Slow start proves costly at Harlequins

From the moment that Bangor kicked off their final game in the Ulster Premier League, Harlequins looked to be on their toes as they dominated possession and picked up their opening try within the first 3 minutes. However, Bangor still had reason to feel positive as their forwards looked to have the upper hand in the set pieces. This was clearly evident when just 5 minutes later, they secured their lineout inside the Harlequins twenty two, and drove towards the goal line. Although the initial push was eventually halted, Andrew Shaw was on hand to pick up and drive over for the try, just to the left of the Harlequins posts. With Gareth Millar adding the conversion, Bangor had taken the lead by 5-7.

Not to be outdone, Harlequins quickly returned the favour with two tries coming from lineouts and forward drives, and racing into a 17-7 lead by the end of the first quarter. Although their forwards were producing most of the points, the Harlequins back line showed real pace and slick hands, which kept pushing Bangor back. As Bangor scrambled to defend, they were repeatedly caught offside and, although this only yielded 3 additional points for Harlequins, courtesy of a converted kick, it eventually resulted in a yellow card for persistent offending. Harlequins looked to take advantage and continued to pressure the Bangor goal line. Bangor defended well, but once again were caught offside at a ruck, whereupon the referee sent a second player to the bin. With Bangor now down to 13 men, and the end of the first half approaching, Harlequins found open space on the left hand wing which gave them an easy run through for their bonus point try in the corner. Although the kick was missed, they had a comfortable 25-7 lead. The drama of the first half was completed when a Harlequins player was shown yellow for a high tackle.

If Bangor were hoping for a change in fortune in the second half, they were to be quickly disappointed as Harlequins, still with a one man advantage, ran in a try in the opening minutes to put them 32-7 ahead. The home side were now cruising and, as Bangor’s tackling and rucked faltered, they added their sixth try to put the game beyond doubt at 39-7, with 30 minutes left to play.

With nothing now to lose, Bangor threw everything into a more adventurous attack. As the majority of play was now in the Harlequins half, Bangor looked to find a way to break through the home defence. Eventually it was a well-placed cross-field kick from Gareth Millar that found Danny Young waiting on the left wing. Young still had some work to do to clear the final defender, but a deft side-step saw him find the space to run in for the try.

It was good to see an invigorated Bangor side maintain their pressure and deny Harlequins any further meaningful attacks. This step up in gear was rewarded again when Matt Bougoure – who had been making his presence felt throughout the match – produced a determined run which split the Harlequins defence, allowing him to break through and touch down between the Harlequins posts. Millar added the simple conversion to make the score 39-19, with 15 minutes remaining.

Although it looked unlikely that Bangor would be able to claw back the whole points deficit, they were just one try away from salvaging a bonus point. Despite several further determined attacks, Bangor were unable to get the ball over the line and were left rueing their first half performance which left them too much to recover. Nevertheless, this has been a useful lesson ahead of the start of the All Ireland League which starts on 7th October and, although the defeat will be disappointing, there are promising signs which can be worked on over the next couple of weeks.