Slow start costs Bangor at Enniskillen
In a dour game, on a cold and windy day that offered little spectacle for the hardy supporters, Enniskillen made the most of their chances to win by 16-11 and go to the top of the league, but Bangor’s losing bonus point keeps them firmly in contention.
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It always seems to be cold and windy at Mullaghmeen, and Saturday was no exception. With the strong breeze blowing across and up the slope, Enniskillen got proceedings underway. The home side had gone to great lengths to assemble a strong starting 15, being very aware of the importance of this game between two of the three remaining unbeaten teams in the league. By contrast, Bangor were still suffering from a stretch of ‘wedding season’ unavailability, and players not yet match fit from earlier injuries. Nonetheless, the sides appeared to be fairly evenly matched in the opening encounters.
It was Enniskillen who started the scoring, with a well-taken penalty to lead by 3-0. From the restart, Bangor’s forwards showed how dangerous they can be when from an initial Curtis Stewart gather in his own twenty two, the pack pushed through the home defence and towards their twenty two. Eventually Enniskillen conceded a penalty which provided Jason Morgan with a testing kick into and across the wind. This kick went wide of the posts, but a few minutes later, Morgan had another opportunity, from further out, when Enniskillen didn’t release after the tackle was made. This kick had better direction, but not enough length. However, just 2 minutes later, with Bangor pressing forward again, Enniskillen strayed off-side, giving Morgan another penalty opportunity. This time the kick was successful, levelling the scores at 3-3 with 15 minutes played.
Several minutes of ‘to and fro’ play followed, with Bangor not making touch from clearance kicks, and Davy Charles pulling off a fine covering tackle from an Enniskillen attack down the left hand wing. A speculative drop goal attempt by the Enniskillen out half hit the upright, but from the ensuing confusion when the ball bounced back into play, Bangor conceded a penalty. Enniskillen kicked for touch and, having won the following lineout, cut a line through the Bangor defence that was not adequately covered, resulting in a try in the left hand corner. The conversion attempt went wide, but Enniskillen were back in front by 8-3.
With half time approaching, Bangor mounted a number of good attacks, the best of which came from Davy Charles who jinked his way past several Enniskillen players before being brought down by a last gasp tackle.
During the half time break, word came back that Jason Morgan had damaged, and probably cracked, a couple of ribs during the first half. Although in considerable pain, he was determined to play on, although moving from out half to full back in order to reduce the incidences of further contact.
Bangor kicked off for the second half, and within a few minutes conceded a penalty in front of their own posts. The straightforward kick was taken, moving Enniskillen further ahead by 11-3. This set-back was compounded just 5 minutes later when a good back-line move by Enniskillen exploited the weakened Bangor defence, allowing them to score on the right hand touchline. The conversion was missed, but the lead was now stretched to 16-3.
From previous seasons’ experience when playing at Enniskillen, Bangor have shown great resilience and determination in coming back from such losing margins so although the local support felt the game was as good as won, the players and travelling supporters didn’t share this view. With the wind advantage, Morgan was now able to make good ground with his boot, and kept play in the Enniskillen twenty two for long periods. From a resulting line-out, Ryan Meeke was pulled down while in the air, and from the resulting penalty, Morgan kicked for touch once more. Andrew Jackson’s throw found Peter Corbett who brought the ball down and started a forward drive. The ball was fed to Chris Schofield at the back of the maul, who calmly marshalled his forwards as they marched towards the Enniskillen line, then dropped down to score. The difficult conversion was missed, but now the deficit had been reduced to 16-8, with just 15 minutes of the half gone.
The following period of play was a tense affair, but it was Bangor who appeared to be coming back into the game a little more than their hosts. With just 5 minutes of normal time remaining, Enniskillen conceded another penalty inside their twenty two. Morgan stepped up and slotted over to bring the score to 16-11, and now inside losing bonus point territory.
Both sides were now playing desperate rugby – Enniskillen trying to kill off Bangor’s comeback, and Bangor sensing the game was swinging their way. Despite scoring chances by both sides, most notably for Enniskillen but for some poor final passing, the referee brought the game to a close, albeit with little or no time added for second half injury stoppages.
As predicted in many quarters, the game had been a close one. Enniskillen will be relieved to have secured the victory, but Bangor will no doubt relish the prospect of the return match at Upritchard Park. Considering very few sides come away from Mullaghmeen with anything but bruises, Bangor should take comfort in the fact that they salvaged a losing bonus point to keep them firmly in battle for top honours in the league.
With no game next week, Bangor now have time to regroup and recover before hosting Lisburn on the 17th November at Upritchard Park. All supporters are encouraged to come along and help lift the side and get them back on winning ways.
Bangor team: J Harrison, A Jackson, C Schofield, R Meeke, P Corbett, J Clegg (c), M Coey, C Stewart, M Baillie, J Morgan, D Charles, M Aspley, M Leebody, J Foulkes, C Morgan
Bangor Scores: C Schofield (1T), J Morgan (2P)
