The Bulls had last weekend off but were still struggling with injuries and unavailability’s, missing several key players. Still a local derby at home is excellent motivation and the players that have come into the side in recent weeks have shown they’re more than capable of playing at this level.

Banbury got off to a great start with Ed Phillips settling any early nerves with a penalty to put Banbury in the lead. Quins were penalised for not rolling away at the breakdown and Ed Phillips gladly took the points, 3-0.

Oxford Harlequins saw yellow when Matt White was penalised for hands in the ruck and then for pushing Ed Phillips resulting in an early yellow card for the number 8. Ed Phillips kicked the resulting penalty to make it 6-0 to Banbury.

The Bulls extended the lead further with their first try of the game. Jack Briggs broke through the Quins line but was stopped narrowly short of the line. A couple phases later he wasn’t to be denied though. Ian Isham drew the defence before throwing a lovely inside pass to Jack Briggs who ran in untouched to score out to the left. Ed Phillips converted to make it 13-0.

Rory Garrett got Quins first points when Banbury were penalised for not rolling away, 13-3. Quins nearly scored late on in the first half but knocked on from close range to leave it 13-3 at half time.

Quins started the second half brightly and won a penalty almost immediately which they kicked to the corner. Michael Fox saw yellow for Banbury for collapsing the resulting rolling maul. Quins kicked for the corner and this time they weren’t to be denied, Joe Nalewabau pealed out after the lineout and crashed his way over in the corner. Rory Garrett couldn’t convert from the side line, but Quins were right back in it, 13-8.

Like a boxing match trading blows, Banbury and Quins would trade points for the rest of the half, Ed Phillips kicked a penalty for Banbury after Quins were penalised for being offside, 16-8.

Quins hit right back with their second try of the game. Quins showed some nice hands before Ed Yeates showed some great skill to draw the last man and play in Antonio Turetta who arched in way in from out wide to the right to score close to the posts. Rory Garrett converted to bring Quins back within a point, 16-15.

Quins had the momentum but were back down to 14 after Allan Purchase was shown yellow for a high tackle on Ed Phillips. Duncan Leese hit a beautiful kick to put the Bulls within 5 metres of the Quins try line. Ian Isham found his man at the resulting lineout and the ball was quickly spread out to the backs. Sam Stoop popped a lovely pass and Jack Briggs burst through the gap for his second score of the game. Ed Phillips converted to make it 23-15. Ralph Jones was shown a yellow card for Quins after something he said to the referee after the try.

Rory Garrett got Quins back within a score with another penalty after Banbury were penalised for offside, 23-18. Ed Phillips hit right back though with a brilliant penalty of his own from a long way out, 26-18.

Almost immediately from the restart Quins won another penalty for hands in the ruck, Rory Garrett kicked Quins back within a score again, 26-21.

Banbury finished the stronger though. The Bulls had a scrum 5 metres out and with the pack creeping their way to the line Ed Berridge popped up and threw a lovely pass to play in Ed Phillips who found himself untouched to score out to the right. Ed Phillips converted his own try to increase the lead to 33-21.

Banbury picked up a try bonus point in extra time when Giles Saar went over. Ed Phillips took a quick penalty and ran straight into a high tackle, while everyone else paused Ed Phillips showed great composure to dump the ball off to Giles Saar who slipped a tackle and dived over out to the left. Ed Phillips made it a perfect day with the boot when he converted and took his personal tally to 25 points for the game. The final whistle followed, and Banbury had picked up a brilliant 40-21 win.

A brilliant win for the Bulls after 3 successive defeats. The first half was a nervy affair, but the second half was an epic. Credit to Quins they never quit and certainly played their part in a great match. Ed Berridge was Banbury’s Man of the Match. The number 8 was making his home debut and what a debut it was, carrying brilliantly and everywhere in defence.

Speaking to Matt Goode after the game:
40-21, you’re back to winning ways, it was ugly at times but that’s got to mean the world to you, Especially against a local rival in Oxford Harlequins? “We always set out to win those local derbies, we knew it was going to be a tough game. We knew Oxford Harlequins play good rugby, but we knew we needed to get back to winning. Today, you’re not going to win a game like that in the first 20 minutes, but it set us up brilliantly. Our final 30 minutes we were in control, we spoke about it at half time that we needed to keep pushing. To score 3 tries in the second half was a testament to how hard we worked after the break. For me as head coach it’s pleasing to put things in place at training, putting things in place at half time and then to execute those things in the game. We’re going to enjoy this win and get back to training Tuesday with a bit of a high.”

That second half was an absolute slugfest wasn’t it? Every time you pulled away they came straight back. “That’s what good games should be like, it’s not ideal, obviously we want to be winning all the time but games like that show real character, shows we know how to win, shows we know how to finish games off. Hopefully this is the start of some good things for Banbury again.”

You’ve had a horrendous run of injuries, you had a couple back today but still not close to hundred percent, it just shows the great strength in depth you’ve got that you can still pick up big wins against big teams. “We’ve got a couple back next week but also a couple unavailability’s but with the squad we’ve got we know we’ll be fine. We’re getting the boys back slowly and back to match sharp. I thought the bench were fantastic. Nick Pratt had a fantastic game. The crowd made a huge difference, it was a bit quiet in the first half, but everyone was behind us for that second half. It really pushes the boys on.”

Big game against Royal Wootton Bassett next week, a bit of a bogey team recently but you’ve got to take some great momentum after today in that one? “I’m looking forward to it, we’ve not won there in our last 2 seasons, but we’ll make sure we go with the right mentality, the right squad and right game plan.”

Banbury Scorers:
Tries: Jack Briggs (2) Ed Phillips, Giles Saar.
Conversions: Ed Phillips (4)
Penalties Ed Phillips (4)