Banbury made it 12 wins in a row with a gritty 12-24 victory over Buckingham. A hat-trick of tries from Tom Burman held secure all 5 points and keep the Bulls title hopes on track.

The Bulls made only 3 changes from the team that beat Bracknell last weekend. Will Thurlow and George Ding coming in for the injured Callum Horne and unavailable Angus Johnson. Jack Briggs replaced Duncan Leese at centre. After suffering a nasty concussion in the final seconds last week, Duncan Leese will take some time away from the game to rest and recover. The latest in a sadly long list of head injuries for Duncan. We wish him a full and speedy recovery.

Buckingham have struggled for consistency this season but any hopes for an easy victory for Banbury were soon extinguished after an even 0-0 opening 20 minutes. Banbury failing to turn territory into points. With the pitch cutting up badly it quickly became apparent that this wasn’t going to be a rugby classic.

The home side missed a chance to take the lead when they pushed a penalty wide of the posts and eventually after plenty of hard work the Bulls, they finally got the first points of the afternoon. James Miller linking up well with Tom Burman to release the latter through a half gap before he drove his way through two men and over the Buckingham try line. Miller pushed his conversion attempt wide, 0-5.

Sadly, for the large Banbury following they would prove to be the only points in the opening 40 minutes of the game.

The good news was that the second half could only be an improvement from the first and this did indeed prove to be true. Banbury extending their lead early on with Tom Burman collecting a Jack Briggs kick behind to dive over under the posts for his second try of the afternoon. Converted, 0-12.

Banbury would continue to control the game and Ian Isham put the Bulls further in front when he drove his way over from close range. The Banbury pack had a lineout close to the Buckingham try line and as the resulting driving maul started to slow, Isham picked his moment perfectly to burst off the back and drive his way over the try line. Converted, 0-19.

Tom Burman sealed his hat-trick mid-way through the second half. Chris Davies found himself out on the wing following a turnover and whilst he was stopped short of the try line, he did manage to find Burman on his inside shoulder for an easy score and a try bonus point for Banbury. Conversion missed, 0-24.

Ed Phillips got 10 minutes in the sin-bin late on after the stand in captain was punished for Banbury’s high penalty count. Buckingham would take advantage of the extra man to run in two late tries just before the final whistle. Dan Kemp and Phil Wright scoring near identical tries from close range to leave the score 12-24 at the full-time whistle.

Certainly not a game that will live too long in the memory. You could sense in the immediate aftermath of the game the Bulls were disappointed in their performance. Not every week will be smooth sailing though and Banbury’s record and points total this season highlights what a fantastic year the boys are having. 5 points on the road, winning ugly is the thing you need to do sometimes if you want to win titles and at the end of the season those 5 points could be the crucial difference at the top. The Bulls will look to respond next week with an improved performance at home vs Chippenham. George Ding and Tom Eyston were selected as Banbury’s men of the match. It was a tough game and running through the soft ground required drive and determination, something these two had in abundance all game.

Match Stats:
Tries: Tom Burman (3) Ian Isham
Conversions: James Miller (2)

Speaking to Matt Goode after the game:

12-24, it wasn’t pretty at times but it’s another 5 points. What are your thoughts on that game?
“It was a scrappy, typical game against Buckingham. We were slow to start and slow round the park. We need to massively improve if we want to win again next week. I think there was a bit of a high after beating a top four team like Bracknell but then some arrogance to just think we could turn up here and win. Buckingham, we know are a strong set. We didn’t perform anywhere near to our best, so we made it really tough for ourselves.”

I know it’s tough to pick yourself up after a game like that but is that what you have to do sometimes if you want to try and win the title. Win ugly, get the points and move on to next week?
“Possibly, but if we come up against a more technical side, we could easily come unstuck. A champion side will blow teams away and we didn’t do that and we’re lucky to get five points today. It’s about mindset and playing to your potential. You won’t be perfect every time. Defensively we were solid, disappointed at those late tries but overall solid. But individually we tried too much. We needed to go back to our patterns, play the phases.”

Chippenham at home next weekend. It was a narrow three-point win at their place earlier in the season. You expecting another close encounter back at Bodicote Park?
“They’re another tough team like Buckingham. They’ve got nothing to lose and will want to beat us at our place. We can’t let that happen. I don’t think they like us very much and we need to make sure mentally we’re in the game from the very start.”

Finally, on a positive note. Another clean sweep for the 1s 2s and 3s. The senior men’s section hasn’t lost a game since October 30th. Is that stat slightly mind blowing to you?
“It shows where we are as a club. The boys want to play for the 2s and 3s. They want to play for the badge. 14 of the 18 again today are Banbury youth products. We need to give credit to all the coaches at the club and the boys that turn out every week. To go that length of time and win all those games isn’t down to luck and the boys deserve a tonne of credit.”