Having travelled to Sligo the night before to allow plenty of preparation time ahead of the earlier 2pm kick-off, Bangor appeared in good spirits despite missing the influential Lewis Stevenson in the second row. However, with his place being filled by Jack Cooke, there was still plenty of horsepower in the pack’s engine room. Coming off the back of shock defeats last weekend, both teams were looking for the win that would get their league challenge back on track. It is also worth noting that Bangor had an unusually large contingent of travelling support. Our very own ‘pink ladies’ had chosen this game as their annual jaunt on the Irish railway system, courtesy of their Senior Citizens Smart Passes. It was great to see them, and the Sligo folk were greatly impressed at their apparent lack of embarrassment associated with their outfits!

From Sligo’s kick-off, Bangor started well, showing much improved running and handling. Meanwhile the impressive Sligo back line showed glimpses of their fast attacks, only matched by Bangor’s sound defence. This pattern of play continued for the whole of the first quarter, before Bangor got the first real scoring opportunity when awarded a penalty on Sligo’s 10 metre line. With the slight breeze behind him, Nathan Graham pointed to the posts. However, although his kick had the necessary distance, his aim was wide of the mark, and the chance was gone. Bangor’s scrum again looked in dominant form, and this yielded another penalty not long afterwards, and from a slightly closer position. Graham’s kick was identical to the first, drifting wide of the posts. However, after 35 minutes, Bangor’s superiority in the scrums yielded the first score of the game. As the scrum went down on Sligo’s 5 metre line, the ball was cleanly heeled and came to rest at the feet of Jamie Clegg at number 8. As the pack moved slowly forward, Clegg carefully dribbled the ball, keeping it within the scrum at all times. With the goal line now in reach, Sligo’s attempts to halt the drive resulted in them pulling the scrum down, leaving the referee with no option but to award Bangor the penalty try.

It was obvious that Sligo were not only becoming frustrated by their opponents’ domination in the pack, but also by their own mistakes that were denying them any real scoring opportunities. This came to the fore again in the final minute of the first half, when they conceded another penalty, this time on their own twenty two. On this occasion, the kicking tee was passed to Mark Widdowson, due to Graham’s unusual inaccuracy earlier. However, Widdowson’s firmly struck kick bounced back off the upright, resulting in another costly miss.

The half time whistle proved to be crucial for Sligo, as they had time to regroup and work out what they needed to do in the second half. They came out of the blocks with renewed determination, but, Bangor’s defence was as solid as before and, for the first 20 minutes of the second half, they held the home side at bay. However, the difference between the two sides became apparent when Sligo were awarded a penalty in a similar position to those that Graham had missed earlier. Jack Keegan’s kick was right on target, narrowing the score to 3-7.
In contrast to the first half where Sligo were being repeatedly penalised, it was now Bangor who were on the receiving end of the referee’s whistle. As the game became tighter, so the tackles became harder, eventually resulting in a yellow card for David Bradford after what was considered to be a dump tackle. From the resulting penalty, Keegan again converted the kick, bringing the home side with a point of Bangor, the score now 6-7.

These were desperate times for Bangor as the momentum appeared to be with Sligo, as they pushed relentlessly for the winning points. However, Bangor defended bravely and managed to prevent Sligo from getting within striking distance of their goal line. But then, with just 7 minutes of play remaining, Bangor suffered a bizarre penalty decision at a scrum. Having completely controlled this set piece throughout the game, and repeatedly forcing penalties from their opponents, the weakness of the Sligo front row wasn’t penalised, but the dominant and driving Bangor pack was. Keegan seized the penalty opportunity and, with confidently struck the kick to put his side ahead by 9-7, and then proceeded to close out the remainder of the game to deny Bangor the win, but leave them with the consolation losing bonus point.

This was as much a game about 3 missed kicks rather than 3 successful kicks. On any other day, Bangor’s kickers would have put their chances away, but undoubtedly they will work harder over the coming days to ensure opportunities like this are successfully taken in future. Despite the disappointment of losing such a close game, the Bangor players and coaching staff should be commended for the positive response to last week’s poor home performance against Bective. The important thing now is to maintain their level of commitment and belief as they host Sligo at Upritchard Park next Saturday in the return fixture. With Sligo having one eye on their Connaught Senior Cup final (a competition they have never won in their club’s history) the following weekend, there is added incentive for Bangor to cause them problems in the league and revive their own challenge for a top 4 position.