Banbury responded in the best possible way to last weekend’s defeat with a 69-5 victory over local rivals Buckingham. Four tries from Jack Anderson and a man of the match performance from Jacob Turner helped Banbury secure all five points.

The Bulls opened the scoring with a lovely break from their own half. Tommy Gray spotting a hole in the Buckingham defence before playing in Quinten Blythe who quickly moved the ball on to Jack Anderson who cruised over under the posts. James Miller converting, 7-0.

James Miller added Banbury’s second when he intercepted a loose pass from Buckingham on the halfway line. The fly-half still had plenty to do but held off the opposition full-back to score under the posts. Miller converted his own try, 14-0.

Quinten Blythe continued to show his fine form when he broke down a small gap on the right wing. With one man to beat Blythe played in Tom Eyston who sprinted his way down the wing for a score in the clubhouse corner. Conversion missed, 19-0.

Buckingham got their day started when Wiggy Gurney crossed following a lovely pre-set move. Unfortunately for the away side this would prove to be their only points of the afternoon as the conversion attempt went wide. 19-5.

Jacob Turner secured a try bonus point for Banbury before the end of the first half. Duncan Leese put a huge shot in on the halfway line which turned the ball over. Turner gathered and showed great pace to sprint over to the right of the posts. Converted, 26-5.

Dan Kirwin was yellow carded for Banbury just before the half time whistle for not rolling away quickly enough. The Bulls conceding far too many penalties despite being in control of the game.

Despite being a man down to start the second half it was Banbury who would extend their lead. Dan Brady found a big hole in the Buckingham defence to score an easy try under the posts. Converted, 33-5.

Dan Brady scored a second with arguably the try of the game. Tommy Gray went quickly from his own 22 and the backs showed fantastic skills and decision making to break the length of the pitch before Brady finished off the move under the posts. Converted, 40-5.

Jack Anderson also added his second try of the afternoon shortly after. This time Dan Brady would go from scorer to provider. The winger showed great footwork to step around his opposite man before chipping the ball through for Anderson to dive on over the line. Conversion missed, 45-5.

The Bulls were firing on all cylinders at this point and Jack Anderson would quickly add another try to bring up his hat-trick. Quinten broke down the right wing and picked the sensible option to play Anderson in on his inside shoulder for a simple finish. Conversion missed, 50-5.

The Banbury pack would get in on the action next with James Hibbert driving over at the back of a rolling maul. The forwards showing good skill and patience to work Hibbert in to scoring range. Conversion missed, 55-5.

Heads started to drop as the away side tired, but the Bulls kept up the pace all the way to the final whistle. Dan Brady showed off his incredible pace with another break down the left wing before drawing the last man and playing in Duncan Leese for an easy score. Converted, 62-5.

With seconds left, Jack Anderson scored his fourth try of the afternoon. Banbury won a scrum against the head and countered quickly. Anderson did brilliantly to break from deep in his own half to work his way under the posts for a final try of the afternoon. Ed Phillips converted to bring up the final whistle, 69-5.

A great bounce back performance from the Bulls. A very stop start game but when the Bulls had the ball, they always look dangerous. In defence they were fantastic and to limit Buckingham to only five points showed how impressive Banbury were. Jacob Turner was selected as Banbury’s Man of the Match. His solo try was fantastic but his overall work rate round the pitch was exceptional. He constantly had Banbury on the front foot. Special mentions to Jack Anderson who scored an incredible four tries, James Hibbert who carried and tackled superbly and Dan Brady who scored two and set up three more.

Match Stats:
Tries: Jack Anderson (4) Dan Brady (2) James Miller, Tom Eyston, Jacob Turner, James Hibbert and Duncan Leese.
Conversions: James Miller (5) Ed Phillips (2)

Speaking to Matt Goode after the game:
69-5, after last weekend’s loss, would you say that’s the perfect response?
“Great response, not quite the performance we wanted. Perfect response in the fact we’ve won and scored quite a few points, but we’ve still got things to improve. We’re getting better and better every week. We need to continue to keep improving if we want to be near the top at the end of the season.”

The young lads that have come in, have really impressed, they’re going to be a real force by the end of the season, aren’t they?
“We’ve had to make some changes, bring some of these young guys through but these youngsters are class. I think what we’re doing as a club is perfect. Bringing our youngsters through into the senior section. With three wins on the board and probably eighty percent of our players having come though the mini and junior section, that’s really impressive.”

Discipline another issue today, another yellow card, is that something that concerns you moving forward?
“When we’ve been analysing the video we’ve been looking at the technical and tactical side of things. Some of the real core elements of the game but I think this week definitely just looking at how we can reduce that penalty intake. It’s nothing cynical we’ve just got to be smarter as a team.”

James Anderson getting four tries and not getting man of the match is probably quite rare but Jacob Turner and James Hibbert getting joint man of the match, they were exceptional today, weren’t they?
“They were, they were everywhere, they took the ball forward, tackled on the front foot. You can’t do that without putting in the hard work. I think the pack as a whole were very, very good. Couple changes from last week but still hasn’t depleted our side. Jack to score four tries, that’s exceptional. Quinten didn’t score today but for the fourth week in a row he was fantastic. Look, we’re getting there, that’s what’s important as a squad.”

Chippenham away next weekend, what are you expecting from that game?
“I think the league table is very deceptive, they’ve lost a few but all narrowly. We know it’s a tough place to travel to. Every time we play them there’s usually only a few points in it. League position, none of that stuff matters. It’s extremely early in the season. I have no doubt they’ll come good soon and we’re expecting a tough game.”