Banbury were forced into a couple changes, Ed Berridge ruled out for a couple of weeks with a chipped collarbone. New signing James Jennings impressed enough to earn a spot on the bench.

Like Windsor, Buckingham are one of the newly promoted teams to the division. An impressive opening day win vs Wimborne showed that Buckingham meant business. And it was Buckingham who started the brighter. Chris Reynolds scoring in the corner after some sloppy defending from the Bulls. Ben Grant-Adamson converted to make it 0-7.

James Cullen was yellow carded when he made no attempt to roll away when Banbury had numbers out wide. From the resulting penalty and then lineout Ian Isham drove his way over from close range. Tommy Gray converted, 7-7.

Banbury took the lead when Chris Davies scored his first ever Banbury try. In a near repeat of Banbury’s first score but this time Davies was at the back of the pack to touch down. Gray converted, 14-7.

Tommy Gray scored a brilliant try to put Banbury further in front. Deep in his own 22, Jack Briggs burst through the Buckingham defence before offloading to Tommy Gray who sprinted more than half the pitch to score close to the posts. Duncan Leese took over the kicking duties after Tommy Gray tweaked his hamstring during his sprint for the line. Leese was on target to start, 21-7.

Tom Macdonald brilliantly stole the ball from Buckingham and the Bulls quickly countered. Dan Brady broke down the left wing before passing inside to Ben George for his first score in a Banbury jersey. Leese converted. 28-7.

Banbury got another try just before the half time whistle with a lovely team try. Buckingham kicked in an attempt to clear their lines, but the ball stayed in play and the Bulls countered brilliantly. James Jennings and Alex Caviezel Cox each with wonderful offloads before Ian Isham went over in the clubhouse corner. Leese kept it perfect with the boot, 35-7.

Two quick yellow cards to start the second half for Banbury put the Bulls massively on the back foot. Dan Kirwin harshly carded for not rolling away and Callum Horne for collapsing a maul. The latter resulting in a penalty try as well. 35-14.

Buckingham had their tails up and they could sense a comeback was on the cards. After a good break from Luke Budd down the left-wing Buckingham took full advantage of the extra men by switching the ball to the opposite flank for Chris Reynolds’ second try. Grant-Adamson converting, 35-21.

Banbury managed to weather the storm though and once they were back up to a full 15 the Bulls were back on the front foot. Line breaks from Duncan Leese and Chris Davies got Banbury into the opposition 22 before Davies popped the ball off the deck to Jack Briggs who breezed through untouched for another Banbury score. Leese converted, 42-21.

Banbury were back on the attack immediately from the restart. Duncan Leese broke into the Buckingham half. As the ball was recycled and passed out wide, Ian Isham, put a kick through which Jack Briggs gathered before throwing a lovely out the back-blind pass to Dan Kirwin. Kirwin cruised his way over for another Banbury score. Converted, 49-21.

Matt Goode brought himself on late in the second half and he was straight into the heart of the action. Bursting his way through the defence
before throwing a lovely blind pass to Duncan Leese, Leese got the ball on to new boy James Jennings who scored under the posts for a try on debut. Leese converted, 56-21.

As Buckingham tired in the heat the holes in the defence got bigger. James Jennings cruised through a gap before drawing the last man and passing to Matt Goode on his outside shoulder. Despite Tommy Grays’ best efforts to knock the ball out of his own players hands. Goode got the ball down for try number 9. Duncan Leeses’ conversion came back off the post to cruelly end his perfect day with the boot. 61-21.

In added time Ian Isham completed his hat-trick when he broke through a tackle to score under the posts. Duncan Leese added the extras to bring up the full-time whistle. 68-21.

Another emphatic performance from the Bulls. 128 points in the first two games sees Banbury top of the table on points difference. Ian Isham was picked as Banbury’s Man of the Match. A hat-trick capped a dominating performance from the skipper.

Speaking to Head Coach, Matt Goode, after the game:
68-21, not the perfect Bulls performance but 5 points and a good score. What did you make of the game? “Scoring 60 plus points is always good. But scoring 60 points and still having lots to work on is great. We’ve still got lots to work on in training to make sure we get better.”

There seems to be a lot of confidence, the backs happy to run it out from anywhere. How pleasing is that? “The style of rugby we want to play at the moment is working. We’ve still got to work on our fundamentals and make sure we get them right. The boys are scoring from all over the park which is great to see. The young lads that have come in have bought into the way we play. They’re quick and exciting to watch”

Beaconsfield away next weekend. A good rugby side, similar style to Banbury. What are you expecting from that game? “We’ll have a look Tuesday on what we need to prepare for. What worked and didn’t work last season. Really, we need to focus on ourselves, make sure our defence is good. I’m a little disappointed we conceded 21 points today but it’s still early days. Tonight, we’re going to have fun and in a couple days we’ll start thinking about next weekend.”

Try Scorers: Ian Isham (3) Chris Davies, Tommy Gray, Ben George, Jack Briggs, Dan Kirwin, James Jennings, Matt Goode.
Conversions: Tommy Gray (2) Duncan Leese (7)

15. Alex Caviezel Cox (Sponsored by: Jamie Briggs Removals & Storage)
14. Dan Kirwin
13. Duncan Leese (Sponsored by Wednesday Strollers)
12. Jack Briggs (Sponsored by: Wykham Park Farm)
11. Dan Brady (Sponsored by: Allsafe Scaffolding)
10. Tommy Gray (Sponsored by: Edd Frost & Daughters)
9. Ben George (Sponsored by: Rugbyshield)

1. James Leonardi (Sponsored by: Tim Varney)
2. Chris Davies (Sponsored by: GDC Rail & Civils)
3. Ian Isham (Captain) (Sponsored by: William Green Architects)
4. Kallum Dixey (Sponsored by: Gallagher Insurance Brokers)
5. Tom Eyston
6. Will Thurlow
7. Tom Macdonald (Sponsored by: Liberis)
8. Callum Horne

Replacements:
16. Jack Briggs (Sponsored by: Parkinsons Master Thatchers)
17. James Jennings
18. Matt Goode (Sponsored by: Hook Norton Crop Consultancy)