match was all square at 12-12.

Kidderminster’s forays into the Banbury half grew more sporadic as the game progressed and one of their few chances saw a penalty goal attempt go wide. As the game moved into the final quarter, Banbury pushed for the score that would give them the lead. It was to come again, through some excellent phase-play by both forwards and backs which established a good attacking platform deep in the visitors’ 22. The ball came out to Boyle who, seeing the defensive line come rushing up, threw a long miss-pass out to Williamson on the wing. He collected the ball and showed a good turn of pace to beat the covering defence to the corner. Smith missed the difficult conversion, but Banbury now had the lead 17-12.

With the scores so close, it was a nervous time for the large crowd watching especially when Boyle missed a penalty goal from in front of the posts. However, Banbury were able to run the clock down in the Kidderminster half of the field and gained a penalty on the last play of the game. Boyle was successful this time, harshly denying Kiddy a losing bonus point, but giving the final scoreline of 20-12.

Banbury will look to continue their good play as they travel away to Cheltenham North next Saturday.