After the previous week’s excellent performance against Market Harborough, league leaders Banbury Bulls were hoping to take the same form away from home when they travelled to Northampton BBOB in this Midlands 2 West (South) clash.

Naming a near unchanged starting pack it was the backline that saw the majority of changes including player-coach Grant Holmes stepping in at fly-half. With bad weather in the preceding week the BBOB ground staff had performed admirably to allow the game to take place – the only match in the league not to be postponed. However, the wintry snow and rain had taken its toll and the pitch was very muddy and slippery and the adverse conditions would test the basic skills of both teams.

And it was the Bulls who started brightest, with the pack continuing their dominance in the scrum, However the tactical kicking game of BBOB forced Banbury to attack from deep and poor handling and passing too often led to moves breaking down. But Banbury were not to be denied their opening score which came from Banbury’s own kicking game. Attacking on the home side’s 22, Scrum-half Eddie Phillips neatly grubbered the ball through the oncoming BBOB defence. The ball sat up perfectly for captain Sean Bannister to give Banbury a 5-0 lead.

The Bulls continued to attack into the BBOB half but a lively attack was quashed when Bulls second-row Nick Pratt was shown a yellow card for dangerous use of the boot in a ruck. With the visitors now down to 14 men BBOB sprang to life. Several brisk attacks were seen off by the Bulls but a penalty infringement in kicking range gave the home side their first points.

They followed up this score with a break from the strong-running BBOB centres that took them to within 5 metres of the Bulls line. A try-saving tackle by full-back Dave Taylor was enough to keep the home side out, but Bannister was adjudged to have joined the resulting ruck from the side thus slowing the ball down and he too joined Pratt on the sidelines for 10 minutes.

Down to just 6 men in the pack, BBOB sensed a try in the air and looked to strike whilst Banbury were short-handed. However, some rock solid scrummaging and first-rate tackling kept the home side from getting a try and Banbury survived.

The score was just 5-3 to the Bulls but this rarely looked like changing as poor basic skills repeatedly let both sides down. There was the odd occasion of excitement, some great last ditch tackling saw winger Sam Boyle stopped just metres short and a three on one break on the other wing was wasted as James Heywood took the wrong option. With Banbury back to full strength BBOB continued to use their kick and chase tactics to good effect but rarely threatened the Bulls line.

The second-half continued in much the same vein with mistakes aplenty until it was BBOB’s turn to play with reduced numbers. A high and late tackle on Holmes after he had kicked the ball clear brought a yellow card to the BBOB openside and allowed Banbury to work their way up field. The Bulls looked to make use of their man advantage in the forwards and a series of five-metre scrums eventually allowed them to break the deadlock with Number 8 Simon Brand barging his way over to score. Mike Smith was just inches off target with his conversion which bounced off the post and kept BBOB just one score behind at 10-3.

This proved to be decisive as BBOB slowly forced their way back into the game. A series of good touch-finders and some strong running pinned the Bulls back in their own half and when BBOB centre Mann expertly took a wild pass from his fly-half at pace on the Bulls 22 he had the momentum to go over to score. With a successful conversion the scores were tied at 10-10.

With time running out for the hosts, a rejig in the backline saw Holmes replace Phillips at scrum-half and Pete Papenfus come on at 10. He had an immediate effect, taking the ball up to the defensive line time and again and giving the Bulls some much needed go-forward. And it was from a Papenfus break that Banbury could have taken the spoils. Breaking through the tackle of his opposite number, he looked to step around the covering full-back. But rather than feed the supporting runners he backed himself only to be stopped short, just metres from the line. With the BBOB hooker cynically killing the ball in the resultant ruck, for which he received the fourth yellow card of the game, the opportunity was there for the Bulls to snatch the victory.

Rather than going for the posts, skipper Bannister decided to use the dominance of the pack to go for a pushover try. However with the BBOB hooker now in the sinbin, the home side were unable to provide a front row and the Banbury pack was neutered as the scrums became uncontested. Unable to convert the chance from the static platform, the game was played out to a 10-10 draw much to the delight of the partisan home support.

Banbury will be disappointed to drop a league point after their performance the previous week, but BBOB proved to be resilient opposition and were well worthy of the draw. With all other games cancelled Banbury take a 4 point league lead away to Vipers in next Saturday’s match.