Home advantage took on a new and painful meaning in Bangor’s Towns Cup quarter final at Ballynahinch. Fighting back from 18-5 down, Bangor looked to have won with the last kick of the game, but this was over-ruled resulting in a loss by 18-17.
With Ballynahinch 2nds currently unbeaten in all competitions this season, and having already won the Junior Cup, the pundits understandably had the hosts as favourites, but knew that Bangor would push them all the way. It was therefore no surprise that having kicked off with a slight breeze advantage, Ballynahinch immediately took play deep into Bangor’s territory, and mounted repeated attacks on the Bangor line. However, despite their efforts, Hinch were kept at bay by a resolute and firm Bangor defence.

Having weathered this initial storm, Bangor started to find their feet and drew confidence through their dominance in the forwards. Then, after 25 minutes of play, they made this dominance count. From a penalty in the middle of the pitch, Jason Morgan kicked for touch on the Hinch twenty two metre line. Andrew Jackson’s put in at the line-out was well taken by Richard Corbett, who brought the ball down for his fellow forwards to secure in a rolling maul. Horsepower in these occasions is important, but equally so is control, and under the guidance of scrum half Ricky Armstrong, the pack kept its composure and slowly moved towards the Hinch line. Despite throwing players at the maul to halt the move, Hinch were powerless to prevent its progress until eventually Curtis Stewart was able to take the ball down and score in the right hand corner. Neil Cuthbertson’s difficult conversion into the wind went wide, leaving the score at 0-5.

From the restart, Bangor failed to secure the ball cleanly and conceded a penalty in the process. Although some distance out, the kick was chosen and, with the wind directly behind, was successfully converted by the Hinch out half to narrow the gap to 3-5.

Bangor quickly came back and were applying most of the pressure, forcing a kickable penalty for themselves after 33 minutes. Cuthbertson’s kick, from the left hand side this time, hit the upright, bounced into Hinch possession and was safely cleared.

Just as it was felt that this is how the half would end, Hinch took play back into Bangor’s half with a good positional kick. Their backs recycled the ball quickly, moving it sharply to their left wing who provided a deft pass inside, completely wrong footing the Bangor defence, for the Hinch fullback to score in the left hand corner. The touchline kick was missed, but as the whistle went for half time, the home side were ahead by 8-5.

Bangor began the second half well, pressing hard through the pack into the Hinch half with designs on regaining the initiative. However, they were to be dashed after just 3 minutes when a miss pass move along the Bangor backline was intercepted by the Hinch out half who sprinted from just outside his own twenty two to score under the Bangor posts. With the easy conversion, Hinch were now ahead by 15-5, and the game had swung decisively in Hinch’s favour.

Over the next 20 minutes, Bangor struggled to find their earlier form while Hinch could not add to their lead. Having missed a penalty opportunity apiece, it was not until 27 minutes had been played that Hinch added to the score with a successful penalty kick, extending their lead to 18-5. With just 13 minutes left, the home support believing the victory was theirs, Bangor dug deep. With a ‘never say die’ attitude, and fitness to sustain their playing intensity, they came back at Hinch with renewed vigour.

With 5 minutes of normal time remaining, Bangor won a penalty which they kicked for touch. In a repeat of their first half try, they secured the lineout and drove over for another score, this time by Ryan Latimer. Jason Morgan successfully converted the kick to bring the score to 18-12, and just one converted try in it.

The Hinch players now looked anxious. Bangor, on the other hand, looked full of running and were determined to keep up the pressure until the final whistle. More good runs by centres Mike Aspley and Chris Morgan took play back into Hinch territory and forced another penalty. The kick to touch meant only one thing – another push for the line. The Hinch men dug in and managed initially to disrupt the attack, but Bangor stuck to the task and looked to have scored when they drove against the Hinch upright. The referee wasn’t convinced, so another scrum was called. This resulted in yet another penalty which was again kicked to touch, this time close to the Hinch line. With the referee calling the last play, Bangor gathered from the line-out, and formed the maul once more, which then crabbed across the pitch towards the posts. Once settled again, they made their final push which Hinch were powerless to stop, resulting in a third try, this time by captain Jamie Clegg and to the right of the posts. With the score now at 18-17 in Hinch’s favour, there was just time for Morgan’s conversion attempt. What happened next cast a shadow over what was, until then, a very competitive and highly entertaining game of cup rugby.

With the wind still swirling along and across the pitch, kicking was going to be a difficult prospect. Morgan judged his kick well, the ball rising high and drifting inside the upright for what everyone apart from the Hinch touch judge thought was the winning conversion. Although both the referee and the Bangor touch judge had given the kick from their positions in front of the posts and behind the left hand upright respectively, the referee then consulted with both touch judges and controversially decided that the kick should be retaken. The pressure on Morgan was incredible. He chose the same kick as before, but this time it rebounded off the post.

Regrettably, the sequence of events following Morgan’s initial conversion attempt left those both on and off the field of play confused, embarrassed and upset. Bangor, having come back in such a determined and honest fashion, showed their mettle and deserved better.
With their cup run coming to a controversial end, Bangor’s focus now will be to secure a top four position in the league, starting with a home game against third placed Ballymoney next Saturday.

Bangor side: B Worthington (S Irvine), A Jackson, J Harrison, C Stewart, R Corbett, J Henly, R Latimer, J Clegg (c), R Armstrong, J Morgan, M Widdowson, M Aspley, C Morgan, N Cuthbertson, D Charles

Subs: F Black, S Irvine

Bangor scores: C Stewart (1T), R Latimer (1T),J Clegg (1T), J Morgan (1C)