The Nuns traveled to Oxfordshire on Saturday for a first league meeting with Banbury on a fine autumn day. Looking to get back on track after last weekend’s defeat, the Nuns made a couple of changes to the side and came away with a try bonus point through four tries from Travis Bennett-Allcock, Mike Volaikisuva and a Martin Wood Brace. Joe Wilson added two conversions and struck the post with one to leave the final score 42-24 to Banbury.

The Nuns got the first score of the game in the 5th minute when, playing with a penalty advantage, a Wilson kick to the corner bounced favourably and Bennett-Allcock got the final touch out wide but the conversion was unsuccessful, 0-5.

A few minutes later and the Nuns picked up their first yellow card of the day. Ryan Preston was judged to have made a neck roll in a tackle so was sent to the sin bin and then after pressure from the resulting penalty the home fly half dummied through a gap to score by the posts and then convert his try to give a 7-5 lead after 11 minutes.

The hosts extended their lead in the 18th minute, from a scrum on half way their centre broke through the first line of defence and then they kept the ball alive to score a converted try to lead 14-5.

The Nuns came back on 22 minutes when, from a 5m scrum, Wood picked and got the ball down. Wilson added the conversion leaving the score 14-12.

The half then played out with both sides having a share of possession and territory but the next points didn’t come until the final play of the half.

A penalty on half way was kicked to the corner and when the line out was secured Kirby and Volaikisuva exploited the short side to score in the corner. Wilson’s conversion came back off the upright leaving the half time score 14-17 to the Nuns.

The second half started with Banbury on the front foot. The Nuns conceded possession near half way and then after a line break they moved the ball from one side to the other in the Nuns 22m to score out wide. With the conversion successful the score was now 21-17 after 45 minutes.

The lead changed hands for the fifth time when Wood added his second try in the 54th minute. The Nuns turned the ball over on half way and then after a couple of phases Wood picked a sharp line from just outside the 22m to cut through the defence and then over the top of the home full back to score, Wilson's conversion made it 21-24.

But when the Nuns didn’t clear their lines from the kick off they put themselves under pressure. From a scrum, Banbury recycled the ball through a couple of quick phases and crossed out wide for another converted try, 28-24 after 56 minutes.

After defending manfully at times having had another yellow card the Nuns conceded a fifth try on 69 minutes. Unable to clear their lines effectively with the boot the home side scored to take a 35-24 lead. The Nuns picked up a third yellow card in the process.

The final act of the game saw Banbury score their 6th try when they countered another loose Nuneaton clearance kick to score by the posts leaving the final tally 42-24.

This was a performance that had a lot of improvements form the Bridgnorth game from the squad but a mixture of some costly errors and not getting the rub of the green at times left the side with just one bonus point at the end.

Huw Thomas’s thoughts after the game “The effort and at times some of our play was where we know we can be today. We have a few lads carrying bumps and niggles at the moment which is just hampering our progress at training and on a weekend but I was a lot happier with what we showed today. With 70 minutes gone we could still have been in with a chance of today’s game and a few things have gone against us as well which is frustrating. I don’t feel that the final score line was a true reflection of what happened on the pitch but we must continue to prepare hard and go again as it doesn’t get any easier.”

1 James Redman 2 Louis Addleton 3 Ben Dawes 4 Ben Haywood 5 James Moreton 6 Rudi Reid 7 Arron Skyrme 8 Martin Wood 9 Ben Kirby 10 Joe Wilson 11 Travis Bennett-Allcock 12 Ryan Preston 13 Harry Beverley 14 Tak Chawadya 15 Mike Volaikisuva; 16 Ryan Marsh 17 Tom Aherne 18 Lucas Brindley