Armagh U14s too strong for Bangor

Bangor travelled to Armagh, wanting to build on the already successful inaugural league campaign. Having now reached the knock out stage of league games, this was a winner takes all affair.

After an unseasonally beautiful spell of weather, Armagh was damp, windy and cold on our arrival. This presented difficult conditions for the young men.

Having taken the kick off and with the wind behind their backs, the match began as a fierce encounter, with some strong tackling, rucking and running for both sides. Bangor’s defensive line seemed to narrow as the game progressed and this presented a number of opportunities for Armagh to spread the ball wide, and run in a number of tries. Bangor simply lost to the better team.

That being said, this was a real spirited performance by the team, who despite being on the wrong end of the result, produced some of their best rugby in the last quarter of the game. There was a significant defensive effort by a number of players, as well as some strong rucking by the forwards and some aggressive attacking running with the ball. Unfortunately it just was not to be Bangor’s day.

There were a number of players who stood up to the physical task in hand, and really led by example on the park, particularly with their work rate, positive attitude and tackles. With that in mind, this weeks man of the match was Tyler Mahaffy, who’s positive attitude, work rate, tackling and ball carries were notable. Tyler really did lead by example.

I think we would all agree, in the first campaign for Bangor U14’s, that this is a solid foundation to build on going forward. Thank you to all supporters during the whole league campaign.

Training as usual on Wednesday at 7pm.

(Andrew Wray's full photo album of the match can be viewed at https://photos.app.goo.gl/yGxLYrMACTYrTSkd8)