Bericote Road, Leamington - Saturday 7th March 2015

Match report by Ed Phillips, action photos by Simon Grieve

OL's won the toss and elected to play with the wind in the first half and tried and put the Bulls under pressure. The plan got off to the perfect start with OL's getting the first try through some poor line speed and a couple of missed tackles by the Banbury defence. They soon came hard at the visitors again, who conceded a penalty which OL's converted to add their 7-0 lead to put them 10 ahead.

Banbury were inconsistent in the first half, knowing they needed to keep hold of the ball and starve OL's on possession while the conditions favoured the home side, they failed to do so with lots of uncharacteristic handling errors. In the brief period they did manage to keep hold of the ball OL's infringed which gave Banbury field position, which they managed to turn into a scruffy try that was well finished by veteran Matt Brock. Phillips was off target into the wind.

While Banbury 's continuity with ball in hand didn't improve before the break, their defence did, and they were able to go into half time only five points behind.

The Bulls didn't need telling what they had done wrong in the first half, but they did need to put things right. OL's helped Banbury's case with two kickable penalties early in the second half, the second earning 10 mins in the sin bin. Phillips kicked them both to put Banbury 1 point ahead at 11-10 .

Banbury coach James Kerr tinkered with the backs line up, moving skipper Phillips to outside half and Joe Mills to 9, this had an immediate affected with Seamus O'Dwyer scoring on the left taking advantage of the numerical advantage, Phillips added the extras.

Banbury's third try saw them at their best in open play. As OL's had a rare break into The Bulls 22, Phillips tracked back to tackle and strip the OL's open side in one movement and feed Boyle, who counter attacked down field, he exchanged passes with Deegan, and stepped past the full back reaching the line under the posts to give his skipper the easiest of conventions which he slotted to make the score 25-10.

Both teams pushed hard to try and claim a bonus point, but with this the rugby deteriorated again and the game finished 25-10 to Banbury who will be disappointed to miss out on the bonus point but will be happy if not relieved that they turned the game.