Delight for Banbury Bulls as they enjoy a memorable cup success

The Bulls, cheered on by a large contingent of supporters from Banbury, fought back from being behind at half-time to defeat West Bridgford 29-22 in the final.

Matt Goode had some selection headaches but largely kept faith in the same squad that had helped get Banbury to the final with Ian Isham, playing his last game before retiring from rugby, and James Leonardi both returned from injury.

After an even start, it was Banbury who took the lead when Semisi Lavulo spotted a gap in the defence and dived over with Oscar Triggs converting.

And they soon found themselves 14-0 up when Isham burst off the back of a rolling maul to score and Triggs, again, added the extras.

But West Bridgford fought back and, despite having Connor Mee yellow-carded for a late hit on Banbury’s James Hibbert, converted tries from Edan Kelly and Calum Gunn brought them level before Gunn kicked a penalty to make it 17-14 after the Bulls’ Tommy Gray, also playing his last game for the club, received a yellow for knocking the ball on whilst going for an intercept.

Goode’s half-time team talk looked to have worked as, despite being a man down at the start of the second half, Banbury regained the lead at 19-17 when Isham went over for his second of the game.

That advantage was extended to 26-17 when Sinamaki Tatofi sprinted out of defence and smashed the West Bridgford scrum-half, stealing the ball and staying on his feet to allow him to race in from 40m for a superb individual try.

Quinten Blythe kicked a penalty for the Bulls to make it 29-17 with a little over 15 minutes remaining and, although Leon Atherton was yellow-carded after he stopped West Bridgford from taking a quick penalty, their opponents could only ad a late consolation try through Alex Smit with the clock in the red.

The full-time whistle followed immediately after that and Banbury were able to celebrate their cup success, which came after they had secured safety in the league on the final day of the season.

The celebrations went on long into the evening and Banbury can now look forward to the 2023/24 campaign.