Even before kick-off, Cooke had made their ambitions clear – to finish in the top four and hence qualify for next season’s All Ireland Junior Cup. Sitting ahead of Bangor in the league table, and with a game in hand, a bonus point win for the Belfast side would go a long way to keep their goal intact. On the other hand, Bangor needed to start picking up points to avoid slipping into the danger zone at the foot of the table. Although they lost at Portadown the previous weekend, Bangor showed good improvements in several areas and were hoping to make that count now.

Although there had been heavy rain during the week, the playing surface was in great condition, helped in no small part by the strong wind that was blowing the length of the pitch, and was at Bangor’s back as they got the first half underway.

The last time these two sides met, it was Cooke that raced into a twenty point lead, leaving Bangor with an uphill task to work their way back into contention. On this occasion, however, it was Bangor who were first to get into gear. After an initial line break by Patrick Dobie, the ball came to Gareth Millar whose perfectly weighted cross-field kick found Ryan Young charging down the right hand touchline. Having gathered the ball, Young then managed to shrug off the covering tackler before diving over in the corner for the opening try of the game. The windy conditions proved difficult for Rhys Larmour as his conversion attempt was narrowly blown off course.

Bangor were finding that their attack through the centre was proving effective, and within a few minutes Ali McIvor made the initial breakthrough before passing to Aaron Corbett outside him. Such was the quality of the line-break, Corbett had a clear, but long, run to the goal line before touching down just to the left of the posts. This time Larmour made the conversion, putting Bangor ahead by 12-0 after just 6 minutes.

Bangor were playing with confidence and looking to keep the scores coming, but a poorly placed field kick was easily covered by Cooke. One pass later, the Cooke full-back had the ball and set off on a counter-attack from his own twenty two metre line. The Bangor players ahead of him appeared unprepared for his speed and agility, and their attempted tackles proved ineffective, allowing the attack to go all the way through the Bangor defence before scoring a superb solo try under Bangor’s posts. With the simple conversion, Cooke had narrowed Bangor’s lead to 12-7.

As both sides now appreciated the abilities of each other, the game’s frenetic opening began to settle into a more balanced affair. However, Cooke soon found themselves on the wrong side of the referee as their discipline slipped and the penalty count against them started to mount up. Bangor used this to their advantage by keeping play within the Cooke half for most of the remainder of the first half. It took a lengthy 25 minutes before Bangor could make their pressure count, with Dobie finishing off a solid forward attack by driving over in the left hand corner and, although the conversion was missed, Bangor had moved into a 17-7 lead which they held until half time.

The question which no doubt was going through everybody’s mind was whether a 10 point lead was going to be enough, given that Bangor were now playing into the wind for the remainder of the game. As Cooke restarted the game, it was apparent that they were determined to make full use of the conditions by keeping Bangor pinned down in their own half. It seemed like it wouldn’t take long before Cooke made their relentless pressure count, but somehow every drive for the line was repelled by Bangor who were putting on an equally determined show of defence. Cooke finally made a breakthrough which resulted in a converted try, bringing the score to 17-14, but it had taken over 20 minutes of the second half to achieve this.

Having spent most of the second half inside their own twenty two, Bangor used the restart to get into Cooke’s territory and apply pressure there. The sustained intensity of the game was beginning to tell on both sides, with substitutions becoming less tactical and more a case of necessity through injury. The departure of Danny Young with a suspected broken collar bone saw Patrick Dobie from his wing forward position – after already having moved from Number 8 – to cover the right wing. Dobie’s versatility and ability to play almost anywhere on the pitch was soon evident when he collected the ball from Ryan Young close to Cooke’s 10 metre line. Although he had both the defending winger and full back ahead of him, Dobie’s pace and strength saw him force through the tackles before rounding the last man and running through to score Bangor’s bonus point try under the Cooke posts. Larmour successfully added the extras to stretch Bangor’s lead to 24-14, with just 8 minutes left to play. This score seemed to knock the wind out of Cooke’s sails as they realised the victory was looking less likely for them. By contrast, Bangor were determined to deny their opponents any chance of a comeback and showed composure in these final minutes as they closed out the game to both claim the bonus point win and leave Cooke empty-handed.

This was a complete team performance with potentially several players looking eligible for the Man of the Match award. However, it was the consistent defence and supporting play of Bryn Watson that particularly caught the eye of the coaches. Bangor thoroughly deserved their win and, as a result, leapfrog Cooke in the league table, although Cooke still have a couple of games in hand. However, this win is a welcome boost for Bangor and should give them renewed confidence ahead of their game at Randalstown next weekend.