Having observed a minute’s silence in a mark of respect to the Spence family after their tragic loss last weekend, Bangor got proceedings under way. With the wind at their backs, CIYMS enjoyed most of the possession and made the better moves, forcing Bangor to kick the ball away in an attempt to clear their lines. However, in many cases these kicks were not finding space or touch, resulting in CIYMS running straight back at them. Unfortunately, after just 15 minutes, the visitors lost one of their props through injury and, with no replacement front row players, this resulted in uncontested scrums for the remainder of the game.

Despite their possession, and a couple of missed penalty opportunities, CIYMS eventually made the breakthrough after 22 minutes when, following a period of sustained pressure, they managed to break the determined Bangor defence to score to the left of the posts. With the conversion going over with the help of a rebound from the right hand upright, CIYMS now led by 0-7.

CIYMS continued to dominate play until Ryan Law made a quick break through the middle before passing to Dave Miller who ran in to score under the posts. The simple conversion brought the score back to 7-7. Unfortunately, this lead was short-lived. From the kick-off, Bangor were back under pressure and unable to clear the ball. Once more they had to defend, but were unable to prevent a second CIYMS try. The conversion was missed, but CIYMS were back in the lead by 7-12.

On the 40 minute mark, the first yellow card of the evening went to the CIYMS centre for continually killing the ball. Instead of taking advantage of the extra man, Bangor conceded a penalty which, although missed, resulted in a 5 metre scrum for the visitors. This uncontested set piece gave good quality ball to the visitors who managed to nip over for an unconverted try, right on the stroke of half time, extending their lead to 7-19.

To be honest, this scoreline was a fair representation of the first half, with CIYMS clearly on top. However, with the now stronger breeze behind them, the Bangor players started the second half with renewed vigour. With just 3 minutes gone, Ryan Law converted a penalty kick. Then a further 7 minutes, he got another – the score was now 13-19, and just one converted score in it.

Although Bangor enjoyed good territory advantage, they were unable to capitalise at key moments. Their cause wasn’t helped when first Ryan Law had to retire injured, and then Scott Irvine received a yellow card. Bangor battled on, but following a strange penalty decision that seemed to result from a lengthy chat between CIYMS players and the referee, the visitors moved the ball quickly across their backs to squeeze in the corner for another try. The difficult kick was missed, but their lead was now 13-24.

With just 5 minutes of normal time remaining, Stephen Brennan suffered a dislocated shoulder. Thanks to the good attention of our CIYMS visitors, this was quickly put back into place. Hats off to Stephen for bravely returning to the field of play for the remainder of the game.

All credit to the Bangor players for refusing to give up. After a fantastic run by Dave Miller, and good support from Pete Gray, they were rewarded with a Jamie Mendez try which, although unconverted, now narrowed the score to 18-24. It was, however, too late to change the final outcome. Just a few minutes later, the referee blew for full time.

Following just 3 days after another hard game against Ballynahinch, this game was maybe a tall order, especially given the strength and skill of their opponents. With a good break before their next game against Antrim, there is no doubt the Gryphons will rise up again and get the result their effort deserves.