Carrickfergus 12 vs 12 Bangor
Points shared at Carrick
Having comprehensively beaten Carrick both at home earlier in the season, and just last week in the Towns Cup, hopes were high for a repeat performance in the league competition. However, poor performances by both sides resulted in a 12-12 draw.
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In near perfect playing conditions and with only two changes in the team line-up, Bangor struggled to find their rhythm and composure against a determined and physical Carrick side. The resulting game was a scrappy affair which saw four players yellow-carded. Carrick held the lead for all but the last few minutes, when Bangor grabbed a late try to finally level the match at 12 apiece.
From Carrick’s kick-off, Bangor collected and enjoyed good possession through most of the first quarter. However, on a number of occasions, possession was kicked away to no real purpose. During this period, the tone of the game was also being set as the penalty count against Carrick for various infringements and indiscipline started to mount up. On 18 minutes, Carrick were awarded a penalty in a kickable position, but this was missed. However, from the restart from Bangor’s twenty-two, Carrick ran straight back through the Bangor defence to score under the posts. With the addition of the simple conversion, Carrick now led by 7-0.
Carrick now felt they were in the driving seat, but Bangor dug in to defend and regroup. This resulted in a second quarter that would be marked by injury and ill-temper. The Carrick pack were once more playing with their characteristic aggression. During one of many hard tackling situations, one of the Carrick wing forwards suffered an injury and was unable to continue. Shortly afterwards, another Carrick player left the pitch – this time for kicking out at a Bangor player. Now with a two man advantage, Bangor should have been able to make inroads, but to Carrick’s credit and Bangor’s embarrassment, no breakthrough was made. Frustration for both sides was evident when right at the end of the first half, the other Carrick wing forward was sin-binned for an illegal tackle and Bangor’s Keith Rossan also saw the yellow card for trying to free himself from his tackler by using his boot. With just 26 players on the pitch, the referee brought the first half to a close.
The half time chat for each team helped to calm the waters somewhat, and the game resumed with Bangor immediately on the attack. Although brought back to their own twenty-two by a good Carrick clearance kick, Bangor finally found the decisive break that had eluded them so far. From a Bangor scrum, the ball came to Jamie Lemon who had come into the attacking back line from full-back. Having slipped a couple of tackles, and showing the pace for which he is known, he ran from well within his own half to score in the left hand corner. The conversion was unsuccessful, bringing the score to 7-5.
For the next 20 minutes or so, the game see-sawed between the sides, each with penalty opportunities, but none were successful. Then, on the half hour mark, Carrick had another kickable penalty. This time the ball hit the upright and bounced back into play. Although initially gathered by Bangor, Carrick quickly regained possession and passed the ball out to their winger who scored in the corner, increasing their lead to 12-5.
At this stage, there would have been some Bangor supporters who would have been happy to hang on to this scoreline in order to pick up a losing bonus point. However, with just 4 minutes to go, Jamie Lemon made another break towards the Carrick half. His perfectly timed pass released David Charles on the right wing who sprinted away to score, unchallenged, under the Carrick posts. The important conversion was successfully kicked by Keith Rossan, levelling the game at 12-12. The drama wasn’t over, however. Following a high tackle by Serelli Magoon, Carrick had a penalty attempt to win the game. Incredibly, this also hit the upright. This time Bangor managed to gather and hold on to the ball long enough for the referee to blow for full time.
It is unfortunate that the entertaining rugby played just the previous week could not be repeated by either side on this occasion. For Bangor’s part, they appeared to lack direction and control, and even though their line-outs and scrums were secure these did not provide a good enough platform from which the backs could mount a purposeful attack. Carrick made better use of positional kicking, but appeared to have few attacking moves. They also suffered from a number of overturned penalties as a result of retaliation or dissent. For both sides, the catchphrase that came from the touchline was ‘Masters of their own downfall’. Unfortunately, the draw does neither side any good in their respective league campaigns. For Bangor’s part, any aspiration for league success, although mathematically still possible, is now looking unlikely. With a game against Omagh at Upritchard Park next week, one hopes that they can repeat their earlier success away from home, and get their season back on track.
Bangor team : S Irvine, A Jackson, S Magoon, R Meeke, R Corbett, R McCausland (C), M Coey, P Corbett , M Bailey, K Rossan, D Miller, M Aspley, C Morris, D Charles, J Lemon
Bangor Scores: J Lemon (1T), D Charles (1T), K Rossan (1C)
