Solid victory against Frome sees Banbury Bulls into second spot

Ed Phillips scores one of his two tries in Banbury’s victory over Frome which sees them second in the table Picture by Simon Grieve

Banbury kept themselves in the promotion hunt with a convincing 45-12 victory against Frome. A brace of tries for Jacob Mills and Ed Phillips as well as a man of the match performance from Tom Eyston helped the Bulls secure victory, writes Alex Inch.

It was another solid showing from the young Bulls squad who will want to be more clinical in the upcoming games but will enjoy a weekend off sitting second in South West 1 East.

Prop Eyston started this season in fine form and his constant work rate has had huge impacts in attack and defence.

Although it was a bit of a scrappy game, Bulls’ head coach Matt Goode said there was a mix of brilliant and frustrating rugby.

“The forwards were great, they were great last week. We knew Frome had some big lads and they’d be strong in the set piece. But overall, we played well as a team. We’re continually improving. We’re trying new things, it’s still early in the season and we’re building up that cohesion.”

And Goode is proud of the club both on and off the pitch.

“On the pitch the boys all play for each other. Off the pitch we get great support. Our sponsors are unbelievable, they help in so many ways.

“I’m immensely proud what we do off the pitch. There was a comment this week that we’re not just a rugby club. We try and see positives in everything. The main thing for me is we’re not developing rugby players, we’re developing people.”

Bulls’ next game is at bottom side Grove on October 23.

“We’ve got a week off, so we’ll rest the boys up. Grove is always hard place to go to.

“It would be great if we could pick up five points. I’ll pick a team based on recent performances and we’ll work on a gameplan to try and get another win.”