Having won a reprieve from having to play their postponed game against Clonmel during the week, Enniscorthy started their round robin campaign at home against Bangor who had already secured a bonus point win against Westport last Saturday. With a home win apiece following their two meetings in the All Ireland Junior Cup, and with an unbeaten record against Ulster sides when playing at home, Enniscorthy certainly started this game as favourites. However, when Bangor last played Enniscorthy in this season’s All Ireland Junior Cup, it was just 4 days after their hard fought victory over Instonians in the Ulster Junior Cup final, with the result that some players were unavailable through injury. Despite further occasions where the fixture backlog forced a number of mid-week games to be played between those normally scheduled for Saturdays – ironically to avoid any delays in the round robin schedule – Bangor’s senior squad had come through relatively unscathed and could now field a truly competitive side. The other factor that hampered the last game was the weather and pitch condition. Thankfully the surface, while bare in some places, now looked firm and would suit running rugby.

As Enniscorthy kicked off, it soon became clear that they wanted to be quick out of the blocks and put Bangor under immediate pressure. The pace at which the game was being played was frenetic, with Enniscorthy throwing the ball wide whenever possible and stretching the Bangor defence. On a positive note, early indications were that Bangor’s forwards looked to have the upper hand. However, after just 7 minutes, an attempted intercept by David Bradford that got knocked-on was judged to be a deliberate act and was duly penalised, but the kick for goal went wide. Within 5 minutes, Enniscorthy won another penalty which, this time, was kicked to touch. The line-out and drive was stopped by Bangor, but the ball was quickly switched to the left where the Enniscorthy winger found room to score in the corner. The conversion was missed, but Enniscorthy were first on the scoreboard by 5-0.

Bangor were not without their chances, but good attacking opportunities were spoiled by several uncharacteristic handling errors. By contrast, Enniscorthy’s handling was both quick and accurate and used this to good effect after 24 minutes when, once again, they found space down the left wing and then capitalised on some poor tackling to score again, this time with the successful conversion.

At 12-0 down, there were some worried faces among the Bangor faithful. However, after another 5 minutes had passed, a rash tackle led to Enniscorthy losing one of their wing forwards to the sin bin. Good kicking by Gareth Millar brought Bangor within sight of their opponent’s line. As the Bangor forwards started to turn the screw, they won another penalty just 7 metres out. This time Bradford took a quick tap and go, before recycling the ball to Curtis Stewart who twisted and turned through the defence to score on the right hand side. Mark Widdowson added the conversion and Bangor were now back in contention at 12-7.

With the pace of the game now a little more settled, Bangor looked to be getting into their stride and when Darren Kelly was pulled down while in the air at a lineout, they saw a second Enniscorthy player receive a yellow card, reducing them briefly to 13 men. Again Millar found a good touch from the resulting penalty. Bangor’s subsequent catch and drive took full advantage of their extra power in the forwards, moving inexorably towards the Enniscorthy line. When the maul was pulled down, the referee signalled a penalty try which, when Widdowson’s kick was added, put Bangor ahead for the first time by 12-14. Enniscorthy had an outside chance of regaining the lead when they were awarded a penalty with the last play of the first half, but their kick fell short and wide.

As Bangor got the second half underway, Enniscorthy immediately went on the offensive and were almost successful except for a last minute knock on when the score looked certain. By now, some black clouds were gathering and a slight breeze was blowing in Bangor’s favour. Millar used this to great effect, finding touch deep inside the Enniscorthy twenty two and setting up another attacking opportunity. Having won the lineout, Bangor threw everything at the Enniscorthy line. First it was Stewart, but he was judged to be held up as he went over the line. Then Mike Weir broke free from his tackler and had just a couple of metres to go, but somehow the ball slipped from his grasp and, with it, the chance had gone.

As Bangor continued to dominate this opening period of the second half, a new factor came into play – the gathering clouds had resulted in a hail storm. If this affected the players, it didn’t show as Bangor patiently used several rucks to move towards Enniscorthy’s goal line once again. Eventually, it was James Leary who popped up with the ball from the back of a ruck before making the last few metres and scoring in the left hand corner. The difficult touchline conversion was missed, but Bangor’s lead had stretched to 12-19, with 20 minutes remaining.

However, Enniscorthy were far from finished. Once again their backs cut through some poor Bangor tackling and their follow-up pressure was rewarded with a penalty inside Bangor’s twenty two. This time it was the home side that employed the pick-up and drive to best effect, finding just enough of a gap to push over for a try close to Bangor’s posts. The straightforward conversion levelled the scores at 19-19.

With 15 minutes now left on the clock, each side knew that the next score could be the decisive one. Both sides responded well, but it was Bangor who forced play back into their opponent’s territory. As the clock counted down to the last 4 minutes, Bangor were awarded a penalty inside the Enniscorthy twenty two, and half way towards the right hand touchline. At this stage in the game, the head was saying “take the points”, whereas the heart was saying “use the forwards to go for the bonus point try”. As both the home players and referee pushed Bangor to quickly make their decision, it was the former option that was chosen. While the kick would normally be well within Widdowson’s capability, on this occasion it was not, and as the ball drifted just wide of the uprights, the chance was gone.

However, there was more drama to come. Enniscorthy, sensing they had been let off the hook, ran straight back at Bangor. From being within inches of winning, Bangor were now fighting to hold on to the draw. As anxious clock-watchers saw the game enter its 80th minute, Enniscorthy made a final drive for the line only to lose control of the ball as they went over, and give Bangor a 5 metre scrum. Knowing this would be the last play of the game, Bangor held their nerve and secured the ball before kicking it dead.

For the sizeable crowd of spectators watching from the side-lines, this was as exciting a game of rugby that they had seen for some time. Although many would regard the draw as a fair result, both sides undoubtedly left the pitch knowing that either side could have won. As Clonmel recorded a convincing 38-0 win against Westport, the end result is a round robin league table that is now wide open. Bangor now have a week off while Clonmel and Enniscorthy play their re-scheduled game, before facing Clonmel in the final round of the series. However, the Bangor players will know that their destiny lies in their own hands, and the simple answer is for them to return to Clonmel and repeat their famous victory there in last season’s All Ireland Junior Cup. In so doing, they would be guaranteed a top two finishing position that would either gain them automatic promotion to AIL division 2C or at least give them one more chance to go up via a play-off against Sligo, who finished second last in this league. These are exciting times for Bangor Rugby Club, and everybody who has supported the players so far is urged to carry this through to the finish and make the journey to County Tipperary (it’s not such a long way anymore) on Saturday 23rd April.

Bangor team: J Leary, P Whyte, M Ferguson, D Kelly, C Buton, D Bradford, J Clegg (c), C Stewart, J Guthrie, G Millar, M Widdowson, M Weir, J Morgan, D Fusco, R McCloskey

Subs: P Dornan, D Caughey, R Gamble, M Aspley, A Jackson

Bangor scorers: C Stewart (1T), Penalty try (1T), J Leary (1T), M Widdowson (2C)