Bangor beaten by Bective banana-skin

Bangor approached this game with optimism, fielding a strong side on a good surface, despite the heavy rain earlier in the week. Hopes were high for a good result against a side that has been struggling so far in the league. However, Bective had recorded a good win last weekend and they were no doubt equally confident and relaxed, as they arrived at Upritchard Park with just an hour to spare before kick-off.

Following a minute’s silence to mark past president John ‘Digger’ Langtry’s passing and his funeral early in the morning, Bangor got the game underway, playing with a slight breeze at their backs. Within a few minutes, they won a penalty which Nathan Graham confidently converted to give the home side an early lead by 3-0. Bective responded immediately, keeping play within Bangor’s twenty two. Bangor defended well, but were caught out when Bective turned over possession and quickly exploited a gap in the Bangor defence to cut through for a try by Kevin Byrne. With Gearoid O’Grady’s successful conversion, Bangor were now 3-7 down after just 11 minutes.

Bangor’s pack was living up to its powerful reputation, repeatedly forcing their opponents back. This was also evident in the loose, when a Bangor maul drove the Bective forwards back into their own twenty two. Their efforts to disrupt the drive proved successful and, in the ensuing break-up, pushes were exchanged between players. Unfortunately, the referee chose to single out James Henly for yellow card, and the attacking opportunity was lost.

With Bangor down to 14 men, the sensible approach of consolidation was taken. However, Bective saw this as their chance to take advantage of the weakened Bangor pack, and threw everything into attack. Their flowing backline moves were stretching the Bangor defence and creating free space on the wings. As Bective worked to exploit this overlap, Gareth Wright’s desperate stretch to intercept the ball ended up as a deliberate knock-on, conceding a penalty and receiving a yellow card as well. With Henly not yet back from his yellow card, Bangor were in real difficulties and just trying to hold on until the end of the half, just 3 or 4 minutes away. This proved to be too tall an order and, despite repelling several surges on their line, they couldn’t prevent Philip McCarthy crashing over for another converted Bective try with the last play of the half.

At 3-14 down, Bangor had a lot to do in the second half but, as has been the case before, this was certainly not beyond their capabilities. However, despite a confident start, their job became all the more difficult when O’Grady slotted home another penalty to put Bective further ahead by 3-17. Given the number of times the Bective physio was called onto the pitch, it was looking like their players were starting to feel the pace. Unsurprisingly, these repeated stoppages also seemed to occur during periods of sustained Bangor attack, and did much to disrupt any momentum the home side was building. All credit then to the Bangor players who simply got on with their game, and for this they were rewarded with a Lewis Stevenson try after a forwards drive from a lineout. The tricky conversion into the wind was well judged by Mark Widdowson, thus narrowing Bective’s lead to 10-17.

However, finding themselves back inside their own twenty two from the restart, Bangor struggled to clear their lines. Several ‘pick and go’ moves made little progress, so there was no option but to kick for touch. Bective were obviously aware that such a move was on the cards and, when the ball came back from the Bangor ruck, they were ready to pounce. The poor clearance was charged down and, with just a few metres to the Bangor line, Bective were quickest to the ball, touching down for their third, and softest try. This time O’Grady was wide of the mark, but all Bangor’s hard work seemed to be wiped out again, trailing now by 10-22.

Once again, Bangor pushed forward and again were met with repeated player stoppages and penalties by their opponents. Sustained waves of forward surges by Bangor eventually proved too much for the creaking Bective defence, leaving the referee with no option but to award a penalty try. Now just 5 points behind, with 6 minutes of normal time remaining, Bangor looked like they might just sneak a win in the dying moments. However, their best chance of capitalising from their dominant scrum was to be cruelly undone by a tactical move by Bective that wasn’t picked up on by the referee. With their scrum being continually put under pressure and conceding penalties as a result, one of the Bective front row went to ground, looking for physio attention. Considering his player unfit to carry on, the Bective coach indicated that with no further front row replacements available, any further scrum would have to be uncontested. It may have been a coincidence that this turn of events occurred just as Bangor were awarded a penalty 5 metres out and between the Bective posts, but the end result was the same – Bangor’s superiority in the set piece was to be completely nullified. Bangor chose to take tap penalties from this point on but, despite their best efforts, were unable to break through a clearly desperate Bective defence who were throwing bodies at anything Bangor tried to do. Bangor kept going right up to the last play when they again pushed for the Bective line but, although getting over, they were unable to get the ball down and, with that, the referee blew for full time, much to the relief and delight of the visitors.

Although this was a day where many of the teams at the top of the table had poor results, Bangor may come to rue this missed opportunity of consolidating their place with the top teams in this league. As it is, they now face back to back games against league leaders Sligo, a team that did the double against them last season. Whatever the outcome, the hope is that Sligo approach these fixtures with a more positive game-plan than what was seen today, the referee is wise to the various forms of gamesmanship, and finally Bangor employ a more inventive style of play without having to depend on a battering-ram approach. While this was a bad day at the office for Bangor, the hope is that the club and supporters will rally round and give their extra support over the coming weeks to help the team secure the vital points it needs to push for that all-important top four league spot.