This week the young Bangor men made the relatively short journey to Shaw’s Bridge sports ground, to play Cooke U14’s. The players were keen to get another fixture under their belt, as there was a week off last Saturday. Needless to say there was a good squad of players, who were chomping at the bit to get out onto the pitch.

It was a bleak wet morning, with a strong crosswind swirling across the pitch, so players and coaches alike wanted to start the game with a bit of tempo, to try and keep the players warm!

From the first kick off it took Bangor a few minutes to get started. However once they did, it was clear that the strong Bangor ball carriers were wanting to assert some dominance on the game.

Bangor’s first try came from a scrappy line out, where Sean Hynes had the presence to tidy up a ball from the floor. A number of quick rucks followed, and Bangor got the ball through the hands, allowing Sean McClory to run in a well taken try. This was converted by Steven Boyd. 7 – 0 to Bangor.

A few minutes later, Bangor found themselves just inside the Cooke half, with a scrum to the home team. Some strong work in defence allowed Bangor to turn over the ball at the breakdown, and they secured possession after a number of rucks. Steven Boyd received the ball on the Cook 10 metre line, and performed a well-executed chip kick over the top of the oncoming Cooke defenders. Steven's chase after the ball was strong, and despite the best efforts of the Cooke scrambling defence, he was able to gather his own kick, and score a very well taken try. This was unconverted. 12 – 0 to Bangor.

The young men continued to assert their dominance on the game, and were now showing some good continuity and keep the ball alive at the contact area. This allowed Frankie Forbes to embark on a strong run, shrugging off a number of Cooke tacklers, and to score under the posts. This converted and the score now 19 – 0.

This now set the theme for the remainder of the game, with Bangor continuing to link well between forwards and backs. Despite the poor weather, the lads were able to get the ball from the ruck and through the hands a number of times. This resulted in two further tries for Sean McClory and Sean Hynes, taking the score to 43 – 0.

In the final play of the game, Bangor receive the kick off, and after a number of quick rucks, the ball was fed through the hands from left to right, and given to Bangor right winger Matthew Magowan, who from the halfway line was able to pin his ears back, and sprint for the try line, thwarting any effort by Cooke to tackle him. This was the final play of the game, which concluded as a 48 – 0 win to Bangor.

Training as usual this Wednesday 6:30 – 8pm. Remember as the nights are wetter and colder, please ensure all players have appropriate clothing. Our next league match is away to Newry next Saturday, where it is hoped the lads will maintain their unblemished league record.