Gryphons on top of the league

Bangor Gryphons swept aside Civil Service 2's in dominant fashion displaying the discipline and flair coaches Jason and Rick have brought to the team.

Straight from the kick off the Gryphons raced into an early lead with a try from vice captain Jamie Mendez and conversion from Ned Stewart. Bangor then built on the early try and never looked like dropping the initiative. The second try quickly followed, Josh Nelson receiving the ball running through a tackle then rather than side-stepping the last defender, ran straight through him to score under the posts. Bangor continued to exert pressure racing into a 26-0 lead after just 22 minutes.

The barking orders from captain Alan Atcheson could be heard in Knots corner but he was organising his team well and Civil Service were no match for the energy, pace and youth of the Gryphon squad with Jonny Baxter breaking free to score after some nice play through hands, and also Harry Taylor finishing brilliantly side-stepping the defence after a Gareth Moore offload. Civil Service were guilty of dropping themselves into trouble, missing touch several times and losing the ball in contact. They could not cope with the pace in defence from Bangor and the determination to turn over the ball over. In a rare lapse of concentration Bangor conceded a try but went in at the break leading 31-5.

The second half started as the first finished with Bangor exerting the early pressure and taking advantage with Chris Walton dancing through the defence to score under the posts. The next try was a move of beauty through the back line. Harry Blair taking the ball off 9 from the ruck and throwing a miss-pass over 2 of his team mates to Marcus Orr who didn't pass up the opportunity to score. In true Gryphon fashion and with the victory sealed they let the journeyman Sirelli Magoon take the conversion before he jets back home to Fiji for Christmas.

The Bangor pressure never stopped, the Gryphons knowing how important points totals can be come the end of the season, so never took their foot from the pedal. James Neil found himself amongst the backs finishing a fantastic move when, with the ball played through the hands combined with some powerful running, he then burst through 4 defenders like a seasoned centre to dive over the line. A late fitness test for Aaron Orr saw him start on the bench, but he came on in the second half and added a further try. Although he didn't get a try of his own, Ned Stewart scored 16 points from the boot, the kicking classes from Andrew Durkin really starting to show with pin point accuracy. A resounding victory finishing 71-5 to the gryphons.

Bangor try scorers: Josh Nelson x 2, Jamie Mendez, Jonny Baxter, Lee Johnston, Marcus Orr, Chris Walton, James Neil, Aaron Orr, Harry Taylor, Sirelli Magoon and 16 points kicked from Ned Stewart.