Bodicote Park - Saturday 3rd November 2013

Match reporting by Bob Mitchelmore.

At a windswept Bodicote Park the Bulls bounced back from the disappointment of their narrow defeat to league leaders, Earlsdon, the previous week with a victory that on the final scoreboard looked to be comfortable but in truth was anything but.

With the strong wind blowing directly down the pitch the conditions were bound to have a great influence on the game and it was Banbury who had the wind at their backs in the first half. They were on the scoreboard after ten minutes when a period of pressure inside the Kidderminster 22 yielded a penalty which was quickly taken by skipper, Eddie Phillips, who put brother Chris in for the try, which was converted by Alex Fogavini.

Handling errors in the difficult conditions allied to a stout Kidderminster defence restricted Banbury to a brace of Fogavini penalties, and with half time looming a thirteen point lead looked to be insufficient, but having spurned a two man overlap play was brought back for a late tackle on Fogavini which forced the fly half from the field, but skipper Phillips stepped up to convert the penalty to give Banbury a sixteen point cushion at the break.

Kidderminster, now with the advantage of the elements, sensed that they were still in the game and the Banbury defence was placed under increasing pressure, but whereas last week some of the tackling was found wanting lessons were learned and with the back row trio of Seamus O'Dwyer, Chris Phillips and Simon Brand to the fore the Kidderminster were held at bay until finally with Nick Pratt in the sin bin a quickly taken penalty close to the Banbury line allowed George Morgan to score.

Crucially the straitforward conversion was missed still leaving Kidderminster much to do, and with the Banbury defence still holding firm the Bulls gradually raised the siege to establish field position in the Kidderminster half and were rewarded when good handling and ball retention created an overlap for O'Dwyer to score in the corner.

With the game entering the final stages a fitter Banbury side continued to put the Kidderminster defence under pressure and winger Alex Gandy scored with another fine finish to make the game safe.

This was an encouraging performance from the Bulls with the young front row of Garry Byott, Brett Richmond and Micky Fox providing a solid foundation in the tight and contributing fully in the loose.

The win also consolidated the Bulls in the top half of the table, but they will face another challenging game next week away at local rivals Leamington.