NAVAN 6 BANBRIDGE 20
Banbridge’s rugby season resumed on Saturday after the freeze-enforced break with a trip to Navan for the re-arranged game.
The Rifle Park side duly picked up the win expected against a team sitting second from bottom of Division Three. But the fluency and control which had been increasingly evident in their last two outings against Wanderers and Sunday’s Well was, perhaps understandably, missing.
Ultimately they came to rely on the power of the pack to see them through against a home side which lacked nothing in terms of commitment and aggression.
The opening exchanges were marked by a flurry of penalties and after 12 minutes play out-half Marty Coll had Navan 6-3 ahead, with his opposite number Robin Thompson getting Bann off the mark.
With a gusting wind and greasy surface to contend with, both sides were struggling to find coherency. Thompson’s tidy kick then set up good field position for the visitors and the Bann scrum began to test the opposition close to the home line.
The Navan scrum was pushed back over their own line and Bann flanker Colin Bickerstaff fell on the ball to claim the try which his No 10 converted.
Two yellow cards then combined to put Bann under unnecessary pressure. Brian Hanna may have felt harshly treated when he was penalised for not getting back on-side at a ruck at a speed to satisfy the match officials. And before he could return to the action he was joined on the sideline by Simon McKinstry, deemed to have taken a player out off the ball.
The thirteen dug deep to deny Navan a score their pressure might have deserved and on Hanna’s return to the fray Bann resumed on the attack. With exchanges heating up it was Navan’s turn to incur the referee’s wrath, with centre Johnny Davis taking a 10 minute break after an unwarranted attack on Bann winger Stephen Cowan.
Winger Ashley Finlay put in a darting run to take play inside the Navan “22” and Bickerstaff’s storming gallop was halted just short of the try line. The subsequent scrum collapsed and before it was re-set McKinstry made a timely return to the fray. When the set piece again hit the deck with Navan in reverse gear, the referee had no hesitation in awarding Bann a penalty try, with Thompson’s conversion signalling the end of the half.
With the wind in their faces after the break Bann’s first foray into the home “22” was delayed until the 55th minute, by which time the home side had failed to take advantage of two long-range penalty opportunities. Thompson made no mistake with his penalty chance from the “22” to take his side 6-20 clear with 20 minutes remaining.
Navan did enjoy spells of pressure in the last quarter of the game but their attack lacked the cutting edge to break down a determined Bann defence in which hooker Jonny Murphy and prop Michael Cromie did some particularly effective work at the breakdown.
Neither, however, did Bann look like picking up the two additional tries needed to earn a bonus point and the game petered out, with Coll picking up a yellow card late in the game for a technical offence.
Bann will be glad to have that rusty performance behind them and Saturday’s Ulster League game at home to Instonians should provide further effective preparation in advance of the challenging visit of Greystones the following week.
DUNGANNON SECONDS 18 BANN SECONDS 11
Bann Seconds played their first match since 20 November when they travelled to Dungannon in the 2nd XV League. Even though they had lacked match practice, they were disappointed to come away with a 18-11 defeat. Although Dungannon deserved each of their scores, Bann also had many opportunities for more scores throughout the game, but just could not find the finishing touch to the initial good ground work.
Both teams started brightly, but it was Bann who got the score board moving after four minutes with an impressive penalty from Clark McCallister from just inside the ‘Gannon half. He then doubled Bann’s lead after 10 minutes when they were awarded a penalty 27 metres out. This came about after a period of pressure from ‘Gannon when they took quick taps off a series of penalties, which Bann managed to stem with patient and organised defending before turning over the ball and then forcing the home side to stray off-side as they defended the Bann attack.
The next 10 minutes saw Bann take the game to Dungannon with some good controlled driving and clever use of links between forwards and backs, but all too often the good work was negated with errors at the crucial time. Both teams were by this stage commiting the same errors making fluid rugby difficult. From one of Bann’s mistakes 25 metres out, Dungannon reduced the score to 6-3.
After 25 minutes, Geoff Little was unlucky to receive 10 minutes in the sin bin for being `over eager` in the ruck, and it was mid way through this period that the home side made the advantage tell by scoring a try under the posts. The manner in the way the try was conceded was disappointing as Bann had defended their line admirably and when they forced the ball loose in the turnover, the hack through by Andy Kirkwood fell perfectly into the hands of a home player to stroll over.
With the score now at 10-6 and a player down, Bann showed they were not going to lie down and from the kick off, they were able to pin ‘Gannon in their own 22 where they remained until the return of Little. This coincided with a yellow card issued to a Gannon player for slowing play down in infringements.
The following passage of play then set Bann up with a five metre scrum, and a previously shaky set piece found total control to surge over the line for No 8 Andy Brown to touch down. McCallister missed the conversion but Bann were now 11-10 ahead. McCallister was uncharacteristically off target with an easy penalty, 18 metres out, on the stroke of half-time after full back Jonny Clark had surged forward and opened a gap in the defence.
The second half saw Bann up the tempo in the opening exchanges with a number of periods of ball retention as the forwards sought to provide an opening for the backs. A mixture of good defending by the home side and some basic errors in the wet conditions failed to allow Bann to capitalise.
After 13 minutes Dungannon then moved back into the lead 13-11, when they converted a penalty for a high tackle. The following 15 minutes of play was nearly all played in the Bann “22”, Gannon putting their visitors under all sorts of pressure. Each and every time that the home side probed, a mixture of good defending and forced errors allowed Bann to thwart the attacking scrums, line-outs and penalties. However the pressure eventually paid off with Dungannon finding an extra player in support right in the corner to ground the ball.
Now seven points down, Bann set about their task of gaining something from the game. Their impressive ball retention was able to put them in good positions, and indeed for the last five minutes they were encamped on the home line, but were unable to get the final yard for the score the build-up deserved.
Although the commitment of the entire team was evident and the aggressive nature in which they all defended was good to see, it was the pack who deserve mention with the back row of Andy Davidson, Andy Baird and Andy Brown outstanding, along with Davy Little. Overall a performance that was disappointing in the result, but pleasing as a level of commitment was reached even after such a lengthy lay-off.
BANN FOURTHS 15 DROMORE THIRDS 8
After the extended Christmas break due to the weather Banbridge Fourths faced Dromore Thirds in the first round of the Forster Cup. It was never going to be a classic in the wet and windy conditions at Rifle Park, but rather a day to roll up the sleeves and grind out a result against our neighbours.
With the wind behind them Bann kicked off and forced Dromore to defend for the first quarter. Bann were unlucky not to take the lead after winning a penalty just outside the “22”. Ali Lewis pushed the kick wide from a relatively straightforward opportunity.
Further pressure resulted in another penalty at the breakdown, this time the ball was kicked into the corner. From the resulting lineout Bann caught and drove over for a score, Brian Woods getting the touchdown. Lewis was successful with the conversion close to the sideline.
Bann again crossed the line with a catch and drive but this time the referee judged the ball to be held up.
Dromore came back into the game and their first chance arose when they hacked through a loose ball and forced a penalty close to the Bann line. The kick was missed. They continued to pressurise but aggressive tackling by the Bann forwards turned over possession and Bann were able to clear their line. Bann lost their out-half Lewis after 20 minutes with a hamstring injury and were left with 14 men for the remainder of the match.
The rest of the half saw Bann defend and kick to relieve the pressure. Bann had two counter-attacking opportunities, the best chance saw John Porter break through the line and release Stephen Jackson who was tackled into touch five metres from the line.
After the break the Dromore side had more possession and clearer opportunities. They recycled the ball much better and had improved in the lineouts. However Bann continued to disrupt and frustrate the Dromore side. The visitors’ best opportunity of the game came when an overlap down the right wing put their fullback clear through. A superb diving tap tackle from Kris Coleman saved a certain try.
Dromore forced a serious of penalties and got their first points when they kicked a penalty from in front of the posts. This was soon followed by a try in the corner when they scored from another overlap. Dromore had now a one point lead with only ten minutes left.
This seemed to bring Bann back to life. A succession of drives from the forwards got Bann into the opposition “22”. Bann won a penalty when the Dromore prop infringed and Philip Morrison calmly slotted over the kick to take Bann back into the lead. Bann then secured victory when John Porter chased down a clearance kick. He showed his football skills by hacking the ball past the full-back and winning the race to the line.
A hard won victory was the result of some great defensive work and derby determination.
BANN U-15s 17 CITY OF DERRY U-15s 5
Bann’s U-15 side clinched the Ulster Premier League with a 3-try success over City of Derry last Saturday.
The teams defied the difficult weather and underfoot conditions to fight out a keenly-contested game, with Bann’s superiority up-front ultimately giving them the edge, the points and the title.
Bann played into the elements in the first half and although keen to move the ball out the backline, it was a day more suited to the pack. Second row forwards Matthew Beck and Thomas McRoberts drove the ball forward at every opportunity and were able to link with the back row of Alexander Megaw, David McIlroy and Adam Copes, which resulted in Beck scoring from close range.
Derry had plenty of possession, but the resilient Bann defence held them at bay and the home side changed ends to enjoy the elements with a five point advantage.
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With increasing dominance of the forward exchanges Bann soon stretched that lead as flanker Adam Copes picked up from a scrum close to the visitors’ line and touched down.
From the re-start, Bann scrum half Josh Cromie managed to pin the Derry team deep in their “22” and from close range Captain Beck barged over for a score, with Michael Moore adding the conversion.
Derry managed a consolation try which was no more than their contribution to the game warranted.
As Premier League winners Bann will have a home draw in the semi-final of the league play-offs and must await the outcome of the quarter-finals to know their opposition in a game that is pencilled in for on or before 19th February. Zone winners Dungannon, Coleraine, Armagh, Enniskillen and Monaghan will battle it out for the right to join Bann and Premier League runners-up Carrick in the semis.
