With Lurgan sitting just one place ahead in the league table, and having dispatched them earlier in the Junior Cup, Bangor were looking to get their league campaign moving again with a positive result at Pollock Park.

As the game got underway, it looked like the autumn sun was shining on Bangor as firstly Lurgan missed a straightforward penalty kick from in front of the posts, and then shortly afterwards Bangor got their opening try through Josh Carman after some well-worked forward pressure. As Bangor kept up their early pressure, Ali McIvor finished off a series of slick backline passes to add a second try which, although unconverted this time, put Bangor ahead by 0-12 after 13 minutes of play.

From the restart, Bangor looked to get play back into the Lurgan half, but a poor positional kick gave the Lurgan backs time and space to run straight back and through the hesitant defence to score in the right-hand corner. The addition of the well-taken conversion narrowed the scores to 7-12.

For most of the remainder of the first half, Bangor looked to be in control, with their forwards repeatedly exerting pressure in the scum and line-out set-pieces. However, as the half-time whistle approached, Lurgan punted a speculative kick over the Bangor defence which was followed with a friendly bounce which enabled their quick backs to gather and run through and score under the Bangor posts. As the conversion was added to give the home side a narrow 14-12 lead, the referee blew for the end of the first half.

Although undoubtedly disappointed to be in this position, Bangor tore into the second half with more dominant displays from their pack. As the penalty count mounted against Lurgan, Bangor turned down kicking opportunities in favour of scrums. This proved to be the correct choice when, after winning yet more scrum penalties, the referee awarded them a penalty try which put Bangor back ahead by 14-19.
However, in similar fashion to the first half when Bangor took the lead, Lurgan immediately struck back with another converted try after some poor defensive play. As the penalty count was now swinging against Bangor, and with the game so finely balanced, Lurgan sensibly took their penalty kicking opportunities to move further ahead by 27-19.

As the game entered its final quarter, it was beginning to look like the home side were now managing the situation better, and denying Bangor from mounting any significant attacking opportunities. However, when a poorly timed clearance kick was charged down by Marty Withers, Bangor pressed forward and although Withers was denied by some desperate Lurgan tackling, Matt Nesbitt was on hand to take up the charge and force his way over the line for Bangor’s bonus point try. The conversion was wide of the posts, but although Bangor were still trailing by 27-24, they had worked their way back into a double bonus point position, and with the chance of even more if they could score again. Unfortunately, it was the home side that responded better, as they continued to enjoy most of the possession and attacking play. Then, in the same way as they had done previously with the last play of the first half, Lurgan produced a sucker punch for Bangor in the closing seconds as they intercepted a pass and ran through to score under Bangor’s posts which not only secured their win with a try-scoring bonus point, but also stretched their lead to 10 points and denied Bangor a losing bonus point.

The expression on the Bangor players’ faces as they trudged off the pitch reflected the feelings of the entire Bangor entourage. Now firmly rooted at the bottom end of the league table, Bangor now face fellow strugglers Harlequins at Upritchard Park next weekend. If Bangor are to avoid falling further into the dark hole they already find themselves in, nothing but a convincing win will suffice.