On a perfect day for playing rugby, Bangor travelled to Larne hoping to continue their unbeaten run in the league. Against an injury-hit Larne side, Bangor ran in eight tries to win by 11 points to 44.
CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES
From a sluggish start, Bangor went behind to a Larne penalty, and seemed unable to break through a determined Larne defence. It was not until half way through the first half that Bangor finally made the breakthrough and once that had been achieved, there was no looking back. Bangor went on to score 7 further tries with Larne picking up a consolation score late in the second half, giving Bangor a bonus point win of 11-44.
With the pitch in great condition and very little wind advantage for either side, the stage was evenly poised as Larne kicked off this Kukri QL2 league game. In the opening exchanges, it was the home side that looked sharp, preventing Bangor from building any sort of attacking platform, and keeping the play in the middle of the pitch. The Larne scrum also started well, pushing Bangor back on a number of occasions. After 10 minutes of frustration, Bangor conceded a penalty to the left of their posts. This was duly converted to open the scoring in Larne’s favour, 3-0.
The following 10 minutes was marked by Larne’s steady advances into Bangor’s twenty two, and Bangor’s attacking breaks from defence back into Larne’s twenty two. During this time, Bangor were temporarily reduced to 14 men following an injury to winger James McMullan. It was not until the 23rd minute that the decisive score came. From what looked like being surrounded by Larne players, Dave Lynn barged and goose-stepped his way clear to run in for a try under the posts. With Jason Morgan’s successful conversion, Bangor now took the lead by 3-7. Unfortunately, one of the Larne players dislocated a finger while tackling Lynn, and had to leave the field as a result. In the same incident, another Larne player suffered a numb arm and, while bravely playing on until half time, he was unable to continue for the second half.
The weight of expectation seemed to lift from Bangor’s shoulders at this point, and they started to play with renewed confidence. A couple of minutes later, Lynn made another charge before passing to Jason Morgan who kicked over the Larne defence. The kick was measured perfectly for full-back Chris Morgan sprint down the touchline and collect just ahead of his opposite number to score in the left hand corner. The difficult conversion was missed, but Bangor now led by 3-12. Larne dug in and held Bangor at bay for the next 10 minutes, but then captain Rob McCausland made a great break only to be tackled just short of the Larne line. The other forwards came up in support, recycled the ball to the backs who passed it out to Chris Morgan who squeezed in for his second try, this time in the right hand corner. With the conversion missed, the score moved on to 3-17. With the end of the first half approaching, Bangor momentarily lost concentration and conceded another penalty which Larne successfully converted to bring the half time score to 6-17.
If Larne had felt they had been thrown a life-line by this late score, Bangor had other ideas. Once more the forwards ran with purpose and strength – this time it was Richard Corbett who took off from a long way out. Although he was caught a few metres from the Larne line, Bangor regrouped and from the resulting ruck, Corbett was able to use his tall frame to stretch over for the bonus point try. Another touchline conversion beckoned for Jason Morgan, but this time it went over extending Bangor’s lead to 6-24. The onslaught continued over the next 10 minutes with firstly James McMullan scoring in the left hand corner, and then Matty Coey getting the touchdown following a well executed rolling maul. With both conversion attempts going wide, the score had now leapt to 6-34.
Larne then proved that while the odds may be stacked against you, there is always a glimmer of hope. With Bangor appearing to coast, Larne mounted some of their best attacks of the game, and pinning Bangor in their own twenty two. Although Larne were awarded a number of kickable penalties during this period, to their credit they decided to run these in the hope of more points. Eventually a quick tap exposed an unprepared Bangor defence, providing the Larne centre with the necessary space to run in for an unconverted try.
Stung by this unexpected fightback, Bangor immediately replied with another try by Chris Morgan. With the Larne players now realising that their injury-hit side were now simply playing for pride, Bangor continued to pile on the pressure, adding another James McMullan try soon afterwards. With the score now standing at 11-44, and having consulted both captains, the referee then decided to blow for full time.
It is an unfortunate situation within this league that injury replacements are not permitted, and Larne will no doubt feel that this killed off any chance they may have had in the second half of this game. However, there would be few that would deny that Bangor worked hard for and deserved their bonus point victory. Also, with a number of regular 1st XV players unavailable through work or injury, the replacements slotted in well and more than justified their selection. With no game scheduled for next week, the team now has time to prepare for the prospect of a more tricky visit to old rivals Ballyclare on 19th November.
Bangor team : S Irvine, A Jackson, J Harrison, R Meeke , R Corbett, R McCausland (C), M Coey, D Lynn, R Armstrong, J Morgan, J McMullan, M Aspley, C Morris, D Noble, C Morgan
Bangor Scores: C Morgan (3T), J McMullan (2T), D Lynn (1T), R Corbett (1T), M Coey (1T), J Morgan (2C)
Bangor U17 12 – 10 Inst U17
Fixture: Friendly
Date: Thursday 27th October 2011 KO: 19:30
Great win against Inst for U17s
Bangor Under 17s played their second fixture of the season last Sunday against a strong Instonians side and eventually prevailed in a very competitive game by 12 points to 10.
Playing into a light breeze in the first half territorial advantage was regularly conceded as a consequence of the lengthy boot of the Instonians’ out half. Whilst the home defence was generally good it was not sufficient to prevent the Bangor line being breached on two occasions: neither of these tries was converted and Instonians went into half time ten points to the good.
Bangor however began the second half in stirring fashion and following a sustained period of pressure on their opponent’s line, hooker Mark Crockford crashed over for his team’s first try. This was converted superbly by rangey scrum half Curtis Skipp from wide out on the right. The momentum was now with the home side as the pack began to take control. A wave of attacks ensued which resulted in a penalty close to the Instonians line. Eschewing the opportunity for a kick at goal flanker Andy Armstrong cleverly took the penalty quickly catching the Instonians defence off guard and managed to squeeze over in the corner. Skipp on this occasion was unable to secure the additional points.
Instonians, now two points down, and clearly reeling from this transformation in their fortunes fought their way back into the game. A series of assaults on the Bangor line were bravely repelled with Crockford and his front row colleagues Matthew McGuile and Jack “Biggles” Matthews to the fore in the discharge of defensive duties. Despite their best efforts Instonians were unable to cross the Bangor line again and with an injury time drop goal attempt sailing wide Bangor held on for a hard earned victory.
This was a hugely encouraging performance and one which augers well for the remainder of the season. The boys playing as a team for only the second time were led dynamically from the front by their captain Nico Espana who deserves great credit for his efforts in this respect.
(report by Mark Tinman)
