Banbury had a number of unavailability’s coming into the game, but Swindon had their own problems. Losing 8 players after training on Thursday to unavailability. Swindon only travelled with one substitute for the game.

Banbury got off to a perfect start. With only 30 seconds on the clock Jack Briggs (Wing) made a break down the left side line before offloading the ball to Joe Mills who sprinted his way over under the posts. Duncan Leese added the easy extras to give Banbury an early 7-0 lead.

The Bulls continued their quick start scoring almost immediately from the restart. Swindon failed to deal with a kick and Duncan Leese gathered the knock on before offloading to Jack Briggs (Wing) who sprinted his over in the left corner. Duncan Leese converted from the side-line and with 3 minutes on the clock Banbury had a 14-0 lead.

Swindon recovered well to going down 14-0 but it was still Banbury who extended their lead. Sam Stoop put a lovely crossfield kick in which Joe Mills gathered in the right corner. Joe Mills got the ball inside to Duncan Leese who quickly got the ball to Ed Berridge who crashed over from close range. A well executed 3 on 2 scenario for the Bulls. Duncan Leese converted to make it 21-0.

Tommy Gray and Duncan Leese combined for a lovely score for Banbury. Swindon kicked from their own in goal area, but Tommy Gray gathered the kick and charged back at the Swindon line. Tommy passed to Duncan Leese before showing brilliant pace to loop round on the overlap, gather the pass back from Duncan Leese and sprint his way over in the corner. The conversion from the side line went wide, 26-0.

Banbury started the second half similar to how they started the first. A penalty saw the Bulls get deep into the Swindon half and the backs did the rest. Duncan Leese played Joe Mills in down the right before he barrelled his way through the opposition full-back to touch down in the clubhouse corner. Duncan Leese was off-target from the side line, 31-0.

Swindon got on the scoreboard after Peter Kewell barrelled his way over under the posts. Banbury defended for a number of phases but eventually good patience from Swindon saw them find the gap to score under the posts. Adam Westall converted to make it 31-7.

The Bulls extended the lead further with a nice try from the backs. Tom Burman put in a lovely deft chip over the top and Jed Boyle won the footrace to touchdown out to the left. Duncan Leese converted, 38-7.

The backs were back at it again shortly after. Tommy Gray grubbered through, Duncan Leese kicked the ball on further and then Jed Boyle did the same. Eventually Duncan Leese won the race to dot the ball down in the left corner. Some nice footwork from the Banbury boys. Duncan Leese couldn’t convert his own try, 43-7.

Duncan Leese added a second try shortly after. Tommy Gray played in Duncan Leese and he showed great footwork to skip his way through some tired Swindon defending to score in the corner. The conversion attempt was wide, 48-7.

Banbury brought up the 50 points in extra time. Jack Briggs (Centre) and Duncan Leese showed quick hands to play in Tom Burman who dived over in the clubhouse corner. The conversion was wide from the side line, but Banbury had secured a dominant 5 points. A one-sided game, despite the big win Banbury will feel they left quite a few points out on the pitch. Credit to Swindon, a very difficult situation with only 1 substitute but the players that played, worked their socks off for 80 minutes. Steve Potter was Banbury’s man of the Match. The front row was missing Joe Winpenny, Ian Isham and Pete Boulton but the boys that came in did fantastically. Ken Key carried brilliantly, Steve Potter was fantastic in the set piece and in defence and Michael Fox’s work rate around the pitch was great too. Credit to the Banbury boys this season that so many players have stepped into the Bulls squad and performed brilliantly.

Speaking to Head Coach Matt Goode after the game:

53-7 win, are you happier with the 53 points scored or only conceding 7 points? Little of both I think, we asked the boys to be ruthless. We left a few points out there for sure but it’s great to see boys coming in and making a difference. Overall, I’m happy, happy with the result. I hope their will be some other scores in the league that help us out.”

Is the goal to work towards that second position, try and get to a playoff spot? “We’ll see what happens up until Christmas. Top 3 would be lovely, I think with the rotation we did this week and some boys coming back we’ll be finishing the year pretty fresh.”

Trowbridge away next week, they’ve lost some narrow games, so their league position might be a bit deceptive, potential banana skin? “Honestly we don’t know anything about them. Our focus has been on Swindon, we’ll switch to Trowbridge now and see what we can work on for them. With the boys that are coming back next week I think we’ll do well. I’m looking to continue this run we’ve been on recently.”

Who was your man of the match today? “Steve Potter. I thought the whole front row were sublime for 80 minutes. We were missing some key pieces from the front row this week but the boys that came in were great. Steve Potter was outstanding. Don’t think he put a foot wrong all day.”

Banbury Scorers:
Tries: Joe Mills (2) Duncan Leese (2) Jack Briggs, Ed Berridge, Tommy Gray, Jed Boyle, Tom Burman.
Conversions: Duncan Leese (4)