The Nuns welcomed Banbury to Liberty Way for the first game of 2025 having been hampered by the weather in recent weeks. It was the first time the sides had met at home and the Nuns were looking to put on a better show than the last game in December, when they lost to Derby. Ben Dawes and Louis Addleton returned in the front row and Ryan Preston came in at centre. Both sides scored three tries each but it was the Nuns who came out on top with a 25-19 win thanks to tries from James Moreton, Martin Wood and Louis Addleton. Joe Wilson added 10 points from the boot with two conversions and two penalties.

The Nuns didn’t start the game well and looked rusty and lacked intensity. Banbury carried hard from the first kick off and on 6 minutes crossed for the first points to lead 0-7 and the Nuns had hardly touched the ball.

They did though slowly start to work their way into the game and after earning some territory and possession created some pressure. From a lineout around the visitor 22m a maul was set up from which Moreton bust away and through two would-be tacklers to cross for the try, Wilson converted with the scores tied at 7 all after 16 minutes.

The remainder of the half went scoreless but not through want of trying. Banbury showed that they had some threats when running with the ball in hand and during one spell of pressure, the Nuns were reduced to 14 men when Chawadya was yellow carded for a high tackle. The Nuns also showed some attacking intent and were held up over the line twice which allowed the visitors to clear their lines.

The second half started with the Nuns on the front foot and they won a penalty which was sent to the corner. However, some inaccuracies and then ill discipline allowed Banbury to work themselves up the pitch and within a couple of minutes the Nuns had gone from an attacking position to defending their line. Banbury managed to work the ball well and scored their second try which was converted to take the score to 7-14 after 50 minutes.

The Nuns came back again though and built some pressure through a scrum that was starting to gain ascendancy. After a couple of penalties were won, the ball was moved under advantage and then Addleton collected a wide pass from Kirby to score in the corner. The conversion was missed but the score was now 12-14 after 58 minutes.

The Nuns were now in their groove and were putting more pressure on the visitors. In the 64th minute they crossed for their third try. Recycling the ball through some phases, Wood made an initial break deep into the 22m and then after a couple of phases again, Wilson attacked the blindside to feed Wood who crossed unchallenged. With the conversion added the Nuns led 19-14.

On 70 minutes the lead was extended when, from a scrum penalty on the 22m, the Nuns chose to take a shot at goal which Wilson took advantage from moving the score to 22-14.

Banbury knew that they had to get back into the game quickly. The Nuns did give them a little helping hand when initially they got isolated from the kick off and conceded a penalty but Banbury’s goal attempt was pushed wide.

The Nuns had the chance to clear their lines again but didn’t take advantage again and then from a lineout on their own 22m the ball didn’t go 5m. This gave Banbury a free kick and they set up attack. The Nuns defended well for a number of phases but the visitor’s final scored out wide on 77 minutes but couldn’t convert leaving the score 22-19.

Straight from the deep kick off, Banbury tried running the ball back but conceded a penalty in their own 22m. The option to run the clock down and extended the lead was taken. Wilson stepped up and added his second penalty to take the score to 25-19 with time for a kick off and one play left.

Banbury kicked short to try and re-gather the ball but it was the Nuns who collected it. Their first clearance kick was rushed which gave the ball back to Banbury in their half and as they tried to score again the ball was lost and Rayabo gathered and put the ball off the pitch with the last kick to the cheer of a well attended crowd.

A victory for the Nuns that was hard earned and in the end well deserved to start 2025 off.

Huw Thomas’s thoughts after the game “We had a slow start to the game but with a month between games that was possibly to be expected. We missed out on a few occasions in the first 40 minutes and were a little mentally off the pace. However in the second half we grew into the game and asserted some dominance up front which allowed us to get in to some good positions to play. Great to get another home win in the end and another debut for a young player out of the Colts who had a really positive effect on the game.”

1 Ryan Marsh 2 Louis Addleton 3 Ben Dawes 4 James Moreton 5 Tom Aherne 6 Ben Haywood 7 Oli Mitchell 8 Martin Wood 9 Ben Kirby 10 Lucas Brindley 11 Tak Chawadya 12 Ryan Preston 13 Travis Bennett-Allcock 14 Nemani Rayabo 15 Joe Wilson; 16 Jack Iles 17 Benji Mitchell 18 Mike Volaikisuva