Match reporting by Bob Mitchelmore.

The Glyn Mitchell Memorial Ground - Saturday 5th October 2013

It took a commanding second half performance for the Bulls to emerge worthy winners after playing with the wind in the first 40 minutes and finding themselves trailing at the break.

The Bulls opened the game brightly and went close to scoring early tries when first centre, Carl Daniels, just failed to gather a clever grub kick from Alex Fogavini with the line at his mercy, and then co-centre James Heywood was tapped tackled just yards short of the line.

However Banbury pressure was finally rewarded when Fogavini gathered his own kick ahead to feed winger Alex Gandy for the opening try. The conversion was missed as was an earlier penalty. Following this setback the big Droitwich forwards began to dominate the game leaving the lively Banbury backs to live on scraps.

The Bulls cause was not helped when play-maker Fogavini had to leave the field for treatment to an ankle injury, and in his absence Droitwich took the lead with two penalties from Bobby Scott-Walker, but good defence kept the Banbury line intact despite conceding both territory and possession.

Trailing by a point at the break and facing the wind the Bulls appeared to have a mountain to climb, but with a limping Fogavini back on the field the Bulls, with their lighter forwards gaining the upper hand, especially in the loose where back row forwards Chris Phillips and man-of-the-match Simon Brand where particularly prominent, began to dominate both possession and territory.

The lead was regained with a Fogavini penalty and extended when good handling and ball retention allowed Chris Phillips to crash over for a try. Two further penalties from Fogavini was the reward for Banbury pressure, and with the game entering the final stages Banbury sealed the win with their third try touched down by Daniels after Fogavini made the initial break.

Droitwich did manage a consolation score when James Schwell forced his way over the line following a driving maul from a line out close to the Banbury line which was converted by Bobby Scott-Walker, but Banbury remained in control and would have been disappointed that they failed to score a fourth try which would have yielded a bonus point.

This was a most encouraging performance from the Bulls with the defence holding up well in the first half when they absorbed considerable pressure from the home side, and after the break dominating the remainder of the game with full back, David Taylor being particularly dangerous on the counter attack.