Banbury narrowly missed out on promotion last season and head coach Matt Goode has set them the challenge of going one better. Preseason has been difficult so a trip to local rivals Witney was always going to be a tricky fixture.

Witney started the game well and a couple early penalties against Banbury saw them camped in their own 22. The pressure eventually paid off when some neat hands saw Alex Foggett sprint his way over in the corner. Luke Manning couldn’t add the extras, but the home side had an early 5-0 lead.

Banbury responded almost immediately. Witney cleared their lines after the restart which Chris Phillips did well to keep in play. He got the ball back to the middle of the pitch by passing to Tommy Gray who made some ground before passing on to Dan Brady. Finding himself one on one with his opposite number Dan Brady showed off his incredible pace to weave his way from out wide to score under the posts. Ed Phillips converted, and Banbury were in the lead 5-7.

Ian Isham continued his fantastic record against Witney by adding another try. Witney were penalised for being off their feet at the breakdown and Sam Stoop kicked for the corner. Ian Isham found his man from the resulting lineout before gathering the ball at the back of the rolling maul. The pack crept their way to the line before the skipper touched down. Ed Phillips converted to make it 5-14.

The Bulls added their third with some brilliant work from Jimmy Manley. Last year’s player of the season showed great skill to break from the halfway line before exchanging quick passes with Ed Phillips and being stopped narrowly short of the line. Pete Boulton nearly scored on a crash ball, but Witney kept him out. The big prop had sucked in five defenders though and Sam Stoop had the simple job of playing in Matt Goode to score out to the right. Ed Phillips kept up his 100% record with the boot to extend the lead to 5-21.

Witney reacted well after the restart and had a period of 5-10 minutes on the edge of the Banbury 22. Banbury’s defence held out and punished a loose pass from Witney. Matt Goode hacked the ball off the deck and Dan Brady showed his incredible speed again to outsprint three Witney backs, despite a five-metre head start. He still had plenty to do after gathering the ball, but he wasn’t to be stopped, touching down against the base of the post. Ed Phillips converted to make it 5-28 at half time.

The Bulls came out swinging at the beginning of the second half. Banbury had a scrum in the Witney half which worked as a great platform for the backs to produce a lovely move. Sam Stoop played in Matt Goode who broke a couple tackles before offloading to Tommy Gray for one of his easier finishes of his career. Ed Phillips converted to extend the league to 5-35.

Sam Stoop saw yellow for not releasing, although the penalty looked harsh there had been a series of penalties against the Bulls. But Banbury defended well with the man down. Holding the Witney attack at bay. Eventually the pressure told Rob Coe broke through the Banbury line. Ed Phillips looked like he’d pulled off an incredible try saver, sliding in with his boot to knock the ball clear but the referee awarded the try. Luke Manning couldn’t convert but the lead was narrowed to 10-35.

Good pressure from the Bulls had Witney pinned five metres from their own try line and when they tried to clear their lines an errant pass was thrown dead. From the resulting scrum Ed Phillips passed to Matt Goode who bullied his way through two defenders before touching down from short range. Ed Phillips pushed the conversion wide, 10-40.

Dan Kirwin on his senior debut for Banbury also got a yellow card for the Bulls after a tip tackle. Witney took advantage of the extra man and got their third try of the game. Rob Coe made the initial break before offloading to Jack Birks who touched down under the posts. Luke Manning converted to reduce the gap to 17-40.

The Bulls killed off any chances of a comeback with one more try. Matt Goode made a brilliant break before offloading to Ed Phillips who was on his inside shoulder. Ed Phillips touched down under the posts before picking himself up and converting his try, 17-47.

Both teams battled on. Witney looking for a bonus point fourth try and Banbury looking to extend their lead. Both teams came close but in the end the score remained unchanged at the final whistle.

A solid start for Banbury, some rust to shake off but the effort and desire was fantastic. Dan Brady was awarded man of the match for Banbury. Two tries for the pacey winger capped a great performance who threatened from deep all day.

Speaking to Head Coach Matt Goode after the game:
17-47 to start the season was that as good as it could have gone? “I think it was the best it could have gone, we were a bit rusty and we’ve got lots to work on. But to come to Witney and score 47 points to start the season is something we can only dream of. That’s 19 games on the bounce in the league we’ve won if we ignore the playoff final. We want to continue where we’ve left off. We knew Witney would fight to the end, which they did but I think it showed our skill level to score when it counted.”

You had a bit of a tough preseason, were their any worries going into this one? “There’s always a little bit of doubt when you lose a couple games in preseason. But preseason is all about learning and using the players from the firsts all the way down to the thirds. We picked two very tough preseason games knowing that it would test us. I think its set us up well for the start of this season and the level we’ve got to play at.”

Next week it’s a trip to Beaconsfield who are relatively unknown to us. Is it just about getting five points? “We can only focus on what we’re good at. What we can’t do is go away to a team that’s just come up, like we did last season, and underperform. I know a couple people from Beaconsfield and we know they’re going to be a good team. Going to be well drilled and we’ve got to be fully focused and go again.”

Banbury Try Scorers: Dan Brady (2) Matt Goode (2), Ian Isham, Tommy Gray, Ed Phillips.
Conversions: Ed Phillips (6)