BANBURY Bulls were too strong for Oxford Harlequins in their Oxfordshire derby in South West 1 East.

The two sides went in level at the break, but the hosts scored 19 unanswered points in the second half to run out 25-6 winners.

Rory Garrett’s long-range drop goal put Quins ahead after three minutes, before two Tommy Gray penalties edged Banbury ahead midway through the first half.

Garrett kicked a penalty of his own six minutes before the break to make it all-square at the halfway point, with the difficult conditions preventing either side from taking control.

Quins knew a win would see them leapfrog their rivals, but they went behind five minutes into the second half when Jack Biggs touched down, Gray adding the extras.

The visitors were still in the contest, but Garrett received a yellow card just before the hour mark for a late tackle on James Jennings.

Banbury made the extra man count to touch down twice in the next ten minutes and take the game away from their opponents.

First, Alex Caviezel Cox finished a lovely move off the back of a scrum to score in the corner, Ed Phillips converting to make it 20-6.

Two minutes later, Ed Berridge completed the scoring with an unconverted try after he broke through the Quins defence.

Banbury almost forced the all-important fourth try to claim the bonus point, but they were unable to find a way through.

Quins are in Oxfordshire Cup preliminary round action on Saturday when they entertain Southern Counties North side Stow-on-the-Wold.