Despite being new to the league, Marlborough showed they meant business. Winning their first three games of the season against Swindon, Trowbridge and Wimborne. Recruiting several Pacific Islanders which added a real flair to their play.

Marlborough started brightly, kicking an early penalty wide. But they soon took the lead with a the first try of the game. There was a big shout for a forward pass in the build up but play went on and Marlborough showed some nice hands to play in Miteli Vulkijapani who beat the last man before running in from out wide to score under the posts. Tom West converted to make it 7-0.

Banbury’s task wasn’t made any easier when Kallum Dixey limped off challenging for the ball at the restart. The Bulls were lucky to keep Jack Briggs on the field after a late tackle off the ball left him down and needing lengthy treatment.

Marlborough increased the lead with a bizarre try. Marlborough looked to kick for touch after winning a penalty, but a sliced kick saw the ball heading towards the middle of the pitch. Miteli Vulkijapani expertly plucked the ball out the sky and outsprinted the Banbury covering defence to score his second under the posts. Tom West added the extras to make it 14-0.

Banbury dominated possession towards the end of the half but couldn’t get the score there play deserved, in fact it was Marlborough who nearly extended the league with some incredible 7’s style rugby from deep before knocking on.

The Bulls started the second half well. Pinning in Marlborough in their own half. Banbury got the points their play deserved with a penalty try. Marlborough knocked on, on the edge of their own 22 and in frustration the Marlborough player kicked the ball off the floor straight into Dan Brady’s face. In a rather stunned silence, Dan Brady was the fastest to react to the situation and kicked the loose ball through and was sprinting his way over in the corner before being taken out by two players. Josaia Visei going for a football slide tackle approach while Miteli Vulkijapani went high pulling him head first into the ground. Miteli Vulkijapani saw yellow although there could have been a case for both, but Banbury were back in touch 14-7.

Despite being a man down Marlborough extended the league with a brilliant try. Joeli Radovu plucked a cross field kick out the air and sprinted his way over out to the right. Marlborough’s ability to pull something out of nothing being one of the key factors throughout the game. Tom West converted to make it 21-7.

No sooner than Marlborough were back up to 15 players they were back down to 14 after Lemeki Moala was given a yellow for a high tackle on Sam Carr-Archer. Jimmy Manley was taken out miles off the ball, but the referee indicated he hadn’t caught the number of the offending player so couldn’t give more than the penalty. It was bordering on dangerous at this point and Banbury did well to stay composed.

Banbury scored from the resulting penalty. Ian Isham gathered the ball at the back of a rolling maul and as we’ve seen many times before the pack worked him into a position to score out to the left. With the clock ticking and Banbury searching for a draw Ed Phillips pushed his hurried conversion attempt wide, 21-12.

The Bulls went looking for more but with time expired a victory had become impossible. Still a bonus point was on the cards and Banbury were camped 5 metres from the Marlborough line. The penalty count was rising and lineout after lineout followed. Sam Carr-Archer looked like he’d scored but no whistle came so the Bulls played on. Ian Isham went for the line and also looked like he’d scored, only for the whistle to be blown that Sam Carr-Archer was held up and it was the end of the game. A devastating decision as Banbury looked like they’d secured something from the game only to go home with nothing.

A disappointing loss in horrendous conditions that will sting for a while, but the heart and desire was there for the full 80 minutes. Marlborough clearly mean business in the league and the Pacific Islanders flair means they have the ability to score from almost anywhere. The Bulls dominated large spells of possession, but Marlborough were clinical when they had the ball.

Speaking to Head Coach Matt Goode after the game:
21-12, what do you think the difference was today? “We didn’t really get the rub of the green today. They were clinical with some of there chances. One try looked like a forward pass, the second was a bit of a fluke but that’s how it goes. I’m proud of the boys though, we won 57-13 last week but I was a bit disappointed with some of the performances. The performances were there today, the heart and desire were there but it wasn’t our day. Sometimes you can learn more from a loss than a win”

It seems like a much tougher league this year. People can take points off anyone, is that any comfort after today? “Newbury look like favourites, they should never have come down really but there are a lot of good teams at the top. It will be a good challenge for the boys.”

It doesn’t get any easier with Newbury next week, could you cause an upset though? “For sure, we’ll be back at home. We have great support at our place. It’ll be tough, but we’ll play our patterns and there is no reason we can’t get back to winning ways.”

Try scorers: Penalty Try, Ian Isham
Conversions: Ed Phillips (1)