Bangor back on top

Just 3 days after their Towns Cup quarter final victory over Donaghadee, Bangor hosted Omagh under the Upritchard Park lights in a re-scheduled league fixture. Having learned the day before that the Towns Cup semi-final was to be repeat of this meeting, both sides were bound to be anxious to put in a good performance while also sizing up their opponents. Things didn’t start well for Bangor, however, when Rob Gamble limped off the pitch during the warm-up having suffered a painful ankle injury, forcing some last minute changes to the back line.

Although very cold, the conditions both overhead and underfoot were good, with just a slight breeze favouring Omagh as Bangor got the game underway. The visitors looked sharp from the outset, but were soon under pressure in the forwards’ battle, especially in the scrums and rucks. This dominance was put to good use after 13 minutes when, having won their line-out just outside the Omagh twenty two, Bangor formed a maul and started driving towards the Omagh line. Slow but steady progress saw the drive continue deep into the twenty two, before a section of the maul broke clear and surged towards the line. Desperate defending with Omagh defenders coming in from all directions and then pulling down the maul, gave the referee little option but to award a penalty try. Mark Widdowson converted from in front of the posts putting Bangor ahead by 7-0.

Omagh used the slight wind advantage well through good positional kicking which kept them camped in Bangor’s territory. However, Bangor defended and contested well at the rucks and were rewarded with turn-overs that should have allowed them to clear the danger. Instead, they were guilty of trying to play the ball inside their own twenty two and in front of their posts. With Omagh keeping the pressure on, eventually Bangor got caught with the ball and conceded a penalty for not releasing when tackled. Omagh converted the penalty to narrow the scores at 7-3.

Although Omagh had benefitted from this Bangor mistake, they were repeatedly penalised for various infringements which resulted from a lack of discipline in the loose play. Despite being given a number of kickable penalties, Bangor rejected these in favour of try-scoring opportunities. To Omagh’s credit, their solid defence denied several Bangor surges over the last 10 minutes of the half, eventually holding on to keep the score at 7-3 as the half time whistle was blown.

In similar fashion to last Saturday, Bangor started the second half with renewed composure. They also used the wind sensibly, forcing Omagh deep into their own territory in the opening minutes. Having won a scrum close to the Omagh 5 metre line, the Bangor drive was held up but, having patiently recycled it, the ball came to Mike Ferguson who barged over from short range to score close to the Omagh posts. Widdowson’s kick was successful, doubling Bangor’s score to 14-3.

Bangor now literally had the wind in their sails, and set off on a bonus point blitz. Just a few minutes later, a ruck formed on the Omagh twenty two. While it looked like the ball was coming back on the Bangor side, the Omagh defence was completely unprepared for David Bradford somehow slipping through the mass of bodies and running through to score. Widdowson’s conversion attempt hit the upright and bounced clear, making the score 19-3. The Omagh players had little time to recover from this surprise score when, after another well worked line-out, Darren Kelly broke free and drove over for Bangor’s bonus point try. The conversion was wide of the mark, but Bangor were now comfortably ahead by 24-3. The onslaught continued and, just 4 minutes later, Jamie Clegg added the captain’s try with a break that saw him touch down under the posts. Neil Cuthbertson drop-kicked the conversion, stretching Bangor’s lead to 31-3.

Although there was still a quarter of the game still remaining, the final outcome looked assured for Bangor. Omagh stuck to their task in the hope of recovering some points, but in the end they were only able to stem the flow of Bangor scores until the referee blew for the end of the game.

While the primary importance for Bangor was to win the fixture, the bonus point keeps the title race with Instonians very much alive. This solid performance should also give them confidence ahead of the forthcoming Town Cup semi-final against Omagh in a few weeks’ time. However, there are other league challenges before that, starting with an away game at CIYMS this Saturday.

Bangor team: O McIlmurry, P Whyte, P Dornan, D Kelly, M Ferguson, C Burton, J Clegg (c), D Bradford, J Guthrie, J Morgan, M Widdowson, , R McCloskey, N Cuthbertson, D Charles, A McCusker

Subs: M Baillie, J McMullan

Bangor scorers: Penalty try, M Ferguson (1T), D Bradford (1T), D Kelly (1T), J Clegg (1T), M Widdowson (2C), N Cuthbertson (1C)