By Roger Corbett
BANGOR produced a solid performance in difficult conditions to pick up a 14-29 win at City of Derry.Although the welcome at Judges Road was warm and friendly as usual, the playing conditions were anything but. A cold northerly wind blew straight down the pitch, along with driving rain, which was going to make ball carrying difficult for both sides. Despite this additional challenge, Bangor started strongly from their kick-off and were quickly into their stride. This early onslaught soon resulted in a penalty for Bangor on Derry’s five metre line. Opting for the tap and go, Bangor set their forwards for the expected drive. However, quick thinking by Andy Smyth surprised the Derry defence as he set off on his own and crashed through the tackles to score under the posts. In Rhys Larmour’s absence, Gareth Millar was on kicking duty, and he made no mistake with the conversion to put Bangor into an early 0-7 lead.Bangor kept up their pressure and were soon on the attack again. However, a loose pass was intercepted which set Derry clear, although with over half the pitch to cover before reaching Bangor’s goal line, this proved just too much for the Derry attack, and some excellent covering defence by Bangor eventually resulted in the ball being held up and the danger could be cleared.Derry were undeterred and, as Bangor continued to give away possession, the home side was soon back inside Bangor’s twenty two and driving for the line. Patience and determination were eventually rewarded as Derry broke clear and scored with a conversion to level the score at 7-7.Although honours were fairly shared in the forward department, Bangor’s back line looked the more dangerous in attack. This was evident in the build-up to their next try when a break by Ally McIvor in the centre saw him weave through several defenders which cleared the way for Danny Young to finish off the move with an easy run through to score in the right hand corner. Millar’s conversion attempt was unsuccessful but Bangor were now ahead by 7-12.Shortly afterwards Andy Smyth sensed an opportunity and set off through an unprepared Derry defence before powering through a last-ditch tackle to score an excellent solo try in the left hand corner. This time Millar was on target with the subsequent kick, stretching Bangor’s lead to 7-19 after 26 minutes of play.In the first half both sides seemed to be handling the conditions but the second saw the heavens opened and Bangor found themselves playing into driving wind and rain. At first, this didn’t seem to be a hindrance as they added a fourth try from Ollie Cain after some good movement and passing through the backs. However, the wet ball and increasingly cold hands soon saw both sides struggle with possession. Bangor seemed to suffer more by this, which presented Derry with several turn-overs, one of which resulted in a well-taken Derry try and equally good conversion.With the score now 14-24, Bangor’s lead was not quite so comfortable, and the home supporters urged their players on to try and cause a late upset. However, this spurred Bangor on and not long afterwards Felix Burrows came close but was held up on the line.In the end, though, this increase in tempo by Bangor produced their fifth try when Marty Withers proved unstoppable to bring the final score to 14-29, and secure Bangor’s place in the next round of this cup competition.Although this was a good result for Bangor, it was against opposition who play in a lower league division. When they travel to Cooke who currently sit in third place in Championship 1 next weekend, Bangor will certainly need to lift their game again if they are to earn another win and improve their league prospects.
