Pictures - Banbury Bulls beat Buckingham to keep up 12-game winning run

Hat-trick of tries from Tom Burman helps secure all five points and keep the Bulls' title hopes on track
Tom BurmanTom Burman
Tom Burman

Pictures by Simon Grieve

Banbury made it 12 wins in a row with a gritty 12-24 victory over Buckingham, writes Alex Inch.

A hat-trick of tries from Tom Burman helped secure all five points and keep the Bulls title hopes on track. But it wasn’t one of their better displays.

James MillerJames Miller
James Miller

“It was a scrappy, typical game against Buckingham,” said head coach Matt Goode.

“We were slow to start and slow round the park. We need to massively improve if we want to win again next week when Chippenham come to Bodicote Park.

“We didn’t perform anywhere near to our best, so we made it really tough for ourselves.”

Buckingham have struggled for consistency this season, but any hopes of an easy victory for Banbury were dashed, with only a solo Tom Burman try separating the two teams at the half time whistle.

Tommy GrayTommy Gray
Tommy Gray

The game and the Bulls would improve for the second half though. Tom Burman added a second try when he gathered a Jack Briggs kick behind. James Miller converting.

Ian Isham was back for the Bulls, and he showed great power and determination to fight his way over the Buckingham try line midway through the second half.

Tom Burman completed his hat-trick shortly after when he dived over to seal a try bonus point for the Bulls and comfortably put Banbury in front.

Banbury would be reduced to 14 men for the final ten minutes after Ed Phillips was yellow carded and Buckingham took advantage of the extra man to add two late tries of their own. Dan Kemp and Phil Wright scoring near identical tries from close range to leave the score 12-24 at the full-time whistle.

Ian IshamIan Isham
Ian Isham

A tough day for all involved. A badly cutting up pitch made it a very muddy, scrappy game. Banbury were disappointed in their own performance but crucially added another five points to their total and kept the gap at the top of the table to the chasing teams.

The weekend brought another clean sweep for the club’s first, second and third teams.

The senior men’s section hasn’t lost a game since October 30, which Goode says shows where they are as a club.

“The boys want to play for the 2s and 3s,” he added. “They want to play for the badge. Against Buckingham 14 of the 18 again were Banbury youth products.

James HibbertJames Hibbert
James Hibbert

“We need to give credit to all the coaches at the club and the boys that turn out every week. To go that length of time and win all those games isn’t down to luck and the boys deserve a tonne of credit.”

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