The Bulls had a rough week with injuries when Kallum Dixey (knee), Sam Carr-Archer (knee) and Will Thurlow (groin) were all ruled out. Banbury were able to welcome back James Jennings and Tom Macdonald to the starting line-up and after 3 months out, Ian Isham returned with a place on the bench.

Banbury lost Jack Briggs in the opening minute when he was forced off with a dead leg following an accidental collision. Chippenham took the lead with a penalty after Banbury were adjudged to have committed a high tackle. Tom Douglas successful from the tee. Chippenham 3 Banbury 0.

Chippenham scored the first try of the game when Matt Dickens drove over. Banbury had the ball on the edge of their own 22 but Chippenham reacted quickest when the referee said the ball was out at the breakdown before countering through Dickens to extend the lead. Converted, 10-0.

Chippenham’s rapid start to the game was complete when substitute Ben Riley bundled over from close range. With a similar physique to that of Big Pete there was no stopping the big man from a metre out. Converted, 17-0.

Jacob Mills was injured in the build up to the try which led to the introduction of Club Captain Ian Isham for his first game in over 3 months. The captain wasted no time and within minutes he reduced the lead when he drove over at the back of a rolling maul for Banbury’s first points of the game. Conversion missed, 17-5.

Harry Murphy was extremely lucky to escape with only a yellow card for Chippenham after a shoulder direct to the head of Chris Davies. Banbury took advantage of the extra man with a try just before the half time whistle. Justin Parker ran a lovely line to burst through the opposition defence before driving his way through the last man and stretching out for a try to the left of the posts. Ed Phillips converted, 17-12.

Chippenham started the second half in similar fashion to the first. Banbury overthrew a lineout in their own 22 and although the Bulls manged to stop the first man, Chippenham regathered through Tyler Lewis who stretched over from close range. Conversion missed, 22-12.

Adrea Vasuitoga added another try in the corner for Chippenham following a quickly taken penalty. Conversion missed, 27-12.

Ben Riley scored his second try with another close-range finish to complete a blistering opening 15 minutes to the second half for the home team. Converted, 34-12.

Justin Parker saw yellow for Banbury following an off the ball incident which probably should have been a yellow for both but irrelevant in the grand scheme of the game.

Jamie Adkin scored another try for Chippenham in extra time to complete the victory for the home team. Conversion missed. 39-12.

Not Banbury’s day. The Bulls made too many individual errors and at some crucial times in the game. Chippenham should have had a red card, but they took full advantage of their slice of luck. The home team were fantastic and deservedly took all 5 points. The team has come a long way to the side that Banbury beat 55-15 at home earlier in the season and will be one to watch for the remaining fixtures.

Speaking to Head Coach Matt Goode after the game:

Not Banbury’s day today. Where do you think things went wrong for Banbury today?
“I think it started at training this week. I don’t think our heads were in it right from the start. I thought I picked a side that would come out and take it to Chippenham. Maybe that was my fault for picking a different team and changing things up. Today we thought we could go through the motions. We’d find gaps easily. Chippenham gave us a huge lesson in how to play rugby. They were very direct and showed with a bit of passion and desire they can win games like that.”

I know it’s tough to talk about promotion after a defeat like that but do you if you want to be fighting for promotion it’s how you react to defeats like that and pick yourselves up for next week that’ll be key?
“Have we talked about promotion, maybe a little bit. I’m just focusing on the next game and let’s see where that leaves us come the end of the season. We’ve got a young, incredibly talented set of boys but we’ve got a lot to improve before we’re ready for the next level. We’ll pick ourselves back up and that starts at training on Tuesday.”

Next week with Marlborough at home. What do you think needs to change, personnel? Game plan?
“We’ll change personnel, mentality, we need to improve. We don’t need to overreact, but we’ll see who wants it at training this week. Marlborough are a tough side who can beat anyone in this league, and we need to be at our best if we want to get back to winning ways.”

Point Scorers:
Tries: Ian Isham, Justin Parker
Conversion: Ed Phillips (1)