Banbury closed to within three points of the league leaders Bracknell with a 19-54 victory versus Grove. Four players got a brace of tries each as well as a man of the match performance from James Hibbert helped secure victory!

After a weekend off Banbury were still forced into a number of changes. Joe Mills, Steve Potter and Doug Backhouse all made their first starts for the Bulls this season as Banbury dealt with injuries and unavailability.

Tommy Gray got Banbury off to the perfect start in the opening minutes. Joe Mills had a quick show and go before playing Tommy Gray through a gap in the Grove defence. Gray still had plenty to do but weaved his way through the defenders to score just to the right of the posts. Oscar Triggs converted, 0-7.

Almost immediately from the restart Angus Johnson increased the lead for Banbury. Spotting a gap in the opposition defence the big second-row was through and under the posts for an easy finish. Converted, 0-14.

Grove fought back though, figuratively, and literally. Dan Tooth was on the receiving end of a deliberate act to dislocate his finger and after the ensuing scuffle, Toothy was unlucky to be the only player yellow carded. The home side took advantage of the extra man with good work from their forwards to drive over. H Rooke touching down at the back of the pack. Conversion missed, 5-14.

No sooner were Banbury back up to a full XV, Tom Eyston was yellow carded for Banbury after making contact with the opposition fly-half trying to charge down a kick. Despite being a man down it was Banbury who were in control to finish the half. James Leonardi touching down at the back of a rolling maul for Banbury. Oscar Triggs converted to bring up the half-time whistle, 5-21.

Banbury regathered themselves for the second half and any tweaks that were made clearly worked as the Bulls were much improved after the break. The Banbury backs nearly combined for one of the tries of the season but were denied metres short. The Bulls recycled quickly though, and Tommy Gray chipped behind for James Leonardi to dive on the loose ball for his second score of the game. Converted, 5-28.

Grove got back into the game with a bizarre try of their own. Jacob Turner looked to have been tackled with his knees on the floor but rather than release the player the home side ripped the ball away, gathered and sprinted over. Cleverly playing to the whistle. Converted, 12-28.
Tom MacDonald was on for the second half, and he followed up a hat-trick for Oxford Brookes in the week with another try for Banbury. James Leonardi broke through the Grove line before throwing a beautiful out the back of the hand pass to MacDonald. With just the full-back to beat MacDonald weaved left and right before sprinting his way under the posts. Converted, 12-35.

Shortly after his first try, Tom MacDonald had a second. This time though all credit would have to go to Dan Tooth for the try. Toothy threw one of the best dummies you’ll ever hope to see, selling all the Grove defenders before breaking down the right wing. With one man to beat he quickly offloaded to Quinten Blythe who shipped the ball on to MacDonald who sprinted in untouched under the posts. Converted, 12-42.
Grove were awarded a penalty try when a 5m scrum looked like it was going to cross the line before collapsing. 19-42.

Angus Johnson added his second try of the afternoon when he scored in the left corner. James Hibbert showed great determination to break through the Grove defence and probably could just about have reached out for the line himself, but instead popped the ball to Johnson for his second try. Oscar Triggs perfect game with the boot finally came to an end when he pushed his conversion attempt wide. 19-47.

Tommy Gray finished the scoring for Banbury in the final seconds. Dan Tooth was at the heart of it again with a great run from deep before playing in Tommy Gray on his inside shoulder who dived over under the posts. Converted, 19-54.

The full-time whistle followed immediately afterwards. Considering the number of changes a very professional job from the Bulls. A scrappy first half was followed by a very impressive second. When the Bulls went through the phases, they looked very dangerous. James Hibbert was selected as Banbury’s Man of the Match. He carried brilliantly and constantly had the Bulls on the front foot. He also turned the ball over at some crucial moments when momentum looked like it might be shifting. This weekend the Bulls have got a massive game at home vs fellow promotion hopefuls Newbury Blues.

Match Stats:
Tries: Tommy Gray (2) Angus Johnson (2) James Leonardi (2) Tom MacDonald (2)
Conversions: Oscar Triggs (7)

Speaking to stand in coach, Ian Isham, after the game:

19-54, after a weekend off, that’s probably the result and performance you were looking for today wasn’t it?
“Yep. We wanted to come here and win. We ideally wanted a try bonus point, which we did. The game went pretty much how we expected it to. They’re a big physical team. We knew we’d have to front up and stick to our structures. If we stuck to our plan, we knew we’d get the result.”

It was a fairly scrappy first half but some really lovely rugby in that second. Was there anything said or tweaked to lead to that?
“We were fairly comfortable that if we had the ball then the chances would come. First fifteen, twenty minutes we did that really well and got two early tries. A couple yellow cards let them get back into the game a bit more. Gave them more time on the ball to play their game. We just had to retain that ball a bit more. Be patient with our chances when they came and not try to force it too much.”

Banbury have got a real tough run of fixtures coming up now. Is a big bonus point win the ideal preparation going into that?
“Definitely. Whilst I’m really happy with the win, we’re still picking up points where we can improve every week. Our standards are higher than what we saw in large sections of today. When we’re playing these top of the table teams, we’ll need to raise things to that next level, but today was definitely building in the right direction.”

James Hibbert was selected as Banbury’s Man of the Match today. Another young Banbury youth section product. They just seem to be getting better every game, don’t they?
“That was probably the hardest man of the match decision of the season. So many players performed well today. James was outstanding but I could easily have picked four or five other guys and they would have been totally deserved it. He carried well and tackled really well. Especially in that second half we really led the team in attack and defence.”

Finally, Newbury Blues at home next week. That’s going to be a big game for Banbury, isn’t it? You hoping we have a big Banbury crowd to drive you on?
“Absolutely, Newbury are a quality side. They’re up there as one of the promotion favourites. It’s always great to be back playing at home, especially after a few weeks away. It’s going to be a cracking match, but I always back the boys to get a result at home, especially when we’ve got that extra 16th man driving us on. Hopefully we get lots of people up to the club and we can get a good result.”