After covering the Banbridge Academy game in the morning we travelled the short distance to Banbridge rugby club to watch Ban I v Suttonians I and Ban III v Dungannon III.
With schools playing in the morning and senior squads in the afternoons it makes for an excellent day out and we are looking forward to travelling across Ulster in the coming months each Saturday.
Following on from the morning conditions were excellent, a cool clear day with no wind and soft ground from the rain the day before. Again the facilities and well drained pitches meant that play was not affected at all.
The pre match lunch was well attended and at 2.30 the teams got the action under way with both Banbridge sides getting of to a cracking start.
The IIIs stormed their way to a convincing early lead ably assisted by their team manager Andy Duke and efficiently broke down the Dungannon defence with excellent forward and back line plays. With team work and plenty of individual skill the Banbridge IIIs finished the game clear winners.
73 pictures Slideshow from Banbridge III v Dungannon III – click here – pictures free to download, for high resolution email: garry@intouchrugby.com – CLICK HERE –
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BANBRIDGE I XV 36 v SUTTONIANS I XV 17
Twenty six points courtesy of Banbridge out-half Robin Thompson saw the Co Down side pick up the second win of their AIL campaign at a sunlit Rifle Park last Saturday.
With Suttonians matching the home side’s tally of three tries, the points difference between the sides was down to the faultless kicking of the Bann No 10. But those bare facts would suggest that Bann were fortunate winners, a conclusion which would be at odds with the opinion of most spectators at the game.
Unlike the previous week at City of Derry when the opposition had played most of the attacking rugby, Bann were on top for long periods of this game, during which their threequarters showed a refreshing enthusiasm to spread the ball wide and test the Suttonians defence.
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That came after the early exchanges had yielded the first of Thompson’s five penalties and Suttonians had responded with a Ronan Murphy try after Bann had been penalised in front of their posts. The conversion was missed as was a penalty opportunity midway through the half, by which time Thompson’s second successful effort with the boot had edged his side 6-5 ahead.
The second quarter of the game was dominated by the home side as they began to enjoy quality possession from first phase while disrupting the visitors’ scrum. After Ashley Finlay’s run from deep had let Ben Purvis link with Jonny Pollock and Jonny Little to take play deep into the Suttonians’ “22”, the defence was again penalised and Thompson exacted retribution with a third three-pointer.
Twice Bann launched sustained attacks only to be repelled by the well-organised Suttonians defence. But the pressure had to tell and at the third time of asking it was Thompson who made the breakthrough, selling a dummy before dancing in under the posts to make his conversion a formality and leave his side 16-5 up at the break.
Thompson’s metronomic boot was on target again in the 47th and 56th minutes, the latter after Little had made good use of turnover lineout ball to take play within striking distance of the posts.
The 17 point deficit looked beyond the visitors but they offered their supporters a glimpse of hope when scrum-half Adam Griggs nipped in for a try on 63 minutes, with Jamie Ward’s conversion taking the score to 22-12.
It proved to be a fleeting glimpse as five minutes later Bann prop Colin Bickerstaff and replacement hooker Paul Ross gave a passable impression of two dynamic centres as they combined to send the latter clear to the line from 20 metres range.
The extras were, inevitably, added by the out-half, but again the visitors responded, with winger Darragh Mulligan rounding off after his side had set up a lineout close to Bann’s line.
With some eight minutes remaining Suttonians’s thoughts were now focused on the two losing bonus points which a fourth try offered. But when their last attack broke down on the halfway line, Bann pounced on the loose ball. Little made good ground and finding Purvis in support when he was half-tackled, gave the Kiwi full-back the pass to register his first touchdown for his adopted club.
Bann coach Daniel Soper will have been pleased with the way his side responded after the defeat at Derry, and particularly with the fluency of his threequarters. Training focus may now switch to defence after the side shipped those three tries.
Wanderers are next up on Saturday week in Dublin. That will be another testing examination of Bann’s promotion credentials.
