Banbury’s player coach Grant Holmes said it was a strange end to a good semi-final against Witney.

Holmeas, who had a decent game at fly half, said: “They thought they had won it and I thought they had won.

“It is a great bonus to go through.

“I think the score was fairly reflective of the game.

“We didn’t create that much, but defended well.

“We were lucky enough that only four guys had to start on both days as we played in the league on Saturday.

“Playing a couple of weak sides in the last two matches hasn’t helped us.

“We tended to sit off rather than supporting the break.

“We are not going to burst through defences every game.”

Witney coach John Campbell said: “I knew the situation at the end, but the players weren’t aware of it.

“I thought we did enough to win, but all credit to them, their defence was impressive.

“We had them up front, but our backs seemed to lose their way a bit.

“At times we were a bit naïve. We tried to play some overcomplicated moves.

“Our discipline let us down a bit, and we conceded three soft tries.

“We didn’t lose, but we didn’t qualify.

“It would have been nice to get to the final again, but they haven’t been there for a while.”