Banbury welcomed back some familiar faces to the starting line-up. Ian Isham, Ed Berridge, Will Thurlow, Tom Eyston and Duncan Leese all back in the starting XV whilst Liam Lloyd returned from injury for a spot on the bench. Despite last weekend’s defeat, Matt Goode, largely kept faith in the same squad after a big week in training.

The Bulls were disappointed in their defence last weekend and early on Banbury showed they were up for this game against a dangerous Marlborough side. A deliberate trip on Dan Brady stopped an early chance for Banbury but they soon took the lead. A loose pass from the Banbury backs was brilliantly converted into the opening try. Dan Brady kicking the ball off the floor before showing some dribbling skills and diving on the ball for a score close to the posts. Ed Phillips converted, Banbury 7 Marlborough 0.

Marlborough levelled through a rampaging run from Sione Funaki. Banbury had defended brilliantly up until that point and would have been disappointed not to bring the big man down before the line. Converted, 7-7.

Banbury responded well and deservedly retook the lead. Brilliant runs from Joel Thomas and James Leonardi got Banbury to within a metre of the opposition try line before the young prop popped the ball up off the floor for Joe Mills to dart over. Converted, 14-7.

Ed Phillips added a penalty before half-time after Marlborough were penalised for not releasing. 17-7.

Marlborough seemed intent on playing a physical style of rugby with multiple no arm tackles going unpunished, so it was a welcome sight when the referee brought out the first yellow card of the game for the away side. Although rather unexpectedly it was for kicking the ball out of a ruck than any of the questionable hits throughout the game.

Justin Parker added a third try for Banbury after some brilliant work from the Banbury pack. The forwards took a scrum from inside their own half and drove it 15-20 metres back before getting the penalty advantage. Ed Berridge burst off the back of the scrum before putting a lovey kick behind the Marlborough defence. Parker won the race to dive on the ball just before it went out of play in the clubhouse corner. Converted, 24-7.

Marlborough responded straight from the restart with two quickly taken penalties taking them right to the edge of the Banbury line. Lemeki Moala ran a brilliant line and there was no stopping the big prop from close range. Converted, 24-14.

The away side had their tails up and the challenge was made harder when Duncan Leese was yellow carded for not rolling away just metres out from his own line. Marlborough took the penalty quickly and found themselves which a big numerical advantage out wide for Kane Marafono to dive over in the corner. Conversion missed, 24-19.

The Banbury crowd sensed the momentum was with the away side and roared their team back into the game, firing up the Bulls for the remaining few minutes. Banbury threw everything at the opposition and sealed the win and the try bonus point in the final minutes. Tommy Gray made a lovely break before timing his offload perfectly to release Jack Briggs for a try under the posts. Jubilation for the home support who certainly made themselves heard throughout the game. Converted, 31-19.

Keiran Fitzgibbon scored another try for Banbury in extra time when he drove over from close range. Justin Parker was stopped narrowly short, but Fitzgibbon was on hand to put the icing on the cake. Ed Phillips finished perfect from the boot to make it 38-19 at the full-time whistle.

A brilliant response from the Bulls who looked the polar opposite to the team that lost last week. The passion and desire from the home side was evident throughout. Marlborough seemed to only care about making huge hits, yet the Bulls never backed down. Facing the challenge head on and deservedly coming out on top. Justin Parker was selected as Banbury’s Man of the Match. The scrum-half has found himself used more on the wing this season but he took full advantage of his opportunity at 9. He added pace and was a constant threat with darting runs at the breakdown. The Bulls have a weekend off before taking on the league leaders, Old Centralians, in a fortnight. If they perform like they did this weekend they’ve every reason to believe they can pull off an upset!

Speaking to Head Coach, Matt Goode, after the game:

38-19, You were after a reaction from the boys after last weekend. You got that today didn’t you?
“Absolutely, the boys played fantastic. It was a really tough game for the whole 80 minutes. Last weekend was a reality check for us. Tuesday at training we had a really tough session. I wanted to see if we still had that hunger. We worked our defence, on our line speed which wasn’t good enough last weekend. We wanted to get in there faces today, chop them low and that game plan worked. I asked the boys what they wanted as players. They could be a mid-table team, or we get our heads down and really push for the top.”

Is that why you didn’t change too much of the squad for this weekend compared to last? A couple tactical tweaks but you knew the boys could perform better?
“We picked up a couple injuries which meant we kept a similar team. I think otherwise I might changed a few more. But full credit to the boys today. They put right everything that was wrong last weekend. Justin Parker was Man of the Match but there was probably 7 or 8 that you could have argued a case for deserving it as well.”

A weekend off before a trip to the league leaders. They came out victorious last time, you’ll be looking to right a few wrongs I imagine?
“If we play to the potential we’ve got it’s going to be really interesting. If we play with a similar mindset as we did today, we’ve got a really good chance of winning or it being very close. If we slip back to the level of performance like Chippenham last week it’ll be a long day for us.”

Point Scorers:
Tries: Dan Brady, Joe Mills, Justin Parker, Jack Briggs and Keiran Fitzgibbon
Penalties: Ed Phillips (1)
Conversions: Ed Phillips (4) Tommy Gray (1)

15. Tommy Gray (Sponsored by: Edd Frost & Daughters) *
14. Joe Mills (Sponsored by: DTC International) *
13. Duncan Leese (Sponsored by Wednesday Strollers)
12. Caleb Shepherd *
11. Dan Brady (Sponsored by: Allsafe Scaffolding) *
10. Ed Phillips (Sponsored by: P Montanaro – ITSM Consultancy) *
9. Justin Parker (Sponsored by Wurzel Broadband) *

1. James Leonardi (Sponsored by: Tim Varney) *
2. Ian Isham (Captain) (Sponsored by: William Green Architects) *
3. Tom Eyston
4. Joel Thomas (Sponsored by: The Troopers)
5. Will Thurlow
6. Jacob Mills (Sponsored by: Hire Safe Solutions) *
7. Tom Macdonald (Sponsored by Liberis) *
8. Ed Berridge (Sponsored by: BKR Property Floorplans and Lease Plans)

Replacements:
16. Liam Lloyd
17. Keiran Fitzgibbon (Sponsored by: Heaven & Stubbs) *
18. Jack Briggs (Sponsored by: Wykham Park Farm)

*Graduate of the Banbury Youth Section