Thankfully the storms that battered Northern Ireland during the week had run their course and playing conditions were almost perfect. Although Grosvenor were struggling at the lower end of the league table, many of their results had been close affairs and, given Bangor’s recent disappointing performances, the pre-match expectation was for a close encounter now.
From Grosvenor’s kick-off, Bangor quickly got into their stride with good running and passing across the backs, while the forwards looked much more solid than in last week’s showing. In fact, it was from a well-controlled scrum that Bangor were able to set up an attack where Ally McIvor cut through the Grosvenor line before passing to Danny Young on the right wing who finished off the move with the opening try of the game. Rhys Larmour added the conversion to give Bangor an early 7-0 lead.
The apparent ease by which Bangor had scored raised hopes among the spectators that perhaps this might be the first of many tries to come. However, a complete loss of concentration from the restart allowed Grosvenor to run through a gaping hole in Bangor’s defence and score under the posts and level the scores at 7-7.
This score not only shocked Bangor but also seemed to energise Grosvenor in the hope of benefitting from another home mistake. However, as Grosvenor tried to push forward, a loose pass was intercepted by Young who had a clear run to the Grosvenor goal line for his second try. Larmour’s conversion attempt was missed, but Bangor were back in the lead by 12-7 after 13 minutes of play.
A couple of minutes later, McIvor had another good break through the centre before kicking ahead and setting up a race to the goal area with the Grosvenor fullback. Although Grosvenor got to the ball first, they kicked it dead which gave Bangor an attacking scrum on the 5 metre line. Picking up the ball from the back of the scrum, Mike Weir set off on a charge. Two passes later the ball was with Young again, who made the last few strides before touching down in the corner for his hat-trick of tries.
By now, most of the game was being played in the Grosvenor half and, despite some determined defending, it wasn’t long before Ryan Young added a try in the opposite corner to Danny, and earn Bangor a try-scoring bonus point into the bargain. Bangor rounded off the first half with another try - this time from Andrew Shaw - to give them a commanding 27-7 lead going into the second half.
From Bangor’s restart Grosvenor looked to have regrouped well, and for the next 5 minutes kept play inside Bangor’s half. Better support play saw them get to within touching distance of Bangor’s goal line, but a knock-on at the crucial moment spoiled the scoring opportunity. Undeterred, they quickly regained possession soon, but a Bangor turn-over set up an incredible counter-attack. The initial break started with Conor Lusty, but great support play from Mike Weir, Gareth Millar, Ally McIvor and Ryan Young finally set up Millar to finish off the move with a diving try. With Larmour adding thee conversion, Bangor were now 34-7 ahead, and had effectively put the game beyond Grosvenor’s reach.
The visitors gamely stuck to their task but Bangor’s momentum continued for the remainder of the game, adding two further tries from Danny Young, a final try by Jamie Thallon, and another couple of conversions from Larmour, which brought the final score to 53-7.
This was the kind of performance that Bangor knew they were capable of. Good teamwork coupled with a much lower error and penalty count, provided the solid attacking platform required to successfully compete in this league. With no matches scheduled for another three weeks, this result will hopefully put the spring back into Bangor’s step ahead of a tough fixture at Portadown.