Banbury got off to a near perfect start, scoring in the first few minutes. Duncan Leese slipped a nice pass to Tom Burman who burst through a gap in the Stratford line. Despite a lovely run Tom Burman was stopped just short but he popped a pass off the floor to Tommy Gray who dived over from close range. Ed Phillips converted to make it 7-0 to Banbury.

The Bulls quickly had a second try of the afternoon. A rolling maul was stopped narrowly short of the line. Ed Phillips quickly got the ball out to Sam Stoop who spun his way out of a tackle before diving over out to the left. Ed Phillips added the extras, 14-0.

Stratford narrowed the lead with a try of their own. Banbury had conceded a number of penalties giving Stratford good field position. Eventually the pressure told and Dan Whitby crossed out to the right. Charlie Powell was off target with the conversion attempt. 14-5.

Banbury extended the lead when Duncan Leese scored his first ever Banbury Bulls try. Sam Stoop chipped over the top and a mix up in defence allowed Duncan Leese to gather the loose ball, step out of a tackle and run in unopposed under the posts. Ed Phillips added the easy extras, 21-5.

Banbury secured a try bonus point early on in the second half. Good breaks from Ian Isham and Joe Winpenny got the Bulls close to the try line. Sam Stoop chipped the ball to the corner and Tom Burman won the race to touchdown first in the left corner. Ed Phillips’s conversion attempt had the accuracy but fell just short. 26-5.

The Bulls extended their lead with a fine try from deep. Tommy Gray made the break before throwing a lovely dummy that allowed him to cut inside. Once he was one on one with his opposite number, he passed to Duncan Leese who was on his inside shoulder. Duncan Leese then sprinted his way over for his second try of the afternoon under the posts. Ed Phillips converted, 33-5.

Stratford narrowed the gap after a Banbury knock on, Angus Wightman was quickest to react to the loose ball and just managed to stretch his way out for a try to the left of the posts. Charlie Powell converted, 33-12.

Banbury responded with arguably their best try of the afternoon. Tommy Gray made a lovely break down the right before offloading to Jed Boyle. Jed showed some lovely feet to step his opposite man before drawing the final defender and offloading to Ed Phillips who touched down under the posts. Ed Phillips converted his own try to make it 40-12.

Stratford got their third try with a quickly taken penalty. Dave Pritchard tapped and went, and Banbury couldn’t keep the scrum half out. Charlie Powell converted to narrow the gap to 40-19.

Banbury added another score with a good return from a kick, Ed Phillips gathered the ball and stepped round one player before offloading to Ian Isham. The captain showed off all his skill to step around one defender before barrelling through two more and scoring out to the right. Ed Phillips hit a tricky conversion to seal a fine day with the boot. 47-19.

Stratford scored a try in extra time to secure a try bonus point for Stratford much to the delight of the home support. From a lineout on the right, Stratford showed good hands to switch the ball to the opposite flank and Charlie Powell went over in the corner. The full-back converted his own try to make it 47-26 at the full-time whistle.

A good performance from the Bulls, Stratford probably deserved the bonus point and had a lot of possession throughout but Banbury were far more clinical when they had the ball. Duncan Leese was Banbury’s man of the match; two tries are always impressive, but it was his efforts in defence that stood out. His individual tackle count was brilliant and provided some turnovers at crucial times.

Speaking to Banbury Coach James Kerr after the game:
47-26, big 5 points, how was that game for you? “It’s really pleasing, to come away to a local rival like Stratford and to score that many points it’s really good. I told the boys after the game I thought we lacked a bit of possession, when he had ball in hand, we scored points which is great, however, when we come up in other tighter games, we need to be happier with the ball and retaining it for longer. Fair play to Stratford we gave them so much possession and they scored some good tries against us. It’s a bit disappointing the number of points we conceded but at the end of the day it’s a significant bonus point win away from home.”

You had a lot of players on and off the pitch today, couple cards, quite a few little injuries, is that the only positive from this injury crisis is that the boys know how to fill in at other positions and play together? “It’s important for us as a coaching setup to make sure we have that rotation and when people come in and out the team it doesn’t affect us. It’s very rare we don’t use all our substitutions and the boys can step in where needed.”

You’re back at home next weekend against Swindon, they’re bottom of the table, but you can’t underestimate anyone in this league, can you? “Not at all, they’re desperate for a win. No matter what happens they’ll be aiming for a victory. We’ve played them many times over the last couple seasons and they’ve mostly been tight contests. We said this week it’s about how we target the next 5 games and it’s important we re-focus on how we’re going to get the victory and 5 points.”

Duncan Leese was your man of the match today, what stood out for you? “I think there were a lot of good performances. Both centres, Jack Briggs and Duncan Leese defended really well. However, I felt Duncan edged it slightly attacking. His support play was outstanding, he never faltered in regard to being off the shoulder for a pass or making sure he was part of every attack. There were a few standouts, Jack Briggs, Sam Carr-Archer, Doug Backhouse but I thought Duncan Leese just edged it.”

Banbury Scorers:
Tries: Duncan Leese (2) Tommy Gray, Sam Stoop, Tom Burman, Ed Phillips and Ian Isham
Conversions: Ed Phillips (6)