Banbury maintained their lead at the top of the table with a 57-14 victory over Chippenham. Man of the match performances from Tom Burman and George Ding helped secure all the points for the Bulls.

Matt Goode was disappointed in Banbury’s performance last week but after a big week at training, largely showed faith in the same squad from the previous game.

The Bulls immediately started on the front foot and had two tries in the opening five minutes to take control of the game. Jack Briggs broke through the Chippenham defence but was stopped short of the goal line. As the defenders retreated Dan Brady managed to find his way over in the corner. James Miller off target with the conversion. 5-0.

From the restart the away side kicked deep, but the Banbury backs ran it back at pace. Dan Brady chipped behind and Joe Mills showed great footballing skills to keep the ball moving and over the try line before scoring. Converted, 12-0.

Dan Brady picked up a second try of the afternoon when he finished off a nice backs move in the opposite corner following a lineout. Conversion missed, 17-0.

Tom Burman showed great skill to find his way through the Chippenham line and as the covering defence closed, he played in Quinten Blythe on his outside shoulder for the easy run and score under the posts. Converted, 24-0.

Straight from the restart the Bulls attacked again. Tom Eyston and Tom MacDonald exchanging multiple passes as they broke down the left wing. As Eyston was finally brought down the backs switched play to the opposite wing before Jack Briggs chipped behind for Quinten Blythe to pick up his second try of the afternoon. Converted, 31-0.

Quinten Blythe completed a first half hat-trick when he crossed in the right hand corner. Oscar Triggs offloading out the back of his hand to leave Blythe one on one with opposite man before showing great footwork to sneak his way over. Conversion missed, 36-0.

Chippenham started the second half much brighter than the first. Nathaniel Parkes drove over from close range to get the away side on the scoreboard. Kalif Barnes adding the extras. 36-7.

Some good running and some poor tackling allowed Chippenham to score a second try of the game. Ben Thyer breaking down the right wing before finishing off close to the posts. Converted, 36-14.

Tom Burman shut down any hopes of a comeback with a fantastic solo try of his own. Breaking a tackle close to the halfway line before showing brilliant footwork and pace to escape the covering defence and score under the posts. Converted, 43-14.

Burman would add another to bring up the 50 points for Banbury. Tom MacDonald broke a good 40m before finally being brought down, but as the defence retreated Burman cut his way through the opposition players for another try under the posts. Converted, 50-14.

Banbury would finish the game with 14 men after Oscar Triggs was yellow carded for going off his feet. Triggs unlucky to be the man who conceded the penalty after the Bulls were put on a final warning. Despite being a man down the Bulls still found time for one more score before the final whistle. Dan Brady completing his hat-trick with some lovely footwork and pace to speed past his opposite man and dive over close to the posts. James Miller converting to leave the score 57-14 at the full-time whistle.

A much-improved performance from the Bulls compared to last weekend. Some early injuries for Chippenham led to some rejigging of positions but Banbury stuck to their patterns and broke the defence down well. There were two men of the match, George Ding and Tom Burman. George Ding worked hard all game and almost certainly led the tackle count for the Bulls. Contesting breakdowns and generally being a nuisance for opposition players all afternoon. Tom Burman was also selected for a fantastic attacking performance. Every time he had ball in hand, he looked dangerous. He scored two tries but he set up plenty more.

Match Stats:
Tries: Dan Brady (3) Quinten Blythe (3) Tom Burman (2) Joe Mills
Conversions: James Miller (6)

Speaking to Matt Goode after the game:
57-14, you weren’t happy with last week’s performance. Were you pleased with what you saw today?
“I was happy with the first half performance. Second half we dropped off a bit but overall, pretty good. To score 50 points is always a good result. I thought we were a lot better at the breakdown today. Got that penalty count down and made the game a lot easier for ourselves. It was a tough game against Buckingham, and we identified the mistakes we made and we started to rectify that today. We had a good video session on Tuesday. We know where we need to improve. We’ve still got things to sort out five points is great.”

Nine tries today, all from the backs. They’re all young and full of confidence at the moment, aren’t they?
“I actually thought the forwards out played the backs today so for the backs to score all those tries is brilliant. What’s the old saying. The forwards win you games and the backs decide by how much. It’s the perfect cliché today. The forwards were fantastic. It takes a team effort to play like that though.”

There’s a really special atmosphere here at the moment isn’t there? It’s a couple hours after the game and you’ve still got a couple hundred people here. You’ve got Alfie Barbeary, the same week he’s been selected in the England Squad coming down to watch the game and be a part of the club. The togetherness is fantastic, isn’t it?
“The club has been building momentum for a while now. I’ve been back here seven years now and we’ve come a long way. We know how special this club is. To have someone like Alfie come through our youth section and now be in the England squad is amazing. We hope he gets a cap in this 6 Nations. What a phenomenal achievement that would be. For him to be here, part of this club is what it’s all about. We’re a family. So many of the boys at the club have come through our youth section. It’s what this club is all about.”

Finally, Frome away next weekend. Long old away day that one. What are you expecting from the game?
“They were really good here. We need to make sure we get our selection right for that game. We need to be switched on. We need the boys to be ready and fully fit. The second team have got a really hard game at home as well. We need to make sure they’ve got a fit and firing squad. There’s 50+ signed up for a lunch for our second team game. It’s fantastic. That speaks volumes for where we’re at as a club at the moment.”