Within seconds of Carrick’s kick-off, the home side were penalised for tackling Ryan Meeke in the air as he leapt to collect the ball. There was a worry that this was going to be a sign of things to come but, this appeared to be just a momentary case of over-exuberance. It is a credit to both sides that the remainder of the game was played in good spirit, and without major incident.

Dougie Gordon’s clearance kick from the ensuing penalty took Bangor deep into Carrick territory, and provided a good attacking platform. It didn’t take long for Bangor to force Carrick into giving away another penalty which was converted by Chris Morgan, putting Bangor in the lead by 0-3.

For the next 15 minutes, it was Bangor who were exerting all the pressure. As the forwards harried the Carrick centres, Meeke pounced on a loose ball and kicked through towards the Carrick line. Although the ball was cleared to touch, Bangor now had an attacking lineout deep inside the Carrick twenty two. From Paddy Dornan’s throw-in, Richard Corbett won the ball and then the Bangor pack put their well-organised driving maul to good use by pushing the Carrick defence over their own line before Nicky Hatton grounded the ball to score. The kick from the left hand touchline was pushed wide by Morgan, but the lead had now moved on to 0-8 with 23 minutes gone.

Carrick then had a chance to claw back some points when they were awarded a penalty in front of the posts, but some distance out. The kick was good in direction, but just short in length.

With just 4 minutes of the first half remaining, Bangor found themselves in a similar position to their first score, but slightly further out and now on the other wing. The change in position, however, made little difference to the Bangor forwards who produced another co-ordinated display to push over and score, this time through Jamie Clegg. Once again, the tricky conversion attempt went wide, making the score 0-13, which remained the case at half time.

With two tries in the bag, and needing the same again for the all important bonus point, Bangor started the second half in earnest, and were rewarded after just 5 minutes when Mike Aspley took a well timed pass from Dougie Gordon and cut through the Carrick defence to score to the left of the posts. This time Morgan’s kick was successful, extending Bangor’s lead to 0-20.

Unlike the first half, the second period was marked by the high penalty count against Bangor. A good kicking opportunity for Carrick was missed shortly after Bangor’s last score. However, immediately afterwards, and while playing advantage to Carrick for another penalty infringement, the Carrick out-half struck a well-taken drop goal to get the home side on the scoreboard, 3-20.

From the restart, Meeke was quickly up to disrupt Carrick’s attempts to gather the ball. Having won the ball, good rucking and recycling over several phases of play finally presented Chris Schofield with a 5 metre run to the line. Not surprisingly, the brave attempts to halt him were unsuccessful, and with his score to the right of the posts, Bangor had their fourth try and in so doing had secured the valuable bonus point. Morgan’s kick was good, making the score 3-27.

Following a strange yellow carding decision which reduced them to 14 men, Bangor were stung into action once more. The backs can take the credit for the next score, as good movement and passing saw the ball come to Davy Charles on the right wing. His pace was too much for the Carrick defenders, leaving him clear to score under the posts. With the conversion added, Bangor’s lead was 3-34 with 17 minutes left to play.

A combination of Bangor sitting back with the win now practically guaranteed, and Carrick’s dogged determination to take something positive away from the game, resulted in the visitors being pinned down in their own twenty two for much of the remainder of the game. Despite good tackling and defensive cover over this period, Bangor eventually left just enough of a gap for Carrick to nip through for a converted try with the final play of the game – final score 10-34.

Bangor have now reduced Ballyclare’s lead to just 7 points, and with 2 games in hand. The stage is now set for a mouth-watering fixture next weekend when the two sides meet for the first time this season. With so much at stake, the not-so-secret weapon on home advantage and the support that should bring will be of vital importance to Bangor. The players greatly value the touchline support, so all members and friends of the club are encouraged to come to Upritchard Park and play their part as the all-important ‘extra man’.

Bangor team: C Schofield, P Dornan, J Harrison, R Meeke, R Corbett, N Hatton, J Clegg, D Lyttle, R Armstrong (c), D Gordon, S Addy, M Aspley, M Leebody, D Charles, C Morgan

Bangor scores: N Hatton (1T), J Clegg (1T), M Aspley (1T), C Schofield (1T), D Charles (1T), C Morgan (1P, 3C)