Bulls must be ready if they stay the course

Head coach Matt Goode says his Banbury Bulls squad is good enough to get promoted.
Banbury Bulls' Matthew Powell hands off Chippenham's Will Waddington at the DCS StadiumBanbury Bulls' Matthew Powell hands off Chippenham's Will Waddington at the DCS Stadium
Banbury Bulls' Matthew Powell hands off Chippenham's Will Waddington at the DCS Stadium

But Goode admits the club would need to strengthen if they do go up and that is something which would be addressed in the summer.

Any talk of promotion has been put off during the first half of the Wadworth 6X South West One campaign but, back up to second place following five wins on the spin, Bulls are right back in contention.

Goode said: “We know we’ve got a good enough squad to get promoted.

“Would we be strong enough for the next level? Probably not so we would have to bring in a few more players.

“But that is something the club would need to look at if we got into that position. Before the start of this season, the committee had three plans in place, one if we got relegated, another if we remained in this division and the third if we got promoted.

“We don’t want to look too far ahead, obviously we want to win every game and see where that takes us at the end of the season.”

Matthew Powell and Tommy Gray are unavailable for Saturday’s trip to Grove but Goode said: “We’re going to look at how we beat them in the reverse fixture, it’s not a foregone conclusion.

“We’ll make some changes and pick the best team I think will beat them.

“Some players will be rested and others who need 80 minutes rugby will come in.

“It will be a different type of challenge at Grove and we’ve got to adapt to that.

“We’ve got several patterns of play which we can utilise in any game. As a coaching team, we’re delighted with the way the players have taken these new ideas on board.”