Banbury stayed top of the league with a 67-20 win vs Marlborough in an entertaining contest. A man of the match performance from Ed Phillips helped secure all five points.

The Bulls were without the services of Quinten Blythe and Dan Tooth who were playing on opposite sides in a Coventry vs Army friendly fixture. Pete Boulton returned to the starting line-up and Joe Mills had recovered from a hamstring injury. Sadly, in the week off Tom MacDonald suffered a broken fibula playing for Oxford Brookes and will now miss out on the rest of the season.

For the fourth game in a row, it was windy but dry at kick off, but compared to recent games the conditions were much more manageable. The Banbury pack got the Bulls off to the perfect start when they drove James Hibbert over for a rolling maul try in the opening minutes. Ed Phillips had the kicking duties but pushed his first conversion attempt wide. 5-0.

Marlborough returned with three points from the kicking tee after Banbury were penalised for not rolling away. The Banbury forwards were back at it though and drove a second rolling maul over, this time the captain, Ian Isham, driving over. Converted, 12-3.

Ed Phillips kicked another penalty to keep the scoreboard ticking over and make it a 15-3 lead. Marlborough enjoyed a period of possession at the restart and scored a try of their own after Banbury got drawn into some scrappy broken play. Siaosi Feaomefiui scoring to the left of the posts. Converted, 15-10.

Joe Mills extended the lead for Banbury when he gathered a chip behind from James Miller to score in the corner. Conversion missed, 20-10.
Marlborough’s afternoon got harder when they picked up two yellow cards within a minute of each other. First Lemeki Moala jumped headfirst over a ruck to recklessly take out Ed Phillips as he attempted to retrieve the ball. Then Will Grant joined his teammate on the sidelines for ten minutes when he lost his head and put in a needless late shot on Ed Phillips as well.

Banbury took full advantage of the numerical advantage with three quick tries. First Callum Horne spun his way over after the Bulls stole a lineout. After the break Tommy Gray cut his way through the defence with some lovely feet to put Banbury in full control, 34-10. Ed Phillips added another when Tom Burman gathered a knock on and played in Ed on his inside shoulder for an easy try. Converted, 41-10.

Marlborough were back up to a full XV, but Banbury kept scoring. Jacob Mills pounced on a loose ball, and he got the ball out to the backs to release Dan Brady for an easy try. Converted, 48-10.

James Leonardi’s afternoon came to an abrupt end when he was red carded midway through the second half. Leonardi’s shoulder making contact with the head of the opposition player.

It took the Bulls a little bit of time to pick themselves up after the red card and Marlborough took advantage to drive over from close range. Patrick Campbell scoring to the right of the posts. Conversion missed, 48-15.

Banbury regrouped well though and added three more tries despite being a man down. Ian Isham scored his second try of the game after peeling off a rolling maul in the clubhouse corner. Dan Brady found a gap and he offloaded to Jack Briggs for an easy score under the posts. Angus Johnson then added another when he went over in the clubhouse corner as well. Jack Briggs and James Miller putting in a brilliant double hit to force a knock on and release Johnson for the try. Ed Phillips converted two out of the three to make it 67-15.

Bradley Whatley picked up a late consolation try for Marlborough to leave the score 67-20 at the full-time whistle.

A great afternoon for the Bulls. Banbury did well to break down a defence mostly looking to put big shots in and exploited the poor discipline from the away side to control possession and territory. A real variety in the tries scored with the whole team clicking well and nine different try scorers. Next week the Bulls travel to Oxford Harlequins, we hope you can join us!

Match Stats:
Tries: Ian Isham (2) James Hibbert, Joe Mills, Callum Horne, Tommy Gray, Ed Phillips, Dan Brady, Jack Briggs, Angus Johnson
Penalties: Ed Phillips (1)
Conversions: Ed Phillips (7)

Speaking to Matt Goode after the game:
67-20, is that one of the performances of the season so far?
“It was a great performance. We took onboard the things we’ve been working on at training. We set ourselves some goals and executed our plan really well. 1-18 all played their part today. There wasn’t a standout individual try, it was a very good team performance. The tries were good, great support lines and work rate.”

Pretty feisty one out there today. Was it important to stay focused and not get drawn into a scrappy game?
“I thought it was definitely scrappy at times. I thought the referee managed the contest really well. Two early yellow cards for them was definitely the right thing to do. He wasn’t afraid to make big decisions and it helped settle the game down. It turned the focus back on to playing rugby. Our pace and work rate were exceptional. I think our intensity frustrated them.”

Oxford Harlequins next week, 1st vs 2nd, big week training and them some selection headaches for you we imagine?
Definitely some selection headaches. We’ve had some big injuries recently and the red card today hasn’t helped but our squad is incredibly good. It doesn’t really matter about 1st vs 2nd, its another game. It’s great to have local derbies and work the hype up a bit but for me it’s another game of rugby. We’re going to play our game. We’re not going to change much for training. We know Quins are a good side. They’re coached very well. We need to make sure we perform to the best of our abilities and at the end of the day the best team will win.

5 games left this season, at the moment the title is in your own hands. Is it easier setting the pace at the top or is their less pressure being the teams chasing?
“Statistically you’ll always say it’s best to be at the top. Mentally it can be harder. We just want to improve as a team. The league table at the end of the season will show who the best team is. Yes, we’d love to win the league, that is our goal. But really, we just want to keep improving, keep up our intensity, keep our boys getting better. That’s what we’re about. We want to keep our players getting better on and off the pitch. Quinten Blythe is playing for Coventry in a friendly against the Army today. Dan Tooth is in the Army squad as well. We want to see these boys pushing to play at the highest standards they can. It’s what we’re about as a club.”