Andrew Waugh with Sammy the Bear and the jubilant 2nd XV after their Junior Cup victory over Armagh 2nd XV
Bann took to the field on Saturday against Armagh Seconds in the first round of the Junior Cup with a number of changes from recent weeks. First games of the season were given to Neil McKinney and Colin Hamilton. Matt Johnson also made his return to action after suffering a knock to the head playing for the Firsts against Ballymena.
With the changes in personnel it was not surprising that Armagh looked the more cohesive in the opening plays. They were camped in the Bann “22” for most of the opening quarter but the defence stood firm. Failure to secure solid first phase ball was costing Bann and it was proving difficult to get a platform to play off.
It was against the run of play on the half hour mark that Bann put a period of possession together and ventured into the Armagh half, where an infringement from the Armagh back row gave John Ferris the opportunity to give Bann an unlikely 3-0 lead. Armagh were soon awarded a penalty of their own and the successful kick left the teams level at the break.
Now playing with the wind Bann started much the brighter, and it was Hamilton who created the first try of the game. After a mixed first half, his first rugby in more than two years, the scrum-half spotted a gap round the edge of a ruck. Good footwork brought him close to the line, but it was the evergreen McKinney who was on hand to take the pop and bulldoze over from all of two metres. Ferris slotted over the conversion to send Bann into the lead before adding a further penalty to stretch it to 13-3.
Errors started to creep into the game and Bann’s failure to clear their lines when they had the opportunity allowed Armagh in for a try, with the failed conversion leaving the score at 13-8.
Bann then took the game to Armagh exerting pressure on their back three time and time again. It was from one such deep kick that the Armagh full-back ran the ball back to set up a ruck, only for his scrum-half to pass it straight into the waiting hands of Bann replacement Adam Ervine who raced in untouched under the posts. Ferris’s conversion was good, securing a 20-8 victory for Bann.
This was a better performance from the Seconds than their previous outing at Ards but there is still plenty of room for improvement. Best on the day for Bann were No 8 Jamie McDonald and out-half Ferris.
