Photos by Simon Grieve

Both teams came into the game with 4 wins in their last 5 games and despite good pressure in the first 5 minutes it all went downhill for Banbury after that.

Salisbury took the lead through Mike Dauwalder. Poor defending saw Salisbury break through the Banbury line and Dauwalder was put through after some quick offloading before touching down under the posts. Nik Wotton converted, 7-0.

The Bulls lost the ball 5 metres from their own line and shortly after Josh Green added a second, crashing over from close range. Wotton converted, 14-0.

A mix up in defence saw Alex Park burst through the Banbury line with ease. The centre still had plenty to do but showed great pace and drive to dive over for Salisbury’s third try. Wotton added a tricky conversion to extend the lead to 21-0.

David Tonge added further misery when he sprinted his way over from his own half after more poor defending from Banbury and good offloading from Salisbury. Wotton was off target with the conversion, 26-0.

Banbury looked shell-shocked and things got worse when Dan Brady was forced off with a knee injury. Banbury’s miserable opening 30 minutes was complete when David Tonge threw a brilliant pass to Max Bishop who scored in the corner. The conversion went wide but Salisbury were in full control, 31-0.

Banbury finally got into the game shortly before half time. Banbury won a penalty and kicked for touch. From the resulting lineout good work from the pack worked the ball to the line before Ed Phillips touched down. The conversion went wide, 31-5.

Jed Boyle intercepted a loose pass from Salisbury and sprinted his way over out to the left for Banbury’s second try. Conversion missed, 31-10.

Banbury had good momentum before half time. Salisbury’s restart didn’t travel 10 metres and should have been a Banbury scrum, instead the half time whistle was blown. A bizarre decision that certainly took the wind out of the Banbury sails.

Banbury started the second half well, Jed Boyle and Tommy Gray combined well and Salisbury were forced to kick the ball out 5 metres from their own line. Ian Isham found his man in the lineout before gathering the ball at the back of a rolling maul and scoring. Ed Phillips missed the conversion kicking in to the wind, 31-15.

Banbury’s comeback was dealt a blow when Banbury threw a pass straight to Alex Park and the Salisbury centre sprinted his way over from the halfway line. The conversion was missed, 36-15.

What looked like an obvious crossing penalty wasn’t given and while Banbury complained Salisbury played to the whistle, Josh Green scoring his second try of the afternoon. Nik Wotton added the easy extras, 43-15.

Ed Berridge narrowed the gap for Banbury. The pack did well to win a scrum against the head and Ed Berridge with a little help from Ed
Phillips drove over. The conversion went wide, 43-20.

As Banbury were starting to gain momentum, they shot themselves in the foot once again, Sam Stoop getting a yellow card for an off the ball incident. Nik Wotton kicked the resulting penalty to extend the lead to 46-20.

Despite being a man down Banbury narrowed the lead with a try of their own. Ed Berridge forced a knock on, and the backs countered quickly, Duncan Leese passing inside to Jack Briggs who dived over to the right of the posts. Ed Phillips couldn’t convert, 46-25.

The momentum had shifted again, and Banbury were looking dangerous. Stephen Potter nearly scored in the corner but was stopped narrowly short. Potter popped a pass off the floor to Justin Parker who spun out of a tackle before touching down. The windy conditions played havoc with the kicking and another conversion sailed wide, 46-30.

Banbury were soon back in to the Salisbury 22, Justin Parker sniped but was stopped inches short. It was his turn to pop a pass up off the floor, this time Ed Phillips catching and diving over. Duncan Leese attempted a drop goal as they were only seconds left but that also sailed wide, 46-35.

The Bulls came so close to a late try and losing bonus point, but Salisbury held out and eventually turned the ball over before kicking the ball out to bring up the full-time whistle.

A harsh lesson for Banbury, Salisbury blew away Banbury in the opening 30 minutes and the Bulls never recovered. Salisbury played well and credit must go to their team who showed great hands and great ambition to try and score from all over the pitch. The Bulls however will feel they let themselves down.

Speaking to Bulls Head Coach Matt Goode after the game:

46-35, a good comeback at the end but that first 30 minutes just blew you away didn’t it? “I’m not sure they blew us away, we were poor, that’s the worst 30 minutes I’ve seen from us. We coughed the ball up too many times, we defended poorly and against a good running side you’re going to get destroyed. We had a chat at half time, we played our patterns and things improved, to score 7 tries is good but yeah, that first 30 we were really poor.”

Any reason why that first 30 was so poor? “Attitude, we always talk about that fine line between confidence and arrogance. We stepped over that line, we were arrogant. We need to reassess on Tuesday at training what we want to do and how we want to conduct ourselves.”

Do you think that playoff spot is out of reach now? “Yep, absolutely. That’s not a playoff performance by a long shot. We don’t deserve that playoff spot after that opening 30 minutes, simple as that.”

Back at home next weekend, is it about getting a bit of momentum for that cup final and into next season now? “It’s going to be really tough to go from that, to the performance of our lives next week. These are the games we have to be winning, I’m really disappointed. I’m not happy with some of the senior players. We’ll have a think about what we’re going to do. We want to put on a performance at home and pick players that train Tuesday and Thursday and want to play rugby for this club.”