Sat 19th Oct, 2:30pm. Kukri Qualifying 1. Bangor 33 – 14 Cooke
Solid performance earns bonus point against Cooke
by Roger Corbett
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Despite the loss of players due to the tough encounter against Portadown the previous week, a re-jigged Bangor side put in a solid performance to come back from 0-7 to secure another bonus point win by 33-14.
There were some concerns that the heavy rain prior to this fixture, and the forecast of more to come on match day, might have made playing conditions difficult. However, the sterling work put in by groundsman Stephen Ferris ensured great playing surfaces for both the 1sts and 2nds as they hosted their opposite numbers from Cooke. Having been given a mayoral reception prior to the tour to Italy, it was a pleasure to return the compliment to Councillor Andrew Muir, Mayor of North Dowbn, as he was guest of honour at the club’s first corporate lunch of the season.
It was Cooke who got the business part of the day underway. With little wind advantage, the visitors started the more confidently, and gave Bangor few opportunities to attack. For most of the first quarter, neither side made the best of the few chances they had. However, having been stopped on every occasion they tried to attack through the middle, Cooke quickly switched play to their left winger who skilfully evaded several tackles to run in under the posts for the first score of the day. The simple conversion gave the visitors the lead by 0-7.
A few minutes later, Bangor were lucky not to go further behind when they conceded a penalty, but the kick went wide. From the twenty two restart, Bangor pressed forward, pushing Cooke back into their own twenty two. Cooke were forced to make a clearance kick, but this led to one of the best passages of play in the game. The high ball was caught by Jamie Clegg who passed to fullback Davy Charles. Charles broke up the right wing before passing inside to Jason Morgan. Having then drawn the Cooke defence, Morgan passed back outside to Mark Widdowson who ran through the opening to score an excellent try under the posts. Morgan’s kick levelled the scores at 7-7.
Bangor were now getting into their stride and were starting to look the more dangerous. The set pieces were also performing better than last week, and this came to the fore with just 5 minutes of the first half remaining. A well-taken lineout by Richard Corbett was given to Curtis Stewart who made valuable metres before setting up the ruck which Ricky Armstrong quickly cleared out to Morgan. With Cooke men in front of him, it looked like the ball would be passed wide. However, a couple of clever dummies provided just enough space for him to dive through and stretch for the line. His kick was successful, putting Bangor ahead by 14-7.
Almost from the restart, Stewart was yellow-carded for a high tackle. Although now a man down, when Bangor regained possession, they came right back and, in the closing minutes of the half, lay siege to the Cooke line. Desperate defending resulted in several penalty advantages being played by Bangor, until the referee decided that enough was enough, and yellow-carded the Cooke full-back for repeatedly offending. The kick for posts was chosen, but this went wide and the whistle was blown for half-time.
As Bangor restarted the second half, the fickle Upritchard wind picked up slightly and favoured the home side. By now, Cooke knew that the route to success would not be through the middle, as the Bangor defence was particularly solid in this area. They therefore played to their strength on the left wing and repeatedly mounted their attacks from this position. The difference between the sides appeared to be that when Bangor saw an opening and the line was in sight, they were able to convert the opportunity into points. This was the case after 10 minutes, when another good handling move between Armstrong, Morgan, Charles and then Morgan again, saw Morgan manage to just clear the Cooke defence and score on the left hand side. His kicking success continued and the lead had extended to 21-7.
With 30 minutes left to play, the focus now was on gaining the 4-try bonus point. Similarly Cooke needed to reduce the difference to salvage a losing bonus point. It took a further 20 minutes before the breakthrough finally came. With Bangor once again keeping play deep inside Cooke’s twenty two, the visitors again resorted to conceding penalties rather than tries. Once again, another Cooke player was yellow-carded for his persistent infringements. However, this time Bangor opted for a scrum. From this, the ball went wide to Mike Weir who made good ground but was stopped short of the line. An alert Andrew Jackson seized on the loose ball to power over for the bonus point try. Morgan added the extras and the lead was now more comfortable at 28-7.
Cooke weren’t finished though. A few minutes later, their left winger again caused problems for the Bangor defence before passing inside for what looked like a certain try. The pass, however, was knocked on, much to the relief of the Bangor players. Bangor regained possession from the scrum and worked back into Cooke territory. However, Cooke turned the ball over and mounted a quick counter attack that completely split the Bangor defence, allowing a clear run to score under the posts for a converted try, and close the gap to 28-14.
With time running out, it looked like the final result had been decided. However, as the last play approached, Jackson broke through before passing left to Weir. Although he was being closed down, he saw Widdowson on his shoulder and passed in time for the young winger to dive in for his second try. The touchline kick was missed, but as the referee blew for full time, the final result was 33-14.
This was definitely an improvement on last week’s performance, but there are still areas to be worked upon, especially given the high number of penalties conceded. Although not at full strength, the forwards performed well and this was best demonstrated by the hard work put in by Man of the Match Jake Harrison. With a week off before the next fixture away to Ballymoney on 2nd November, it is hoped that players injured in earlier games will be fit again and ready to rejoin the squad as they strive to continue their good run in the league.
Bangor side: P Morrow (F Black), A Jackson, J Harrison, R Corbett, C Stewart (D Kelly), M Coey, G Coughey, J Clegg (c), R Armstrong, J Morgan, M Widdowson, M Aspley, M Weir, N Cuthbertson, D Charles
Subs: F Black, D Kelly
Bangor scores: M Widdowson (2T), J Morgan (2T, 4C), A Jackson (1T)
