Match reporting by Chris Phillips.

On a bright afternoon Banbury were looking to put last week’s loss to Leamington behind them. Head Coach James Kerr made changes to the starting line up as Nick Pratt came back into the second row, Sam Mills in the back row and brother Joe Mills at full back.

The opening exchanges were slightly disjointed as both teams looked to find their rhythm. It was the home side that did first. A good platform at the scrum saw Josh Deegan break the line after a well worked backs move. Sam Ridgeway was on hand to take the final pass as Deegan crossed the 22 and scored under the posts, Phillips converted to make it 7-0. Soon after Phillips added a Penalty to take Banbury to a 10-0 lead.

Banbury dominance was starting to show as Malvern struggled to get a foot hold, this was interrupted as Mickey Fox received a yellow card or an infringement at the breakdown. Luckily for Banbury they kept a strong defence during this period as they repelled several threatening Malvern attacks. Another yellow was shown before the break, this time to the Malvern loose head for an infringement at the scrum. Banbury used this period to keep the scoreboard ticking at 16-0 with two more Phillips penalties, and that was how the half ended.

Malvern started the second half stronger and took the game to Banbury, breaching the 22 on several occasions. Banbury were all but taken by surprise at the strength of the Malvern attacks and a scrambling defence only succeeded in giving up a penalty try for tackling the man off the ball, 16-7 as the try was converted.

Banbury kept defending but missed tackles allowed Malvern to gain ground in the 22 again. This time Banbury held strong and countered through Phillips, whose break lead to a chip over the top into space, with Jed Boyle (pictured) winning the foot race to get the score. Phillips converted to make it 23-7 to the Bulls.

Malvern replied well as Richard Fleming made a strong run in midfield and shrugged off a couple of would be tackles. Chipping over the last defender he gathered his own kick to score a very neat try, duly converted. 23-14.

Banbury continued to attack and were rewarded, as Malvern’s defensive line was laid low by injury allowing Boyle to cruise over for his second. Banbury punched holes in the Malvern midfield and recycled the ball well in the 22 to allow to be shipped down the line where Boyle had more than enough room to cross the line. Phillips converted to make the score 30-14 at the final whistle..

A good performance from a Banbury getting them back to winning ways. Next Saturday sees a break in league action as the Bulls travel to Grove for their first round in the Oxfordshire Cup.