With both sides unbeaten in the league this season, the meeting of Carrickfergus and Bangor at Upritchard Park was always going to be an appetising occasion. However, it’s unlikely many would have predicted the outcome or the manner in which it came about. Coming from a good result the previous week in the Junior Cup, Bangor were anxious to build on this and prove it wasn’t just a flash in the pan. Carrick, on the other hand, had seen their winning streak come to an abrupt end in the same competition and were equally anxious to return to winning ways. However, an inspired performance by Bangor was just too much for the Carrick men, with the home side running in eleven tries, nine of which were converted, to finish as 73-10 winners.

Kicking off into a slight headwind, Bangor gave good chase and were soon putting Carrick under pressure. It just took 5 minutes before the ball was fed to Jason Morgan who took off on one of his characteristic runs, shaking off three defenders before touching down under the posts. With the successful conversion, this was the ideal start. It was only a few minutes later that, in almost identical conditions, Ricky Armstrong repeated Jason’s success by scoring to the right of the posts. This was converted, giving Bangor a 14-0 lead.

Shortly afterwards, Carrick pulled 3 points back for an offside infringement by Bangor. However, Bangor’s response was immediate. Good interplay between backs and forwards saw the ball come to Peter Corbett who characteristically took the direct route from Carrick’s twenty-two to crash over for another converted try, and extend the lead to 21-3 with just over 15 minutes played. Carrick were reeling but had plenty of time to come back. Unfortunately for Carrick, Bangor then produced 3 minutes of inspired forward play to effectively kill off that idea. On the 25 minute mark, Bangor were awarded a penalty in a kickable position, but they instead decided to take a scrum. The ball came to the feet of Peter Corbett at Number 8, who picked up and went for the line. He was held up short but from the resulting ruck, Bangor captain Rob McCausland gathered the ball and launched himself over the Carrick defenders to score the bonus point try just to the left of the posts. From the restart, Bangor came straight back at Carrick. Having started the move, Richard Corbett eventually received the ball 5 metres from the Carrick line and made for the goal line. He needed all his height to stretch over and score in the identical place in which McCausland had scored just minutes before. With both tries converted, the score had now jumped to 35-3.

Carrick could find no answer to the Bangor attack, but proved they could still be a danger when their winger intercepted a loose pass and started off up the right hand touchline. Despite giving chase, the Bangor players were being left behind – except for James McMullan who came across from the left hand side and caught the Carrick player just short of Bangor’s line. The Bangor defence got back quickly, won the ball from the ruck and cleared to touch. However, from the resulting lineout, Carrick finally found a gap in Bangor’s defence to nip in under the posts for a try. The successful conversion coincided with the half time whistle, and the score stood at 35-10.

The second half started without David Noble who was receiving treatment for an injury. Thankfully he was patched up shortly afterwards and was able to resume on the wing. From the kick-off, Carrick were fortunate to be awarded a penalty when Bangor were found to have come in to a ruck from the side. Carrick elected to kick for goal, but the ball hit the upright, and was then collected by Morgan whose clearance kick travelled deep into the Carrick half. The Carrick defender was only able to find touch on their twenty-two. The lineout was won cleanly by Richard Corbett and, from scrum-half Armstrong’s pass, Morgan had a clear run to score again under the posts. Soon afterwards, Mike Aspley got on the score-sheet following a strong run down the left wing and holding off a determined Carrick tackle just short of the line.

Playing with the wind was a bonus for Bangor in the second half, with Morgan being able to push Carrick back into their own twenty-two on many occasions. In their efforts to find some kind of reply to Bangor’s play, Carrick’s penalty count started to rise. On the hour mark, one such penalty was kicked to the Carrick corner. The reliable Bangor lineout gathered the ball and formed a rolling maul which was eventually touched down by Ian McBurney. On this occasion, the conversion (from the left hand touchline) was missed, but the score was now 54-10.

With 20 minutes to go, and the result not in question, the game could now have slowed down. However, at almost exactly 5 minute intervals, Bangor ran in three further tries – one by full-back Davy Charles who sprinted from the half way line to score in the left hand corner, another by Aspley after some slick handling between himself and Morgan, and the game was rounded off by another Morgan try in the final play to bring the winning margin to 73-10.

While the critical eyes of the coaching staff know that there are areas of play that still need attention, nobody would deny that this was an outstanding team performance. The interplay and support between forwards and backs was obvious from the start, with players having the confidence to run at their opponents, knowing that there was always going to be support close at hand. Players are also beginning to develop close playing relationships within their specific positional roles. Attacking yet unselfish play like this was personified by Chris Morris who picked up the Reeds Rains Man of the Match award. All these qualities will be put to the test next weekend when the focus returns to the Junior Cup – this time a second round encounter with QL1 side Portadown. However, if Bangor can reproduce performances like this, you wouldn’t bet against them!

Bangor team : S Irvine, A Jackson, J Harrison, T Brown , R Corbett, R McCausland (C), I McBurney, P Corbett, R Armstrong, J Morgan, J McMullan, M Aspley, C Morris, D Noble, D Charles

Bangor Scores: J Morgan (3T, 9C), M Aspley (2T), R Armstrong (1T), P Corbett (1T), R McCausland (1T), R Corbett (1T), I McBurney (1T), D Charles (1T)