Randalstown had been without a win so far in the league, and suffered a very heavy defeat the previous weekend. By contrast, Bangor looked to have regained their composure, and had just produced one of their better performances against Cooke. This fixture, therefore, was perhaps being viewed as a banker for Bangor and confirmation of Randalstown’s Championship 1 demise.

It certainly looked that way as Bangor kicked off and quickly had the home side under constant pressure inside their own twenty two. Although Randalstown defended well, it was only a matter of time before Gareth Millar found a gap and nipped through for the opening try, with Rhys Larmour adding the conversion. Aaron Corbett quickly added Bangor’s second score after he followed up on his deft chip over the defence to score in the corner. Again, Larmour was on target with the conversion, resulting in Bangor taking a 0-14 lead after just 10 minutes of play.

Somehow that was as good as it got for Bangor. Within minutes of their restart, Randalstown were awarded a penalty which they kicked for a good touch deep inside Bangor’s twenty two. A cleanly executed lineout and drive produced the necessary momentum to see them get over for their first try. The ease in which this was accomplished should have been a warning for Bangor, but shortly afterwards Randalstown looked to their powerful forwards again as they punished Bangor’s poor defence and ran through for another converted try, levelling the scores at 14-14.

As the game headed towards half time, a long Bangor kick was safely fielded by the Randalstown fullback. However, a good chase by Andy Smyth aimed to force Randalstown into a hurried clearance. Smyth’s tackle coincided with the fullback’s kick, but the referee deemed it to be late and awarded Randalstown a penalty from where the ball landed. Randalstown took full advantage with another good kick to touch which gave their forwards another opportunity to use their lineout and drive to good effect. Although the first wave was repelled, Randalstown reset and repeated the process until they forced over to take the lead by 21-14 as the referee blew for the end of the first half.

Randalstown got the second half underway, and were unlucky not to go further ahead within the opening minutes when Bangor’s defence was split open. Although Bangor managed to prevent the score, Randalstown had an attacking scrum on Bangor’s five metre line. The home pack dug in and started to push Bangor back. As the goal line got closer, the scrum collapsed, resulting in a penalty try and bonus point for Randalstown, while Bangor picked up a yellow card.

Despite being a man down, Bangor fought back and managed to claw back a try from Ryan Young. Then once back to full strength, another good attack looked sure to bring Bangor even closer, except for an ill-judged pass that was easily intercepted by Randalstown. Bangor were fortunate that the player with the ball didn’t have the necessary gas to outrun the back-pedalling Bangor defence, but from being on the attack, Bangor now had to defend again inside their own twenty two. Once again, Randalstown used their good position and pressure to score under the posts and move into a commanding 35-19 lead.

Minutes later, Randalstown had a long penalty kick attempt, but it fell short. From the following drop-out, Bangor regained possession and got the ball to Corbett who managed to slip out of the grasp of the Randalstown defenders and run clear to score close to the posts, earning Bangor their try-scoring bonus point in the process.

In similar fashion shortly afterwards, Andy Smyth somehow managed to stay on his feet despite the close attention of two Randalstown defenders, and ran through to score in the right hand corner. Although the conversion was missed, Bangor had narrowed the gap to 35-31, with 10 minutes left to play.

Although the momentum was now with Bangor, the penalty count against them continued to grow as they tried to force the flow of play and snatch an unlikely winning try. Eventually, the penalties took their toll as Randalstown converted a straightforward kick from in front of Bangor’s posts to move them into a 38-31 lead, which they held for the remaining few minutes to earn them a well deserved victory.
Bangor’s pain in defeat can be tempered somewhat in the knowledge that they at least picked up both try-scoring and losing bonus points while their other mid-table rivals all managed to leave their games empty-handed. However, this cannot mask the disappointment in not picking maximum points and moving even further clear of the chasing pack, especially as Bangor have played more games than the rest so far. With three weeks before Bangor’s next game against Ballymoney at Upritchard Park, hopefully this will provide enough time for both the players and coaches to steady the ship and return to winning ways once more.