Match Report by Alex Morris

Banbury Lions 2nd XV travelled away to play Wheatley Outlaws in a weather-rearranged league fixture. The combination of an unscheduled game and injuries to first teams meant that there was opportunities for both teams to blood new players.

Amongst those making their first appearance in BBO2N was Bradley Andrew, who stepped gamely into the role of prop and held his own throughout. He was joined in the front row by mobile hooker Ethan Gudge and the sizeable experience of Joe Castle. The back five of the scrum was an exciting mixture of youth and power. Man of the match Toby Chapman put in a tireless shift in the second row, alongside debutant Matt Cooper. The loose forward trio of Alex Nicholls, Benn Brock and James Ford deserve credit for their work-rate around the park against a larger and more experienced pack. The forwards battle was an arm-wrestle for the full 80, with Wheatley working hard to disrupt the set-piece and breakdown, but this parity set the platform for the backs to be uncaged.

Matt Bone played the role of ringmaster from scrum half, and was partnered at out-half by captain for the day Alex Morris. In the centres, the combination of Dicky Phillips and Jamie Bowen was ferocious in attack and defence. The ever-dangerous trio of Oscar Gudge, Josh Reynolds and Robbie Cooke made up the back three.

The backs got the meat on the day, with four tries coming in the first half. The first of which came from slick handling out the backdoor, which freed Cooke on the outside who deftly dribbled ahead of the last man to pounce on the ball and score. The next came from the counterattack, with a spilled ball preyed on by Morris who roared away before unleashing Reynolds who stepped inside and unselfishly offloaded to Gudge who touched down in the corner. The third was built on the raw strength of Chapman, who carried several defenders towards the line before managing to slip the ball free for Matt Bone to majestically score his first try in Banbury colours. The bonus-point score saw Jamie Bowen dot down under the posts after running an unstoppable line, making up for crossing the whitewash but failing to score earlier in the half.

In the second period the Lions were de-clawed, with Wheatley causing problems with continuity from their dogged refusal to succumb to the constant Banbury pressure. The game got disjointed with a series of injuries to vital ball-carriers that saw Russell White come on to steady the scrum and Dan Tolley to add speed on the outside. Again, a solid scrum led to quick ball for the backs, reaching Cooke in space who dummied and raced away to solidify the win with the fifth try, converted by Morris to make the final score-line 29-0 to the visitors.

Coach Paul Handley said of the victory: “I have a lot of pride in the boys, with some of them playing their first fixture at this level. We had the belief we could come here and win with a bonus point to keep the Lions at the front of the pack in the league. Next week is a massive game for the Lions, with another 5 points cementing them as the kings of the jungle that is BBO2N.”