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Watt leads the way in 19s rout
Lisburn 0 BANBRIDGE U19s 53
Banbridge made a winning start in the Nutty-Krust Floodlit Tournament, easily beating Lisburn to claim their place in the second round.
Full-back Chris Watt did the early damage, running in two tries in the opening 12 minutes, with Macauley Little converting once. Then Jonathan Andrews grabbed a brace in two minutes, Little adding the conversion points to the second.
Quick ruck ball set up winger Adam Stirling for the fifth try before Watt’s pace took him past eight defenders, lock Kyle McConnell taking his off-load to touch down for a try which Little goaled.
Poor discipline impacted on Bann’s second half performance, but they were still able to add three further unanswered tries. Stirling finished off a move off the blindside of a scrum, Little converting, and then team captain Ryan Dennison saw off the challenge of four defenders to touch down. McConnell’s got his second after picking up a loose ball in the midfield and sprinting home from halfway.
Little picked up the Nutty-Krust Man-of-the-Match award.
Jackson stands out in U15s victory
BANBRIDGE U15s 31 Armagh 7
March 2, 2013
Bann U15s carried their recent good form in friendlies into this first cup game against the much fancied Armagh.
The visitors, who finished top of their section in the league, started the brighter by going through the phases and retaining good possession. The Banbridge defence stood firm and stayed organised throughout the Armagh attack with Samuel Mount and Willy Wilson resolute and solid.
Bann continued to soak up the pressure until an Armagh mistake inside the Bann half saw the quick thinking Max Buller find his half back partner Alex Walker who in turn fed Wilson. The centre then gave a lovely pass to the formidable Curtis Jackson who out-powered and out-paced four wannabe tacklers to score under the posts. Alex Walker added the conversion.
This spurred the Bann boys into life, the forwards carrying ball through the middle of the park with Adam Cromwell and Lee Jackson making good ground. However a knock on gave Armagh the scrum. Banbridge hooker Jack Myles took this one against the head and once again quick ball to the speedy back line allowed Jackson to power his way and score in the corner, leaving Bann 12-0 up at the break.
Bann knew they would have to keep the momentum and their intensity up to keep the dangerous Armagh side out. The second half couldn’t have started any worse as they lost Wilson to the sin bin for an apparent high tackle. However the 14 men of Banbridge stayed resolute and played to their strengths. A quick penalty inside the Armagh “22” soon found Jackson again and the centre was again unstoppable, scoring from close range in the corner.
To their credit Armagh came back at Bann and with some good recycling and ball retention they caught the 14 man home defence in disarray and using their extra man they created the overlap to allow their centre to score under the posts.
Adam Ferris and Matt Blain rallied their troops again and Wilson made his way back onto the pitch. Alex Walker took the restart drop kick and Adam Cromwell made a nuisance of himself in the Armagh ranks and gathered up the loose ball. He fended off four tacklers and off-loaded to let the supporting Robin Hewitt score his first try of the season.
The game ended with Bann being awarded a penalty in the Armagh “22”. The alert Buller once again found Walker who tricked his way over the line to score under the posts, with his conversion of the last two tries making up the final tally.
This was a very enjoyable game to watch with some great performances in the squad. The team are playing together and are working as a unit. The backs look very slick and solid in attack and defence. Half-backs Buller and Walker are starting to perform together at the right time. Walker’s kicking to touch is fantastic and he ended up with a personal points tally of 11 points scoring his first try for Banbridge and adding three conversions. Indeed it’s hard to find a weak point throughout the backline.
The forwards, led by Blain and Ferris, worked really hard right round the pitch. Mount was the pick of the pack with his tackling all over the park. Cromwell and Lee Jackson were the other stand out performers.
Best player on the day has to go to Curtis Jackson who with the ball in hand is a sight that would worry a defence in adult rugby. He got a hat-trick of tries and made more yards than any other player and with Wilson as his inside partner they are fast becoming a very good combination.
Weakened 19s still too strong for Malone
Malone 8 BANBRIDGE U19s 13
March 2, 2013
Bann’s Under-19 side made a great start to the Group Stage of their Ulster Cup campaign, seeing off the challenge of old rivals Malone despite missing three of their top players.
Adam Doherty, Matthew McDonald and Peter Cromie were all on All-Ireland League duty with the Firsts in Cork, so the 19s travelled to Cherryvale with the bare XV to take on the Belfast side. The home team took an early three point lead via a penalty. Soon after Bann dropped a ball in the opposition “22” and Malone were quicker to react, scooping it up and sprinting to the other end for an unconverted try.
Bann hit back on the half hour, a scrum against the head allowing the threequarters to run at the opposition and put Ben Cross in at the corner flag. Five minutes later the visitors were in front, with winger Kenny Wiltshire finishing off after another smooth backline move.
Out-half Macauley Little was the only scorer after the break, his penalty edging Bann into a five point lead which a determined defence ensured they maintained until the final whistle.
Solid lineout work from Lee Geddis, Adam Kelly and Stuart Walker was crucial in limiting Malone’s possession, while full-back Adam Stirling put in a man-of-the match performance.
Fourths avenge Roughfort loss with fifteen try demolition
BANBRIDGE 4THs 97 Academy 2nds 0
March 2, 2013
With Bann Fourths stepping onto their ‘lucky’ pitch at Rifle Park, this grudge match was one that Team Manager John Woods wanted to win after the visitors had edged home by a point at Roughfort in November. After eight minutes sparring Bann opened the floodgates on what was to be a fine display of rugby against a very disorganised Academy side.
Andy Davison got the first try of the game after a great run from Stu Faulkner and the off-load timed perfectly, Francois Viljoen adding the conversion.
Great loose play from Barney McKevitt, Paul Ross and Peter Irvine ensured that Bann had the rucks tied up from the early stages.
The second try came on 17 minutes and was the result of great line-out catching from the on-form Michael Henning, with the drive from five metres out putting Michael McKee in at the posts, Viljoen again converting.
From the re-start Bann made 40 metres and formed a ruck, and with a dynamic one handed pick-up and pop from McKee, captain Kris Coleman was able to offload to Viljoen who scored under the posts and converted.
Chris Craig was the next to score, with a great solo run from deep breaking Academy’s defence with ease.
Academy lost a player after 20 minutes and with the score 28-0, the game was almost certainly over as a contest. With great throwing and catching in the line outs, Bann were able to capitalise and Coleman saw a gap and scored from the back of a ruck.
Again from the off McKevitt plucked the ball from the air and made a break, Chris Berry took the offload and popped to Hugh Dennis who made no mistake and scored in the corner.
The Academy heads had dropped at this point and from the restart Craig made another blistering run and passed to Paul Ross who scored under the posts.
When McKevitt again got up to pace he again proved unstoppable, grabbing his second before Matthew Kerr kept up his scoring habit, scoring under the posts.
With a half time score of 59-0 this game was all but over, and with four tries in quick succession from Irvine, Kerr, McKee and Viljoen, the game was quickly put to bed!
Paul Ross put a great effort in and scored his second try with a chip-and-chase under the posts, and the last play of the game saw Man-of-the-Match Viljoen run in for his hat-trick unopposed.
