Having lost narrowly to Bangor earlier in the season, Omagh were hoping to maintain their current good form in the league. Bangor put up a good fight but were unable to convert their scoring chances, eventually losing by 10-34.
Having lost narrowly to Bangor earlier in the season, Omagh travelled to Upritchard Park on the back of a good run of victories, and were hoping to maintain their late charge in the league. On a good pitch, but in windy conditions, Bangor put up a good fight but weren’t able to convert scoring opportunities into points. Trailing by 3-15 at half time, the home side were on top for most of the second half, only to let in some soft tries towards the end. Omagh were worthy winners, but in the opinion of many on the touchline, the final scoreline of 10-34 was a slightly flattering one.
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Bangor started the game with the wind at their backs, and were quickly on the attack. Within 3 minutes, they were awarded a penalty following good work by the pack. Keith Rossan’s kick was successful, giving the home side an early 3-0 lead. With the restart not going 10 metres, Bangor regained control and took the game back into the Omagh half. Richard Corbett came close when he chased a kick-through, but was beaten to the ball by the Omagh centre who just managed to kick the ball dead. Soon afterwards, it was Rossan who this time ran at the Omagh defence, managing to stay on his feet until helped over the line by Ryan Meeke. To the surprise of many, the referee judged that the ball had been held up by an Omagh player, and the try was disallowed. No doubt sensing a reprieve, Omagh composed themselves and started to exert pressure. 
After 20 minutes, and following a number of Omagh scrums on the Bangor 5 metre line, their intention was clear. Just a few minutes later, and with the ball at the feet of their Number 8, they pushed over for the first try of the game. The Omagh backs were now started to show good handling skills, with their forwards backing them up in the tackles, and their flowing moves soon produced another try. Once more the conversion was missed, but the score was now 3-10.
Although Omagh would have the wind in the second half, Bangor would have been happy if the score had stayed this way. However, following a late tackle by Rossan on the Omagh Number 8, the yellow card came out, and from the resulting penalty, Omagh once more used the sure hands of their back line to run in their third score. With the half time whistle coming minutes later, Bangor now trailed by 3-15.
Following an Omagh mistake straight from the restart, Bangor lifted themselves and were obviously not about to throw in the towel. Even though they found themselves repeatedly back in their own twenty two following good positional kicking by Omagh, the Bangor players showed courage and determination in running the ball out of danger and into attack. Just 10 minutes into the half, quick thinking and good hands got the ball to David miller on the left hand wing, and he set off on his characteristic sprint towards the Omagh line. To Omagh’s credit, they kept up the chase and just caught Miller a few strides from scoring. Lifted by this opportunity, Bangor were now applying all the pressure within the Omagh half. Several minutes later, following a quickly taken tap penalty, Bangor had the ball with their backs, and looked certain to score. However, poor passing spoiled the opportunity, and another chance was gone.
Still training by 3-15, and with 25 minutes gone, Bangor were still chasing the game and having to take risks to develop more openings. However, instead of attempting to run out of defence like they had done successfully before, a poorly directed cross-field clearance dropped easily into the hands of the Omagh winger who ran in to score in the left hand corner and secure their bonus point.
Having held on for so long, Bangor were obviously disappointed. However, once more they were determined to turn defence into attack. Jason Morgan produced a good break and then chipped over the Omagh defence. This was collected by David miller who this time managed to outrun the chasing Omagh players and score under the posts. Rossan’s conversion was successful, bringing the score to 10-20.
With less than 10 minutes remaining, Bangor were anxious to keep going in the hope of earning a losing bonus point. With Omagh looking content with their 4 try lead, it was Bangor who were still chasing the game. However, trying to play rugby in your own twenty two in the last few minutes of a match is always a risky venture and eventually the handling errors started to came back. Omagh duly accepted these opportunities and ran in a further 2 converted tries to finish the game as winners by 10-34.
While the better side definitely won on the day, Bangor will surely rue the missed opportunities that could have had a major effect on the game’s final outcome. It was good to see that the penalty count was well down on last week’s game, but the handling mistakes and signs of hesitation are still there. In recognition of his good work in the lineouts and attacking play, the Reeds Rains Man of the Match award was presented to Bangor’s second row forward, Richard Corbett. Next week’s game away to Ballynahinch 2nds in the second round of the Town’s Cup will be another difficult encounter. Hopefully players who have been missing through illness or injury will become available again, and the team will rediscover the form they know they can produce.
Bangor team : S Irvine, A Jackson, S Magoon, R Meeke, R Corbett, R McCausland (C), M Coey, C Stewart ,R Armstrong, J Morgan, D Miller, M Aspley, C Morris, J McMullan, K Rossan
Bangor Scores: D Miller (1T), K Rossan (1P, 1C)
