Banbury started like a herd of dysfunctional donkeys; Stags appeared so embarrassed at the incompetence of their opponents and the amount of ball they were winning at will, they ended up doing nothing with it.

At least one try should have come from this early dominance but all Stags could manage was a Charlie Cook penalty.

The inevitable then happened.  Banbury pulled themselves partly together, Stags missed some tackles, kicked aimlessly, continued to take wrong options, conceded turnovers and finished the first half 13 – 3 down.

This was probably too great a deficit to claw back and so it proved.  Qeuntin Minnaar ran powerfully in the centre,  Eliot Baldwin was as industrious as ever over 80 minutes, the line out was secure, once again the opposition was out-scrummaged and two tries, from Tom Beattie and Matt Davies-Binge were scored.

These positives were neutralised by too many lapses of concentration, the sacrificing of territorial gain in favour of unproductive quick penalties, the spurning of three points in front of the posts and a yellow card towards the end of the match.

The try tally ended 5 to 2 in Banburys favour.

There is no league match this Saturday (the 18th) though the second XV are at home to St. Ives.  The next league game, also at home, is on the 25th, kick off 2.15 p.m. against Northampton Mens Own who have yet to win this season.  Stags supporters will expect a convincing win that day.

Damo's Man of the Match: