Bangor too strong for Dromore

With confidence riding high, Bangor took the opportunity to rotate some players within the senior squad, with Pete Nicol and Freddie Black moving up into the front and second rows respectively. Although still with players not available through injury or other commitments, the Bangor side retained much of the winning formula that had been evident so far this season. It was therefore no surprise when, within the first few minutes from Bangor’s kick-off, the home side pressed forward and got within a few metres of the Dromore line. Although repelled by a strong defence, eventually too many penalties were being conceded in the process resulting in a Dromore yellow card and a successful kick from Mark Widdowson to put Bangor ahead by 3-0 after 6 minutes.

The quality of interaction between forwards and backs has been a feature of Bangor’s game this season, and this was clearly evident several minutes later when a good break by captain Jamie Clegg, was taken on by fellow forward Andrew Jackson. Having drawn the defence, Jackson passed to centre Desi Fusco who then found Mark Widdowson on the left wing who had a clear run in to score. His conversion added the extras and Bangor were now ahead by 10-0.

Dromore’s restart took play into Bangor’s twenty two, but once again Widdowson showed great pace to break out of defence. Although having made good ground, his path to goal was blocked, so he kicked ahead and Ross McCloskey showed great pace to win the race with the Dromore defence and touch down for the score. Widdowson’s successful conversion brought the score now to 17-0.

If Dromore were unsettled by the quick succession of Bangor tries, they had little time to compose themselves as another Bangor attack started by Fusco was taken on by Clegg before putting Darren Kelly through for a simple, yet well-executed score. Another good kick made it 24-0.

With a quarter of the match now gone, Dromore managed to stem the flow of Bangor points, but were unable over the following 15 minutes to find a way through Bangor’s solid defence. As has been demonstrated before, when Bangor counter-attack, it is with speed and precision. With Dromore pushing forward, not only was Jason Guthrie’s long clearance kick perfectly placed into space behind the defence, but the follow-up chase by McCloskey gave Dromore no option but to scramble the ball into touch. With Bangor now deep inside Dromore’s twenty two, the lineout was cleanly won and, following some careful build up by the forwards created the space for Jason Morgan to nip through and score Bangor’s bonus point try, with the added conversion.
Bangor rounded off the first half with another try in the closing minute when Darren Kelly backed himself with a quickly taken tap penalty and powered over from short distance for his second try. Although Widdowson missed this conversion, Bangor’s lead as the sides turned around was 36-0.

Dromore got the second half underway and immediately played with renewed vigour. This effort was sustained for much of the first 10 minutes of the half, with Bangor forced to defend their line on several occasions. Having found no direct way to Bangor’s line, Dromore spun the ball wide to the left. This had not been fruitful earlier, but on this occasion Dromore found the extra space they needed to get past the Bangor defence. However, in doing so they benefitted from the referee missing the final pass going well forward. Nonetheless the try was given, although not converted, and Dromore were off the mark.

Although Bangor have proved to be high scorers, their defensive record has been among the best in the league so far. It was therefore no surprise that they were stung into action again. From the restart, Bangor regained possession through the forwards. Quick hands found Morgan in space with Fusco in support. Another strong run by Fusco brought Bangor back into Dromore’s twenty two before passing back inside to McCloskey who dived over between the posts for a converted try. Shortly afterwards, from deep inside their own twenty two, Bangor broke out again, this time through Guthrie, Widdowson and finally Davy Charles on the right wing. Charles was stopped short of the line, but illegally so. Like Kelly’s try in the first half, quick thinking, this time by Freddie Black, saw a quickly taken tap penalty result in a drive over and score. With Widdowson’s kick, Bangor had now notched up 50 to Dromore’s 5.

As the game entered the final quarter, Dromore fought back again with repeated attacks close to Bangor’s line. Eventually, an infringement too many by Bangor resulted in a yellow card for Charles. Having the extra man advantage spurred Dromore on and, just 5 minutes later and following several phases of attacking play, they were rewarded with a well taken try towards the left hand touchline.

Once again, Bangor’s response was immediate and deadly, when Fusco again made the initial break before passing to Widdowson who outran the defence to score his second try of the match. From the restart, Morgan ran the ball back before passing to Guthrie. After some clever sidesteps had opened up extra space, he passed to Charles who had just returned from the sin bin. As if to make amends for his earlier misdemeanour, Charles sprinted down the right wing before touching down in the corner for Bangor’s ninth try of the match. With just a few minutes remaining, Dromore battled on valiantly, but were denied any further score, finally ending up on the wrong side of Bangor’s resounding 60-10 victory.

Bangor’s remarkable start to the season sees them now sitting clear at the top of their league. With a week off now as a result of having a bye in the first round of the Junior Cup, there will be a chance for players to work off the remains of any injuries and prepare for the next league game away to Cooke.

These are exciting times for Bangor Rugby Club, with good numbers regularly turning out to train, and all three senior teams undefeated and sitting at the top of their respective leagues. At a time when there is much debate about the declining numbers and general state of rugby across Ireland, it is refreshing to be one of the few clubs that is bucking the trend.

Bangor team: O McIlmurry, A Jackson, J Leary, F Black, C Burton, M Aspley, J Clegg (c), D Bradford, J Guthrie, J Morgan, M Widdowson, D Fusco, R Gamble, D Charles, R McCloskey

Subs: P Nicol, D Kelly

Bangor scorers: M Widdowson (1P, 2T, 6C), R McCloskey (2T), D Kelly (2T), J Morgan (1T), F Black (1T), D Charles (1T)