Bangor bash Belmont boys

In perfect playing conditions, both overhead and underfoot, Bangor kicked off with the wind at their backs. From the outset, Bangor pushed forward keeping play in the CIYMS half, but a little too much over-exuberance by the home side resulted in several early penalties, allowing CIYMS to gain plenty of possession, although without gaining much ground. Bangor’s cause wasn’t helped when a hamstring injury to Phil Whyte in the eighth minute saw him play no further part in proceedings. CIYMS then lost their out half just 2 minutes later, although this was only for 10 minutes following a yellow card offence.

With early scoring chances for Jamie Clegg and Davy Charles being missed, a sense of frustration began to set in. However, patience is a virtue Bangor have come to appreciate, and with a quarter of the game played, excellent work by Curtis Stewart saw him take the ball from the back of a solid Bangor scrum before fending off 3 defenders and off-loading to Ross McCloskey, coming into the attacking line from full back, who then powered down the left wing to score in the corner. A well-judged kick successfully added the extras, and Bangor had 7 points on the board.

Although showing some changes from last week’s powerful display at Ballyclare, the Bangor pack looked equally dominant now and, just 7 minutes later, this was clear to see when prop Oran McIlmurray made a telling break before getting the ball back to flanker Jamie Clegg in support, who then found hooker Andrew Jackson with just enough room to dive over close to the posts. The simple conversion was added by McCloskey, making the score 14-0.

A similar period later, another powerful run by Stewart from a Bangor scrum was just stopped short of the line. However, the ball was quickly picked up by David Bradford who, despite the close attention of two burly defenders, managed to stretch over for another score, this time to the right of the posts. McCloskey’s kick was wide, but Bangor’s lead had now stretched to 19-0, with 35 minutes played.

Although well ahead and looking in control, the feeling from the touchline was that the wind playing down the pitch might be worth 20 points to the visitors in the second half. However, as the first half entered its final minute, scrum half Jason Guthrie managed to make something out of nothing as he got the ball just outside the CIYMS twenty two then dummied and side-stepped the approaching defenders before sprinting clear and scoring under the posts and, in so doing, extended Bangor’s lead to a more comfortable 26-0 and secured a bonus point in the process.

As CIYMS got the second half underway, the combination of having the wind at their backs and some strong words from their coaches appeared to have the desired effect as they enjoyed most of the possession and kept play within Bangor’s half. However, like Ballyclare the previous week, CIYMS were unable to convert possession into points as Bangor’s well-organised and robust defence kept the visitors at bay. Unfortunately, Stewart conceded one penalty too many for the referee and was duly yellow-carded. During his spell in the bin, CIYMS had an opportunity to get off the mark when they were awarded a penalty in front of Bangor’s posts. However, their woes continued when the kick drifted wide.

For the first 25 minutes of the second half, lengthy spells of CIYMS possession with little progress made were countered by bursts out of defence and into attack from Bangor. The main difference between the two styles of play was that Bangor’s attack was better constructed and finally executed. Quick and accurate passing in the centre of the pitch saw the ball come to outside centre Rob Gamble, making his debut at this level having just left Bangor Grammar School, who showed both speed and strength to run from some distance out and then dive over in the left hand corner. Although it looked like he had grounded the ball successfully, the referee judged that the final CIYMS tackle was illegal and therefore awarded a penalty try, thus making the conversion a lot more straightforward.

Having broken the second half scoring deadlock, Bangor once again cut loose. A good break by Guthrie was taken on down the right wing by Cuthbertson. Although his path to goal was blocked, his pass inside found Clegg in close support, leaving the captain with a clear run to score under the posts. Not long afterwards another move, started in the centre, was whipped right this time finding Mark Widdowson on the right hand touchline. Although tackled as he tried to burst through, Widdowson managed to pop the ball to Cuthbertson who gratefully accepted and ran through for another simple try. The final nail in the coffin for the now shell-shocked CIYMS players came just one minute later when Davy Charles burst through unhindered to score a well-deserved try. Although 5 minutes of normal time remained, with the score now 52-0, the referee brought proceedings to a close.

To those who thought last week’s result benefited from Ballyclare ‘having a bad day’, this performance confirms the progress that has been made through the summer months, and emphatically sets out Bangor’s stall as to their ambitions for this, and the coming seasons. Next Saturday is another challenging fixture away to Portadown. If Bangor can keep reproducing these early performances, supporting the team on the touchline should not be seen as a duty, but as more of a pleasure.

Bangor team: O McIlmurray, A Jackson, P Whyte, D Kelly, C Stewart, M Aspley, J Clegg (c), D Bradford, J Guthrie, J Morgan, M Widdowson, D Fusco, R Gamble, D Charles, R McCloskey

Subs: J Leary, N Cuthbertson

Bangor scores: R McCloskey (1T, 3C), A Jackson (1T), D Bradford (1T), J Guthrie (1T), R Gamble (1T), J Clegg (1T), N Cuthbertson (1T, 3C), D Charles (1T)