ULSTER RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 1
ENNISKILLEN 54
BANGOR 10
By Roger Corbett
DESPITE a promising start, Bangor were outclassed by a strong and well-drilled Enniskillen side on Saturday, eventually losing by 54-10.
Having just been pipped at the post by Ballyclare in last season’s Championship, Enniskillen have high hopes of finally reaching the top, and have started this season with an unblemished winning record.
Bangor have stayed firmly in the hunt with the early league leaders, and this fixture would show just how close the season could be if they were to cause an upset at Mullaghmeen Road.
Enniskillen kicked off with the stiff breeze at their backs, but playing up the slight slope. Straight away, they piled on the pressure and for the opening 10 minutes, were camped inside Bangor’s 22. However, Bangor’s defence was the match of Enniskillen’s early attacks. With the wind in their faces, Bangor had little to gain by trying to kick for position, and instead opted to keep the ball in hand.
Good breaks out of defence soon brought Bangor deep into Enniskillen’s half. Having worked themselves into a good attacking position, their slick passing and support play eventually got the ball to Patrick Dobie waiting on the left hand touchline, who had just enough pace and room to touch down in the corner for the game’s opening try.
The touchline conversion attempt into the wind was missed, but Bangor had got onto the scoreboard first with 15 minutes played.
Unfortunately for Bangor, this lead was short-lived, as Enniskillen started to play to their strength through their big forwards. The remainder of the first half was dominated by the home side whose driving mauls from close quarters were rewarded with four converted tries which put them 28-5 ahead and with a bonus point by half-time.
As the sides turned around for the second half, the hope was that Bangor would be able to utilise the wind and create some scoring opportunities and narrow Enniskillen’s lead. But this plan was blown out of the water within a minute of the restart, as Enniskillen pounced on some lacklustre Bangor tackling and ran through for a try in the right hand corner.
The tricky conversion was missed, but this didn’t bother the Enniskillen players who were back on the front foot within another couple of minutes to benefit from Bangor’s mistakes and run in for another try, this time under Bangor’s posts, and extend their lead to 40-5.
Whereas Enniskillen’s forwards were the scoring force in the first half, it was their backs who were finding the openings in the second. Two further tries coming from flowing moves, now put the home side ahead by 54-5 and, with a quarter of the match still left to play, the worry for Bangor was that they would be completely overrun and end up on an even more embarrassing scoreline.
To their credit, Bangor stubbornly dug in and managed to not only stem the flow of points, but also force several penalties from the physical Enniskillen defence, one of which resulted in a yellow card.
As the clock ticked down to the final minutes, there was just enough time for Bangor to bookend the scoring with their second try. It was certainly worth the wait, as Dobie started things off by breaking out of defence inside his own 22 before passing to Ally McIvor at centre. McIvor burst ahead with Ryan Young coming into the attack from fullback and as the move crossed over into the Enniskillen half, Young found his brother Danny on the right wing who then had the pace to outrun the Enniskillen defence and score in the corner.
The missed conversion was met with the referee’s final whistle and the home side could celebrate an emphatic 54-10 victory to maintain their unbeaten, bonus point winning record.
Enniskillen’s powerful and direct attacks simply proved too hard for Bangor to contain and also prevented Bangor from utilising their players in wide positions.
There is certainly plenty for Bangor to ponder ahead of their fixture at Grosvenor this weekend. Although they remain in fourth place, Bangor will be wanting to return to winning ways if they are to keep in touch with the other teams at the top end of the table.
