I XV progress in Junior Cup 29 v Limavady RFC I XV 8
On a sunny but windy afternoon, Bangor hosted Limavady in the first round of this year’s Millar McCall Wylie Junior Cup. The home side produced a solid performance from a greatly changed team, scoring 5 tries to eventually win by 29-8.
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Playing with the wind at their backs, Limavady got proceedings underway. For the first 10 minutes of the game, it was Limavady who were applying the pressure and forcing Bangor to concede a couple of penalties, the second of which was converted to give the visitors a 0-3 lead.
The reconfigured Bangor forwards were working well together, and the scrum in particular was giving Limavady all sorts of problems. This first became apparent when, after 15 minutes, Bangor wheeled Limavady off their own scrum. From the put-in and subsequent controlled heel, Bangor quickly moved the ball to Jason Morgan who produced another of his characteristic breaks, shrugging off the defence’s half-tackles to score under the posts. With the straightforward conversion, the score was now 7-3.
After a further 5 minutes, Bangor had a lineout on the Limavady twenty two metre line. In the windy conditions, these set pieces were proving difficult for both sides, and on this occasion it was Bangor who were unable to cleanly collect the ball. However, from the ensuing scramble, the forwards managed to regain possession, giving the ball to Darren Lyttle who charged down the touchline to score in the right hand corner. The difficult kick into the wind fell short, but the score had moved forward to 12-3.
Shortly afterwards, Bangor had another lineout in the same position. This time they won it cleanly and started to move forward in a well-controlled rolling maul. With the Limavady line now in sight, the ball was given to Mike Aspley, who squeezed in for his try, again in the right hand corner. With Morgan’s conversion attempt again falling short, the score was now 17-3.
From the restart, the Bangor safely gathered the ball before passing it to Davy Charles who produced the move of the day. From within his own twenty two, he produced a darting run that bamboozled the Limavady defenders, before touching down under the posts for a truly memorable try. For some unknown reason, Morgan elected to drop-kick the simple conversion, but in so doing missed it. Although the 2 extra points were lost, the score was now 22-3 and Bangor were cruising.
Unfortunately, Bangor were guilty of trying to play passing rugby in their own twenty two and, when the ball was dropped, a Limavady boot hacked it forward. The chase to the line was won by the visitors, who touched down in the corner for a score. The kick was missed, but with the referee blowing for the end of the first half, Bangor’s lead had been cut to 22-8.
With a dominant pack, an attacking back-line, and the wind now at their backs, hopes were high that the second half would be just as entertaining as the first. Limavady had obviously been lifted by their late try, and started the half brightly. Once again, Bangor defended well and were always looking for any opportunity to break into attack. Unfortunately, both sides seemed unable to complete their moves without incurring the intervention of the referee. For the first 20 minutes of the half, play was getting bogged down with neither side being able to make the breakthrough. During this time, Matt Leabody had to leave the field of play through injury, allowing Ryan Law to come on in his place. Whether it was the timely substitution or the period of sustained pressure within Limavady’s twenty two, the ball was moved quickly across the backs until it reached R Law whose fresh legs helped him run round the tiring Limavady defence to score under the posts. Morgan successfully kicked the conversion, bringing the score to 29-8.
Bangor tried to build on this, and after a further 7 minutes, Aspley went over for what looked like his second try. However, the referee had deemed that Morgan’s earlier pass was forward, and the try wasn’t given. Unfortunately this marked a return to the earlier period of broken play and stoppages. When the referee blew for full time, there was a sense of satisfaction for the convincing win, but also disappointment that the promising performances shown in the first half were not able to be reproduced in the second. Limavady were gracious in defeat, and will now concentrate their efforts on the league where they will come up against Bangor twice more.
Next week sees a return to league action when Omagh 1sts and 3rds travel to Upritchard Park in what should be close encounters for our 1st and 2nds. Kick-off for both games is at 2:30pm, and all supporters will be made most welcome.
Bangor team: J Harrison, A Jackson, P Dornan, S Gilliland, D Lyttle, D McNally (S Irvine), J Clegg (c), C Stewart, M Leabody (R Law), J Morgan, J Foulkes, M Aspley, C Morgan, D Charles, P Gray
Bangor Scores: J Morgan (1T, 2C),D Lyttle (1T),M Aspley (1T), D Charles (1T), R Law (1T)
