Banbury made the short journey across to Northampton Old Scouts on Saturday after enjoying a break from action the previous weekend. Never a happy hunting ground for the Bulls it was vital that they put in a good performance away from home to keep the pressure on league leaders Market Harborough.

With changes in all three rows of the pack and young flyer Ryan Sorrell coming onto the wing in place of leading try-scorer Jed Boyle, this match was going to be a hard test of the strength in depth of the Banbury squad.

Starting brightly Banbury spent much of the first quarter of the game in the Old Scouts’ half and were putting together some nice passages of play. Quick ruck ball by the pack and strong running from the centre pair of Papenfus and Sturla put the home defence under increasing pressure. This pressure finally told after full back Dave Taylor switched to attack the blind side and won the race to his own chip ahead to put Bulls ahead 5-0, with the conversion attempt wide.
Banbury were soon offering more of the same and again quick ruck ball and good vision from Papenfus saw him go round the covering lock and break into the Old Scouts 22. Popping the ball inside to flanker Sean Bannister, the Bulls captain then drew the full-back and passed inside to the supporting fly half, Joe Mills to run in try number two. Again the conversion was missed but Banbury had a useful 10-0 lead and things looked good.

This lead could have been stretched yet further after another break by Papenfus through the centres saw him feed Sturla who rounded the full-back. With no-one in front of him and less then 20 metres to the try-line it seemed a simple run in. However Sturla felt he was in danger of being tackled and passed the ball to Taylor on his outside who, not expecting the pass, put it down and the chance went begging.
However, despite their indifferent form so far this season, Old Scouts are a very useful outfit and this let off seemed to spur them into action. With Banbury now conceding far too many penalties and some strong running from the Old Scouts the home side started pressurising the visiting defence. This led to Old Scouts kicking a penalty to get their first points on the board, 10-3.

Again Banbury put themselves under the cosh by taking wrong options in their own half of the field and making basic errors. One such mistake was an illegally taken 22 drop-out that gave Old Scouts a great attacking scrum in the middle of the park. A simple drifting backline move drew in the defence and well-timed pass put the Old Scouts winger into space for a simple run into the corner. The conversion from wide-out was missed but Old Scouts were now back in the game at 10-8.
And the half came to end with Old Scouts continuing their pressure which led to yet another penalty conceded by the Bulls. The home kicked needed no further invitation to slot over another 3 points and give Old Scouts a slender 11-10 lead at half time.

This was now going to be a real test of Banbury’s credentials and it was clear that the Bulls needed to put in a second half performance at the top of their game to come away with the league points.

Again Banbury started brightly with some penetrating runs from deep, but nothing came from them immediately and once again the visitors found themselves in their own 22. This time rather than opt to clear from his own 5-metre line, scrum-half Eddie Philips dummied the kick and instead passed out wide to Papenfus who again rounded the forward covering in defence and set out to run the ball clear. As he was closed down he put in a long high clearance kick that the home full-back failed to deal with. The ball bounced forward from the Old Scouts player towards the chasing Bulls players, where Sturla tried to control the ball with his feet and inadvertently played it back to Number 8 Simon Brand. With just two covering defenders back, Brand went for the gap between them and broke free into open space on the Scouts 10 metre-line. It was now a foot-race to the line and the big number 8 had just enough gas to make it to the line ahead of the covering defence. Fly-half Mills was on target with the conversion and the Bulls had regained the lead 17-11.

But the home side were not done yet and they continued to attack around the fringes of the breakdown, where excellent defensive work from the Banbury front 5, exemplified by second-row Matt Brock, kept them at bay. However the pressure eventually told as Old Scouts slotted another penalty to claw their way back to 17-14. Again the Bulls defence was under pressure but just about held-firm with the home Number 8 being held up over the line following an attacking scrum.

However it was the Bulls who were to get the next, and ultimately telling, score. A long clearance kick by Sturla was answered by a poor one from the Scouts which gave possession to Phillips on halfway. He held the ball up, sucked in two defenders and gave out a beautifully timed pass to the oncoming Taylor who ran into the corner unopposed. Banbury were now 22-14 to the good.

But the Bulls were still unable to shake off the spirited Scouts who again came back to test the Banbury defence, and again were awarded a kickable penalty with 5 minutes remaining. A successful kick brought them back to within one score at 22-17 but they were unable to make any further inroads and the Bulls took the points.

Banbury again played well in patches and came away with an away win, but the challenge that coach Grant Holmes has set his players is to keep the concentration and skill levels high for the whole game. The next test for the Bulls is a home fixture to Old Newtonians this Saturday, kick-off at 2:15pm.