Potent performance perplexes Portadown

Acknowledging each other’s good run of results in their respective leagues, both Bangor and Portadown fielded strong sides in what promised to be an interesting encounter. Portadown had been touted in the press as one of the favourites to lift this year’s trophy. For Bangor’s part, this game would provide a useful litmus test as to their competitiveness against one of the top teams in the league above them, especially with the ambition to progress to this level in the coming season.

The large crowd of spectators braving the cold evening air, hadn’t long to wait until things started to warm up. Within 2 minutes of Portadown’s kick-off, a dropped pass was kicked through by Bangor. Jason Morgan followed this up, kicking the ball towards the Portadown line. The back-pedalling defence were unable to respond quickly enough and Morgan took his opportunity by touching down under the posts. The simple conversion followed, putting Bangor 7-0 in the lead.

The stunned Portadown players and coaching staff now knew they had a game on their hands. However, before they could think about mounting an attack of their own, Bangor collected the restart and steadily moved back into Portadown territory. After a number of phases, the ball came back to Morgan who had just enough space and time to take a well-aimed drop goal. Bangor were now 10-0 up, with just 7 minutes played.

With plenty of time on the clock, neither side showed complacency or resignation. Portadown showed many times why they are at the top of their league, as their forwards challenged hard at break-downs, and the backs ran clever lines. However, the determination of the Bangor players was equal to the task, foiling each attack that was thrown at them.

The next score originated once more from the pace and footwork of Morgan as he cut through the Portadown back line. Having passed to the supporting Chris Morgan, it looked like another try was on the cards. However, he was stopped by a desperate tackle by the Portadown open side flanker which was judged by the referee to be dangerous. This resulted in a yellow card for the tackler, and a penalty opportunity for Bangor. Jason Morgan made sure of the points, and extended Bangor’s lead to 13-0 after 25 minutes.

Although the standard of play by both sides was impressive, Bangor were starting to concede quite a few penalties around the breakdown area. With just a couple of minutes of the half remaining, the unfortunate Mike Aspley went off his feet at a ruck and was then shown the yellow card for causing one infringement too many for the referee.

As Bangor got the second half underway, there were concerns around the touchline that Portadown, now back to full strength, would aim to exploit the extra man advantage. However, not only did Bangor hold off the Portadown attack until Aspley could rejoin the game, they wisely used Morgan’s boot to kick for position deep within their opponents half. With 10 minutes gone, Bangor were awarded a lineout just inside the Portadown twenty two. Andrew Jackson’s throw found Darren Lyttle, who gave the ball to Jamie Clegg before setting up a driving maul. The pack formed up and started to push their opponents back. As the pack closed in on the Portadown line, the ball came to Curtis Stewart who, with the help of his other forwards, produced the final push and drop on the ball to score a deserved try. Although the conversion was missed, Bangor’s lead had stretched to 18-0.

Spirits were high, and perhaps the win was now beginning to look likely. However, like a wounded animal Portadown were becoming their most dangerous. After another 10 minutes, Portadown had a similar chance to Bangor’s opening try, but lost control at the last moment. Then, just a minute later, Bangor made a poor pass which was pounced on by Portadown who then ran the ball up the right wing before passing to their prop who slipped through the Bangor tackles to score wide on the right hand side. The difficult conversion was successful, bringing the score to 18-7.

Nothing to panic about just yet, as both teams cancelled each other out for the next 10 minutes. Then the Portadown out half produced a stunning break to split the Bangor defence before off-loading to his winger who scored in the left hand corner. The conversion was missed, but came very close as it hit the left hand upright. The score was now 18-12, with just one converted try in it.

With about 10 minutes remaining, Bangor knew they had to keep play in the Portadown half. As Bangor ground out the hard yards through the forwards, and with time ticking away, Portadown’s frustration became evident as they started to concede penalties, the effect of some was compounded by their dissent and subsequent additional 10 metre penalty. Eventually, a penalty was awarded in a kickable position, and the reliable boot of Morgan added 3 more points to relieve the pressure and move the score to 21-12.

With just a few minutes remaining, Bangor concentrated on keeping the ball in the forwards, and denying Portadown any meaningful possession. As the whistle went for full time, the magnitude of what had been achieved finally sunk in. However, with many other strong teams coming into the next round of this competition, there will be other difficult games like this if Bangor is to progress further. Nonetheless, this will have provided a great confidence boost as attentions return to the league campaign on Saturday when Bangor travel to Randalstown.

Bangor team: C Schofield, A Jackson, J Harrison (B Worthington), F Black, D Lyttle, N Hatton (S Gilliland), J Clegg, C Stewart, R Armstrong (c), J Morgan, J Foulkes, M Aspley, C Morgan, D Charles, P Gray

Bangor scores: J Morgan (1T, 1C, 1DG, 2P), C Stewart (1T)