PICTURES BY SIMON GRIEVE
Bulls staged a late comeback to extend their winning run, writes Alex Inch.
Banbury made it 15 wins in a row with a second-half comeback to beat Beaconsfield 16-21 in a physical encounter.
Their three try scorers were Jacob Mills, James Leonardi and Tommy Gray, with James Miller adding the conversions.
Mills finished off a fantastic team effort for the first one. Banbury went through phase after phase, patiently retaining the ball before finally finding their way through the Beaconsfield defence.
With the hosts 11-7 up at the interval and adding another try, Bulls found another gear for the final 20 minutes.
James Leonardi started the comeback when he crashed his way over from close range.
Tommy Gray gave Banbury the lead with a brilliant solo effort. Beaconsfield dropped a pass and Gray reacted quickest to kick the ball up field. He sprinted after his own kick and hacked the ball on and over the try line.
Gray plus two Beaconsfield defenders all dived for the ball but it was Gray who got to the ball first by the smallest of margins.
Banbury pushed for a fourth try which would give them a try bonus point but couldn’t break through the stubborn Beaconsfield defence before the full-time whistle.
“It was a better performance than the last few weeks, so I’m happy with that side of things,” said head coach Matt Goode.
“We came up against a really strong Beaconsfield side. They were physical, relentless for 80 minutes. Credit to them for an excellent game.
“The conditions were tricky, and we could have done more with them but it’s a testament to the boys that we’ve come away with another win and four more points. The performance was good.”
And playing in what should have been a blank week means no let-up in fixtures.
“It’s not been too bad,” said Goode. “It’s the little injuries and niggles where you want to give the boys a week off to rest up but actually, we’ve got a very good squad at Banbury at the moment.
“Our strength in depth has been crucial this season. There’s competition for places and even with some of the boys unavailable today we’ve still got a strong squad.
“Grove at home next week will be a tough contest as always. We’ll look at training how we’re going to approach that game and make sure the right squad is selected.
“We’re back at home for the first time in a while and we’re excited to play in front of our supporters again.”
