Banbury Inflict First Defeat Of The Season On Old Patesians !

Banbury Bulls produced a brilliant defensive display to beat Old Patesians who had won their last 18 games. Two tries from Matt Goode helped Banbury to a 15-5 victory.

DCS Stadium at Bodicote Park – Saturday 3rd February 2018

Match report by Alex Inch, photos by Simon Grieve

Ed Phillips kicked Banbury into an early 3-0 lead after Old Patesians were penalised for coming in at the side. Banbury had a sustained period of pressure in the Old Patesians half but couldn’t get the score their play deserved.

Matt Goode made the breakthrough for Banbury scoring a try on his return from injury. Banbury won a scrum 5 metres out. Ed Phillips found Sam Stoop who then passed to Matt Goode who was running a charging inside line. He smashed his way through the Old Patesians defence and dived over just to the right of the posts. Ed Phillips converted to give Banbury a deserved 10-0 lead. Darren Moore saw yellow for Old Patesians just before the half time whistle, tackling high and with the forearm.

Old Patesians started the second half strongly and were camped in Banbury’s 22. Despite some great defending from the Bulls, Old Patesians found their way through. Steffan Morgan made a great run before expertly offloading to Lee Hathaway who dived over in the corner. Old Patesians were off target with their conversion attempt but were back into the game 10-5.

Banbury responded brilliantly to conceding though. Jack Briggs nearly scored after a great break from Tommy Gray but was stopped narrowly short. Pete Boulton made a good run before offloading to Jack Briggs who was stopped in the corner again. Old Patesians handled the ball on the floor though resulting in a penalty to Banbury 5 metres out.

Banbury kicked for touch, Ian Isham found his target in the lineout, but the maul was pulled down immediately. Ed Phillips passed to Sam Stoop who played in Matt Goode in a near repeat of the try from the first half. Matt Goode picked his way though the Old Patesians line expertly before diving over for his second try of the game. Ed Phillips struck the post with his conversion attempt, but Banbury had increased the lead to 15-5.

Old Patesians desperately tried to get back into the game, producing their best rugby of the game but Banbury’s defence was equal to it. Old Patesians won a penalty after the 80 minutes were up and kicked for the posts in hopes of securing a losing bonus point but they pushed their kick wide. A brilliant victory for Banbury, it was always going to take something special to beat a team that had won all 18 games so far this season and Banbury pulled that off. 15-5 on paper doesn’t sound like a classic game but the standard of rugby was through the roof and Banbury’s efforts in defence were incredible. Chris Phillips was Banbury’s man of the match and he couldn’t have done more to epitomize that point, his work at the breakdown and tackling capped a brilliant performance.

Speaking to Matt Goode after the game:
“We’ve started to become a really good side now and the performances and attitudes of the players are coming on leaps and bounds. We’re working on little things in training and those little things as you can see today are working. The biggest thing now is to keep it going against Old Centralians.”

Maidenhead came here last year undefeated and you beat them, Old Patesians came here today undefeated as well, do you relish the extra challenge of taking down a big team? “Absolutely, we talked about that, it gives you fire, everyone wants to be top of the table. We had that in mind, but we also had that if we play our match right, if we’re intense in defence then we will win the game. Today’s performance shows why we’re right up there near the top of the table."

You’re known for playing running rugby and getting the ball wide but defensively you were brilliant today, is that the most pleasing thing as a head coach? "That’s what we focused on, we know we can score tries, we have lots of ways we can play. Since Christmas we’ve focused on our defence, today we kept them to 5 points so that’s a hell of a win."

Old Patesians looked nailed on for automatic promotion is that something you’re going for or is it simply about taking it one game at a time? “We want to continue playing well and if we win every game and we’re in the playoff then so be it. The club are looking at two options and what happens if we go up. The boys want to go up, they want to test themselves and they want to play. We’ll see what happens, if we keep playing like that, who knows?"

Old Centralians next week could make it 10 wins in a row, is that something you could have imagined at the start of the season? "We just keep playing, taking it one game at a time. We said we’ve got 3 games that are going to be hard, Old Patesians, Old Centralians and Oxford Harlequins. On Tuesday we’ll focus on Old Centralians, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are and go from there."

Banbury Try Scorers: Matt Goode (2)

Banbury line-up:

15. Tommy Gray (Sponsored by: Edd Frost & Daughters)
14. Joe Mills (Sponsored by: DTC International)
13. Jimmy Manley (Sponsored by: Godiva Insurance)
12. Matt Goode (Sponsored by: Hook Norton Crop Consultancy)
11. Josh Deegan (Sponsored by: Allsafe Scaffolding)
10. Sam Stoop (Sponsored by: H Colegrave & Son)
9. 'Fat' Ed Phillips (Sponsored by: P Montanaro – ITSM Consultancy)

1. Joe Winpenny
2. Ian Isham (Captain) (Sponsored by: Fieldcraft)
3. Pete Boulton (Sponsored by: BRUFC SAGA Department)
4. Kallum Dixey
5. Angus Johnson
6. Jacob Mills (Sponsored by: Hire Safe Solutions)
7. Matthew Powell
8. Chris Phillips (Sponsored by: Lorne Alway)

Replacements:

16. Ken Key (Sponsored by: Lockwoods Ski and Outdoor)
17. Sam Carr Archer
18. Jack Briggs