Chippenham took the early lead after Banbury were penalised for being offside. Considering the windy conditions, it was never going to be a good day for kicking but a penalty straight in front of the posts was as easy as it was going to get. Tom Douglas stepped up to give Chippenham the lead, 0-3.

Banbury responded in the best way possible. From the restart the Bulls were straight into the Chippenham 22. The backs got the ball wide and Duncan Leese drew the last man before playing in Justin Parker down the right wing for the first try of the afternoon. Leese was off target with the conversion, 5-3.

After a deliberate knock on penalty against Chippenham, Banbury kicked to the corner for a 5m lineout. The forwards showed good skill to get Chris Davies close to the line before the hooker darted his way over for his third try in as many games. Conversion missed, 10-3.

Justin Parker got a second try in a near repeat of his first. Duncan Leese made a lovely break down the right flank before drawing the last man and playing in Parker to score out to the right. Leese converted, 17-3.

Banbury extended the lead before half time. The Bulls had phase after phase in the opposition 22 and eventually the pressure told when Ben George whipped a pass to Jacob Mills who was running a lovely line to dart over for Banbury’s 16th different try scorer this season. Leese converted to bring up half time, 24-3.

Alex Caviezel Cox became Banbury’s 17th different try scorer when he crossed early in the second half. Dan Brady chipped over the top and the opposition full-back tried to kick the ball back on the full but instead shanked one up in the air for Cox to gather and sprint his way under the posts. Leese converted, 31-3.

Duncan Leese got the try his play deserved when he spotted a gap in the Chippenham defence and sprinted over for a try in the clubhouse corner. Conversion missed, 36-3.

Will Thurlow was yellow carded for Banbury after an off the ball incident. Chippenham took advantage of the situation. Kicking to the corner for a 5m lineout before a rolling maul was driven over from close range. Kieran Atkin the man to touch down. Conversion missed, 36-8.

Chippenham narrowed the lead with a nice move from the backs. Oli Alcorn broke through the Banbury line before offloading to Reuben Barnett to score to the left of the posts. Douglas converted, 36-15.

Dan Brady scored his 5th try of the season to extend the lead. Brady broke down the left wing before chipping over the top. A deflection off a Chippenham hand helped Brady beat the opposition full back to the ball before Brady sprinted his way over out to the left. Converted, 43-15.

Straight from the restart Banbury scored the try of the game. The backs countered from their own 22. First Alex Caviezel Cox beat a couple men before playing in Dan Brady down the wing. Brady beat a couple more before beautifully offloading to Duncan Leese who broke a tackle before sprinting over in the corner. A lovely team try from the Bulls. Conversion missed, 48-15.

Banbury added one more try before the full-time whistle. Ben George threw a beautiful behind the back pass to James Jennings who skipped through the gap created by the pass before touching down under the posts. Leese converted, 55-15.

The full-time whistle followed shortly after. Another 5 points for Banbury as they maintained their unbeaten start to the season. Tommy Gray was selected as Man of the Match. Gray was at the heart of many of Banbury’s attacks. And despite some very late hits he showed great resilience to jump back up and play on. Duncan Leese had a fine game as stand in captain for the game and Chris Davies carried and defended brilliantly.

Speaking to Head Coach, Matt Goode, after the game:
55-15, it’s your 4th win in a row and your 4th 50+ pointer in a row. Has this been the perfect start to the season for the Bulls? “Absolutely in preseason if we’d have said we’d have got the full 20 points available and scored that many tries we’d have been massively happy. We’re getting 40 plus every week at training and the intensity has been really good.”

An incredible stat. You’ve played 4 games, but you’ve had 17 different try scorers. Does that show just how well they’re playing as a team? “Exactly. They’re all working really hard. Trying to be on that shoulder. To have 17 different try scorers is just incredible. It shows that we can play well in every position. Shows the strength in depth we’ve got as a club as well.”

You’ve had a yellow card in every game so far does the lack of discipline worry you at all? Could it be in the difference in some of those tight games? Possibly, we’ll sit down and have a look at what they are for. It’s worrying when you get a team yellow. That means you’re giving to many penalties away. It’s definitely something we need to look at. Today was a retaliation to some late hits but he’s young and he’ll learn from it.”

Tommy Gray has had a change of position this season, moving to fly-half but he’s had 2 man of the match performances in 4 games. He’s really excelling in that new role, isn’t he? “He’s a quality player. He’s played a good standard and whatever position I played him in I know he’d do a job. With the boys that we’ve got around him and the communication amongst them it’s really allowed Tommy to thrive.”

Marlborough next weekend, it’s going to be physical, going to be some good rugby on show. What are you expecting from that one? “We know it’s going to be physical. It was a great game here last season. Physical for sure but we just need to play our structure. Keep the ball and play out style of rugby. We’ll try and enjoy it, play our way. I don’t want to give too much of our game plan away but we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Try scorers: Justin Parker (2) Duncan Leese (2) Chris Davies, Jacob Mills, Alex Caviezel Cox, Dan Brady, James Jennings.
Conversions: Duncan Leese (5)

15. Alex Caviezel Cox (Sponsored by: Jamie Briggs Removals & Storage)
14. Justin Parker (Sponsored by Wurzel Broadband)
13. Duncan Leese (Sponsored by Wednesday Strollers)
12. Jack Briggs (Sponsored by: Wykham Park Farm)
11. Dan Kirwin Sponsored by: Hollywood Bowl)
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. Tom Eyston
4. Kallum Dixey (Sponsored by: Gallagher Insurance Brokers)
5. Will Thurlow
6. Jacob Mills (Sponsored by: Hire Safe Solutions)
7. James Jennings
8. Keiran Fitzgibbon (Sponsored by: Heaven & Stubbs)

Replacements:
16. Callum Horne
17. Matt Goode (Sponsored by: Hook Norton Crop Consultancy)
18. Dan Brady (Sponsored by: Allsafe Scaffolding)