The match started right from the off on a dry but windy day. Syston took the lead with barely a minute on the clock catching the Bulls out moments into the match. The conversion was successful [7-0]. Next, it was the turn of the Bulls. After a steady next quarter of an hour, Quinten Blythe touched down in the corner. After an amazing run from James Hibbert, he unleashed the backs offloading a perfectly measured ball ending with Blythe with a great score. The conversion was unsuccessful [7-5]. The pendulum swung again moments later when Syston, from a penalty, kicked to the corner. From the resulting lineout the Bulls' defence was resolute, but off the next phase finding a gap they crossed the line in the corner. The conversion was successful [14-5]. The Bulls then used this to their advantage using the forwards to gather up steam in rolling maul where Kelvyn Togia continued his fantastic run of scoring while biding his time before bursting over the line. The conversion was unsuccessful [14-10]. In the final ten minutes of the half, the Bulls went down to fourteen with James Hibbert seeing yellow for a cover tackle adjudged to be high.

After a scrappy start for the Bulls, it was all to play for in the second half. In a very even game the hosts had the slender lead at the break.

Half Time - Syston 14-10 Banbury

The second half had a challenging start for the Bulls. With a quick onrushing press, Syston intercepted with an all-or-nothing charge that paid off with the Syston winger running in to score. The conversion was unsuccessful [19-10]. The Bulls opened their second-half account with a moment of brilliance from Joe Mills. From a quick-thinking move, he took a quick tap penalty to dart down over the line. The conversion was unsuccessful [19-15]. With a quiet third quarter after the Bulls scored, it was the final quarter that saw the conclusion acts of the match. First saw Banbury go ahead with another moment of brilliance, this time from Tommy Gray. With some brilliant footwork, Gray slipped out of two tackles navigating through Syston’s defence to touch down in the corner. The conversion was unsuccessful [19-20]. Next came Syston to have the final say on the match. From a knock-on by the Bulls from the restart, Syston regathered the ball to run on and score in an incredibly frustrating moment for the Bulls considering the hard work done to get ahead in the match. The conversion was unsuccessful [24-20].

On a disappointing but hard-fought afternoon at Barkby Road it was a tough loss for the Bulls. They had their chances to win on the day but an incredible performance from our hosts denied the victory. In a great contest and exciting match, the Bulls returned to the Graf with a losing bonus point and look forward to the rematch back at the Graf UK Stadium which is set to be an exciting match-up. The Bulls are back at home next week where we welcome another new club to the league in Nuneaton at the Graf UK Stadium.

Full Time - Syston 24-20 Banbury

Syston
Starting XV
15 Finlay Nockles; 14 Charlie Neale; 13 Morgan Wayte-McPherson; 12 Theo Mussell; 11 Micaal McFarlane; 10 Matthew Steward; 9 Adam Riley;
1 Matt Ferguson; 2 Angus Knight; 3 Calliul Colley; 4 Christian Mutch; 5 Robert Clay; 6 William Hutchings; 7 Jamie Skerritt; 8 Luke Stewart;

Replacements
16 Joshua Kilby; 17 William McGrath; 18 Austin Nevitt;

Banbury
Starting XV
15 Quinten Blythe; 14 Freddy Bunce; 13 Daniel Hale; 12 Gus Stapleton; 11 Charlie Cranley; 10 Tommy Gray; 9 Joseph Mills
1 James Leonardi; 2 Kelvyn Togia; 3 Quade Leo; 4 Jacob Turner; 5 Will Thurlow; 6 James Hibbert; 7 Matt Dandy; 8 Ed Berridge;

Replacements
16 Simon Bailey; 17 Jacob Drabble; 18 Sam Cox;