Banbury

Sils v Banbury

This week Sils entertained Banbury who had to make the early morning trip up the M40 to Copt Heath. This didn’t seem to affect them as they looked well up for the battle.
The first half started very energetically as both sides gave nothing away, Sils forwards were getting the upper edge at the scrums and working very hard at the breakdown. Not much in the way of clear chances were coming to either side with most the play inside the Banbury half, a few heated encounters came to nothing, but just added to what was turning into a great encounter. Half way through the first half came the breakthrough. A Banbury Penalty kicked to touch resulted in a knock on from the line and Sils took advantage at the scrum with the forwards taking full advantage, the ball being fed out along the backs to Hanni to score with Elliot converting. With Sils now in the driving seat the play continued within the Banbury half and the Sils backs were getting more of the ball a few knock on’s and penalties later and Mark found himself with the try line in site and made no mistake in forcing himself over the line to score in the corner, no Conversion.

Half Time 12 – 0

At the restart Banbury did not let things drop and looked more determined than ever to make sure they got themselves back into the game, putting constant pressure on the Sils backs, the forwards were still however battling hard to keep them at bay. Sils broke the pressure briefly with Nathan making a break down the wing, but for a good tackle from the Banbury Full back, with Sils giving away the penalty just inside the Banbury Half. With the Kick not reaching touch Mark collected and managed to clear the ball back up field only for Sils to then concede a penalty inside there 22. This fortunately came to nothing with Sils earning the scrum. Again the forwards were spot on winning the battle once again inside the Sils 22, with Banbury putting pressure on, Sils were forced to kick clear cross field straight into the hands of the Banbury centre who with acres of space fed the wing to score in the corner. No Conversion. Sils seemed to be at sixes and sevens and Banbury were now on top and as the first half Sils being camped in Banbury’s 22 the second half was the opposite with Sils struggling get hold of the ball. Sils were making errors along the backs that Banbury were punishing. A Sils scrum from a knock on was won and cleared to touch for a Banbury lineout. They fed the ball quickly along the line to break free again to score there 2nd, No Conversion. Sils looked at bit shell-shocked and it showed when Banbury broke the Sils defence again to score and take the lead for the first time in the match, No conversion. Sils found themselves in an unusual position of being behind with around 10 minutes of the game left to play. If they thought next weeks final was going to be tight this was going to be a great test to see what they could pull out the bag. From the restart it looked like the light bulb had come back on and Sils started pick up the pace a couple of penalties to Sils were keeping the pressure on and for the first time in the 2nd half the play was in the Banbury 22, the forwards were still working hard with success in the scrums, with the most crucial taking one against the head (not for the first time) leading to a penalty just outside the Banbury 22. The kick was good and this could mean only one thing the driving maul that has proved so successful over the season, the lift was perfect the maul was spot on and the try sublime as the driving maul went down over the line with the ball in Harri’s possession, something that the forwards coaches have worked on well and must get a great sense of satisfaction from and for nearly the whole team getting involved is just great to see and more importantly this one coming at such a crucial time in the game, no conversion. This now put Sils in the lead and they were not going to let slip again. They managed to keep control for the last few minutes before the whistle blew.

A tough test for Sils and a great game to watch.

We now move onto the Warwickshire cup final next week and wish all the lads the best of luck and hope they come back with a piece of silverware that they and the hard working coaches truly deserve.

Good Luck Lads…..

Full Time 17 – 15

RA.