Bann go clear with win over Queens Queen’s University 20 BANBRIDGE 1STs 45
A Queen’s side still searching for their first win of the season still had the potential to be a banana skin for pace-setters Banbridge in Saturday’s All-Ireland league game at Upper Malone.
But despite a spirited first half display following which they could easily have held the lead, the students eventually succumbed to a Bann side which had just too much firepower throughout the ranks.
With Jonny Pollock still recovering from a shoulder injury and Adam Doherty sidelined for 4-6 weeks because of a broken bone in his hand picked up in his promising AIL debut the previous week, Andrew Kirkwood was drafted in at out-half for the visitors. Mark Wilson tweaked a hamstring in the pre-match warm-up so Ryan Patterson started in the back row with Chris Allen taking his place on the bench.
And after nearly a year out through injury, Ulster Academy hooker Jonny Murphy started in the front row, with David Weir dropping to the bench.
After Paddy Farrell’s second minute penalty attempt had hit the Bann uprights, it was the visitors who took the lead, with Ian Porter finding the target with a penalty from 38 metres.
Ashley Finlay had already had a chance to stretch his legs with a 40 metre run that threatened the Queen’s line. And the winger’s entry into the threequarters from the blindside created great field position from which, three rucks later, centre Jonny Little cut through the defence to touch down, Porter adding the conversion.
Bann failed to add to their tally in the 24 minutes that remained of the first half as Queen’s matched a rugged defence with an ability to threaten from any possession that came their way.
Indeed it took a late tap tackle from Dale Carson and a last-ditch tackle from John Porter to prevent what looked like certain tries for the students. They eventually got some reward for their first half efforts, with Farrell kicking a penalty just before the break to give a 3-10 interval scoreline.
Within five minutes of the re-start Bann had trebled that seven point lead.
Scrum-half Porter broke from a ruck just inside the opposition “22” to feed brother John coming on the perfect line to slice through the Queen’s defence and touch down, leaving his sibling to add the extras.
The conversion of his side’s third touchdown was the simplest of tasks after Referee Simon McDowell was left with no option but to award Bann a penalty try. Patterson and Finlay had put in strong runs to force Queen’s to concede a scrum five metres out and after the student pack had twice resorted to illegalities to contain the Bann surge, the match official ran to the posts to signal the score.
With the students having lost two of their front row complement to injury, subsequent scrums went uncontested, thus removing a significant weapon from Bann’s armoury.
In the 51st minute Queen’s left winger Damon Hall got on the end of out-half Conor Spence’s neat cross-field kick to open his side’s try account, with Farrell’s splitting the posts with the conversion kick.
Replacement winger Craig Mulholland took advantage of Andrew Morrison’s neat tip pass to cross in the corner for Bann’s bonus point winning try, with Porter again showing his kicking qualities with a superb conversion.
But still the students refused to lie down and two unconverted tries in two minutes, from flanker Matthew Clarke and replacement winger Ross Adair, reduced the deficit to 11 points with 10 minutes remaining.
But any hopes they had of pulling off what had at one stage seemed an impossible comeback were snuffed out by the silky running of John Porter as he came in from the blindside to take Little’s pass and again find a route through the Queen’s midfield to touch down at the posts.
As Bann continued to dominate the exchanges, No 8 Jonny Graham almost made the line after his well-timed burst onto a feed from a ruck took him to within a metre of the line. But before Bann had left the Queen’s “22” they picked up their sixth try, with replacement winger Matt Johnston crashing over at the posts for a try against his erstwhile team-mates.
So after four weeks of All-Ireland rugby, Bann now stand four points clear at the top of Division 2A, following defeats suffered at the weekend by the previously unbeaten Terenure and Corinthians. With a tally of 174 points, including 25 tries, the Rifle Park side top the points scorers across all four Divisions.
With no game this weekend, Bann’s next challenge is against a Cashel side which, having topped Division 2B last season, winning all their games, finally lost their first AIL game two weeks ago when they went down 19-7 at Corinthians. But they bounced back from that reverse to overcome Greystones 18-16 on Saturday and their first visit to Banbridge, on Saturday week, is sure to provide a contest of the highest intensity.
Bann team against Queen’s:- Gregg Taylor, John Porter, Andrew Morrison, Jonny Little, Ashley Finlay, Andrew Kirkwood, Ian Porter, Jonny Weir, Jonny Murphy, Michael Cromie, Stephen Irvine, Simon McKinstry, Ryan Patterson, Dale Carson, Jonny Graham. Reps:- David Weir, James McCrum, Chris Allen, Matthew Johnston, Craig Mulholland.
U19s hold on to defeat Instonians
Instonians 12 BANBRIDGE U19s 13
November 3, 2012
In an error-strewn game Bann’s Under-19s were fortunate to come away from Shaw’s Bridge last Saturday with the narrowest of wins after the home side missed two straightforward shots at goal in the last five minutes of the game.
Bann had raced into a 0-10 lead 20 minutes into the match, thanks to a brace of tries from out-half Matthew McDonald. The second of these was a great solo effort from inside his own “22”, as he showed great strength and determination in running over and through three defenders before touching down in the corner.
From the re-start sloppy defending let Inst in for a very soft try which they converted. And within five minutes the city side had taken the lead when following a turnover they counter-attacked to touch down in the corner leaving the score 12-10 at the break.
Bann had a lot of defending to do in the second half, and they did it very effectively. In a rare visit to the Inst half they were awarded a penalty which McDonald slotted over what, with those two late failures from the opposition, proved to be the winning kick.
Bann will need to improve for the games ahead, but there were still pleasing individual performances from Jason Gribbon, Kyle McConnell and Lee Geddis, alongside McDonald’s man-of-the-match display.
Beattie stands out in U13s win
BANBRIDGE U13s 31 Virginia 21
November 3, 2012
Again the weather played its part as the clear blue morning sky and bright sunshine glistened off the overnight frost and dew. The playing conditions may have been perfect for rugby, but it seemed from the lack of enthusiasm in the Bann camp that the lads would prefer to still be in bed at home, out of the cold.
Robert Mathers continued to captain the side as Bann looked to extend their unbeaten start to the season. From the kick off the ball was knocked forward and Bann had an early scrum. A quick hook and the ball went straight out to Troy Pinion at outside centre and he sprinted around the covering defence to score under the posts, Tom Flanagan converting to make it 7 – 0 with only 2 minutes on the clock.
If Bann thought it would be an easy game then they were mistaken as the bigger Virginia forwards started to take the ball on in the tight and having secured good ball the fly half, realising the wind was behind him, kicked towards the touch. However good running by Bann out of their “22” was short lived as they had to defend a scrum 10 metres out. From the resultant kick Virginia got possession and after several rucks the ball broke to their wing who scored, with the conversion leaving the teams tied.
Virginia continued to exert pressure on Bann who were force to make a number of tackles, one from Matthew Neill sending the Virginia forward backwards at great pace. However Virginia continued to dominate the play and the fly half again kicked long. Adam Buller tried to run the ball back into the strong breeze but he knocked on and Bann had to defend a scrum five metres from their line. After an initial surge by the Virginia No 8 the ball was fed out to the wing and he cut back inside to score, the conversion again successful, 14 – 7 to Virginia.
From the kick off the ball changed hands several times, with Bann rucking excellently. Having secured the ball from one particular ruck the ball was passed and Jake Beattie found himself under pressure but drove forward with the ball and broke several tackles. From the ensuing ruck Hayden Kerr picked and ran before sending a well-timed pass to Pinion who ran in under the posts. The attempted conversion was charged down.
The next few phases of play were interspersed with knock-ons and fumbles but Bann had one more good chance before half time when Pinion again burst out wide only to be hauled down by the covering defence. From the scrum Bann again moved the ball wide and when Pinion fed Rory McNiff a try looked on, however the winger could not take the pass and the half-time whistle blew.
Bann made several changes as has become the custom. The subs had somewhat frozen on the sidelines and needed the run-out to get the blood circulating.
The kick off was taken by Bann who decided to run the ball and Brandon Avery-Cunningham made good ground forcing his way through several tackles before being tackled to the ground and the ball was knocked on. From the scrum Virginia tried to kick their way out and from the line out Bann secured the ball. A surging run from Tom Dologhan, who had a quiet first half, set up ruck and Kerr picked and scored in the corner, giving his side a 17-14 lead.
Again Bann took the kick off and ran at the Virginia defence. A ruck near the Bann “22” was won and Kerr ran the length of the pitch to score under the posts, Flanagan converting to make it 24 – 14.
Bann were now in control and playing with confidence. Every player wanted the ball and the Bann forwards showed no mercy as they drove forward at pace. As Virginia tried to kick clear the wing was found to be off side in front of the kicker and Bann elected for a scrum. Dologhan seized the opportunity and drove over from the base to increase the lead to 31 -14 with the conversion by Flanagan.
The play then intensified as Virginia sought to narrow the gap, a good move from Bann and good tackling by Virginia saw the ball break loose and the Virginia fly half hacked through. He was quickest in the chase and touched down to score a try which was again converted, 31 – 21. Sensing a chance but with only five minutes left, Virginia threw everything at Bann including the kitchen sink. Resolute defending and good tackling kept Virginia at bay and when the ball was turned over at a ruck Kerr picked the ball and wellied it into touch.
The final whistle blew and Bann had won again, 31 – 21. Man of the match was Jake Beattie who had tackled his heart out and had secured the ball a number of times before feeding Pinion for his tries, a selfless display. Next week Hayden K is missing as he goes to watch Ireland come second to South Africa so the others will have to up their game. But the boys remain unbeaten and confidence is high, the coaches have to keep them focussed for the weeks ahead.
U15s fightback comes too late
BANBRIDGE U15s 15 Virginia 19
November 3, 2012
Bann took to the pitch under strict orders to use their power through the middle and their pace out wide. In the first five minutes the pacy William Wilson made 20 metres down the narrow side. Deep in the Virginia “22” the ball was quickly recycled to Matthew Blain who crashed over for the opening score.
It was at this point the game became very hard to watch. With Virginia being more aggressive and having better ball retention, after a number of missed tackles their tall winger scored in the corner. Adam Ferris was setting a fine example in the forwards with an all-action display but he lacked support. As half time approached changes were going to have to be made.
Within 10 minutes of the game re-starting Virginia had grabbed another two converted scores though their winger and centre.
Alistair McDowell and Morgan Topping quickly found themselves in the mix. Almost immediately a change in attitude came within the team. The big ball carriers, Lee Jackson and Adam Cromwell, started to work and Jackson found himself bouncing several Virginia players to score.
A rejuvenated Bann now seemed to realise their mistakes of earlier. Ben Reid was next to put his mark on the game. After finding himself in space with two opponents to beat he easily outwitted and outpaced them to cross the line and bring the final score to 19-15.
Bann’s fight-back was too little too late. With a big squad there are boys itching to get on the pitch. A change in attitude all over the pitch is needed and this needs to start at training on Monday night as the players prepare for the visit of Rainey next week.
On the plus side John Buller and Conor Burns were stand-out performers in the backs.
Adam Ferris was the best Banbridge player on display. His leadership qualities and attitude are there for all to see and his work-rate and skills are second to none.
