Thankfully the gales and rain from earlier in the week had gone, and the conditions were as good as one might expect at this time of year. Playing with the slight wind advantage in the first half, Bangor enjoyed the majority of possession, and ran in three tries to Carrick’s single penalty kick. The second half saw Bangor come very close on a number of occasions, but only managed one more try, bringing the final score to Carrick 3 Bangor 24.

This was Bangor’s first visit to Carrick since the opening of their new clubhouse. The impressive facilities and excellent hospitality were certainly enjoyed by all. Both sides were conscious of their last meeting, when Bangor put on one of their most impressive displays of the season to win by a very large margin. However, Bangor’s objective was simply to return to the kind of form they had enjoyed earlier, and shake off the recent poor performances. With some players making a return to the side, and others missing through injury, this provided a good opportunity to experiment with the line-up before resuming the league campaign next week. One notable addition was Matthew Bailey who was making his 1st XV debut at scrum half.

From Carrick’s kick-off into the breeze, Bangor collected and immediately went on the attack. Although continually pushing forward, Bangor were unable to covert possession into points which maybe prompted a rather speculative and unsuccessful drop goal attempt by Jason Morgan after 10 minutes. However, from the restart, Morgan collected the ball and broke through the Carrick line before passing the ball across the backs to Jamie Lemon who out-paced the Carrick defence to score in the right-hand corner. The conversion was missed, but Bangor were on the score sheet at last.

It was not until a further 10 minutes has passed that Bangor increased their lead. Following a good Bangor scrum and subsequent follow-up by the forwards, Serelli Magoon set off on one of his characteristic breaks, brushing off some poor Carrick tackling before off-loading to David Miller on the wing. Despite the attentions of two Carrick defenders, he produced a strong run to score in the opposite corner. This equally difficult conversion was unsuccessful, but Bangor were now leading by 10 points to nil.

From the restart, Bangor gathered once more and decided to use the breeze to get back into Carrick’s half. However, some players had strayed off-side, giving Carrick the opportunity to get off the mark with a successful penalty kick.

Bangor, however, continued to dominate and their confidence was most apparent when just a few minutes later Morgan produced a perfectly weighted kick over the Carrick defence which he followed-up superbly to touch down just to the right of the posts. This time Keith Rossan’s conversion was good, making the score Carrick 3 Bangor 17. Despite further opportunities by Bangor to increase their lead, the score remained this way as the referee brought the first half to a close.

As Bangor restarted the second half, it was obvious they were keen to pick up where they left off. Just 2 minutes had elapsed when Morgan chipped over the Carrick players again – however this time Miller was unable to control the ball as he was tackled on the line. Rob McCausland also came close following a good break by Rossan. Despite his efforts, he was held up just short of the line. However, from the resulting scrum, the Bangor pack pushed Carrick off the ball, which was then swiftly passed across the entire back line until Miller squeezed over in the left hand corner for his second and Bangor’s fourth try. Rossan produced an excellent kick to add the extras, bringing the score to Carrick 3 Bangor 24. To Carrick’s credit, they rallied in the final quarter, keeping Bangor at bay and also producing their best attacking opportunities of the game. However, by the final whistle neither side was able to add to their score, resulting in Bangor going through to the next round of the competition.

While not played at the tempo or levels of skill that were apparent when Bangor last met Carrick, this was a big improvement on recent performances. The forwards worked hard to win their scrums and line-outs, and the backs moved the ball with quicker and more secure hands. Ball retention was also good with far fewer occasions where the ball was lost in contact. Looking forward to next week, and in a strange twist in the fixtures, Bangor return to Carrick as the league competition resumes. One hopes that given these improvements, together with renewed belief in their capabilities, the squad will continue to build on this and enjoy further successes in their cup and league campaigns.

Bangor team : S Irvine, A Jackson, S Magoon, R Meeke, P Morrow, R McCausland (C), M Coey, P Corbett (K Lamont), M Bailey, J Morgan, D Miller, K Rossan, C Morris, M Aspley (J McMullan), J Lemon

Bangor Scores: D Miller (2T), J Lemon (1T), J Morgan (1T), K Rossan (2C)