Despite a fumbled ball from Enniskillen’s kick-off, Bangor started brightly with the backs in particular keeping the ball in hand, and attacking the Enniskillen twenty two. At this stage the Enniskillen defence was unsettled, and started to concede penalties. After just five minutes, one of these penalties was well within range, and Jason Morgan duly converted to open the scoring at 0-3. The following twenty minutes saw Enniskillen begin to make better use of possession, forcing Bangor back on many occasions. However, after twenty two minutes, Bangor were awarded another penalty, this time in front of the posts. Jason once more converted to increase Bangor’s lead to 0-6. It was around this time that Enniskillen lost a wing forward through a knee injury.

With a man down, it was Enniskillen who surprisingly adapted better than Bangor to this change. Just six minutes later, they were awarded a penalty for Bangor not releasing in the tackle and took this opportunity to reduce Bangor’s lead to 3-6. Emboldened by this score, Enniskillen continued to push forward. Following a good backs move, and a clever kick ahead, the chase was on for a try. However, the ball was fumbled just short of the line, Bangor won the resulting scrum and were able to clear through a good kick to touch. Enniskillen were undeterred and kept coming back at Bangor, winning another penalty inside Bangor’s twenty two, which they successfully converted to level the scores at 6-6. Associated with this penalty was an accidental clash of heads between Peter Corbett from Bangor, and the Enniskillen full-back. While both players suffered with a gash to their heads, it was another unfortunate blow to Enniskillen that their player was not able to return to the field of play whereas Peter Corbett was able to be patched up in time for the second half. With both sides coming to terms with the manpower situation, the half time whistle went ten minutes later with the score remaining at 6-6.

The start of the second half saw Bangor continue to be penalised – this time for not releasing the ball when tackled. With the simple kick from right in front of the posts, Enniskillen moved into the lead for the first time, 9-6. Despite the two man advantage, Bangor found it difficult to complete their moves and were continually frustrated by a determined Enniskillen defence. It was not until thirty minutes into this second half that Bangor’s sustained pressure in the Enniskillen twenty two produced the deciding score. From a lineout won from a penalty close to the Enniskillen line on the left hand side, the forwards formed a rolling maul. While keeping their shape and continuing to push forward, Bangor second row Tony Brown gathered the ball at the back of the maul and surged over for the try. With Jason Morgan’s successful conversion, the score now moved in Bangor’s favour at 9-13. The final ten minutes were tense, with Enniskillen refusing to give up and keeping play in the Bangor half. However, in the end they were unable to make the necessary breakthrough and Bangor held on to take the victory.

The unfortunate injuries that particularly affected Enniskillen, combined with the rule in this league that does not allow for player substitutions, obviously had a detrimental impact on the game. However, Enniskillen’s misfortune could so easily have been Bangor’s, as has been the case in previous seasons. What was perhaps more disappointing from the Bangor perspective was that the player advantage was not fully exploited, and that they had to work hard for their points. Perhaps it is more to Enniskillen’s credit that they fought all the harder to compensate for their difficulties. It will certainly be interesting to see how the return game at Upritchard Park later in the season will unfold. With no game scheduled for next Saturday, Bangor will now have time to recover and regroup before travelling to Lisburn on the 17th September.

Bangor Scores: J Morgan (2P, 1C), T Brown (1T)