Banbury 27, Leicester Lions 41

Banbury's season of woe - both on and off the field - continued when a leaky defence sent them crashing to defeat against Leicester Lions at Bodicote Park on Saturday.

The result leaves them firmly rooted to the bottom of Midlands Division 1 and staring relegation in the face.

But that plight pales into insignificance compared with the well-publicised difficulties off the field which threaten the club's very existence.

With the company set up to run the ground going into liquidation, Banbury are unable to use the bar facilities in their magnificent clubhouse.

This feeling of unreality was increased when the game had to be switched to the third-team pitch, due to water- logging.

So, both the clubhouse and main stand stood vacant as the players and 100 or so hardy spectators trooped across some of the 34 acres for the game.

In the circumstances, it was hardly surprising that Banbury got off to a slow start as they conceded a soft try to Lions left wing Dave Bennett after five minutes.

The visitors played with the strong diagonal wind at their backs, but did not have everything their own way in the first half.

Banbury, with skipper Will Brooks and hooker Simon Cook to the fore in the loose, enjoyed plentiful possession.

However, Lions were quick to pounce on any error and time and again sliced through Banbury's weak cover.

This was illustrated by Leicester's second try, Banbury fly half Perrin Gill fumbling the ball close to the line and Bennett touching down for his second try.

At half-time, Lions led 24-6, with further tries from No 8 Darren Schrafft and full back dan Rouse, who added two conversions. Andy Noyce landed two close-range penalties for Banbury.

With the wind behind them in the second half, Banbury might have been expected to close the gap, but Leicester extended their lead to 41-9 in the third quarter with three more tries and a conversion.

Banbury showed a disappointing lack of ambition by opting for pots at goal rather than going for the tries they needed to close the gap. Noyce landed three in the second half to make it 41-15.

It was only when Rob Cockerton, who has been sidelined by a recent illness, came on for the last ten minutes that Banbury started to threaten the Lions line.

The experienced No 8 charged for the line to set up a try for Richard Hughes, which Noyce converted.

Then Cockerton picked up at the base of the scrum and scrum half Tony Hurst's blindside break produced a debut try for right wing Peter Flemming.

Banbury: Harrison, Flemming, Noyce, Jackson, Cartmell, Gill (Papenfus 46), Hurst, Hobley, Brown, Wilkins (Mascall 27), McNally, Chatterton, Cummings (Cockerton 72), Brooks, Hughes.