Bangor cook up more success at Shaws Bridge
By Roger Corbett
Bangor produced another well-worked performance at Shaws Bridge to overcome Cooke by 10-45 and maintain their position at the top of the league table.
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Things didn’t start according to plan. James Leary was unavailable, Mike Aspley pulled out with an injury during training, Jamie Clegg was still nursing a twisted ankle, and the final blow was when Andrew Jackson tweaked his hamstring while warming up, just minutes before the start of the game. With Craig Burton and Mike Ferguson coming into the back row, Phil Whyte returning from injury to hook, and Pete Nicol moving up from the seconds to prop, the re-organised pack was set and Bangor got the game underway.
Early signs were promising, with Bangor applying the pressure and keeping play mostly within Cooke’s twenty two. A forced clearance gave Bangor an attacking lineout which they secured and then started to drive forward. Although stopped by the defence, Bangor reset the ball and passed it into the centre where Mike Weir received and then forced through the tackles to score. Mark Widdowson added the conversion, getting the scoreboard moving to 0-7 after just 9 minutes.
Cooke responded with great purpose, and their progress up-field was helped in no small part by Bangor’s poor tackling and mistakes at rucks. This soon resulted in a Cooke penalty, but the kick at goal drifted wide. Undeterred, Cooke resumed their attack and after 19 minutes produced a good move that saw their winger find just enough room to score in the left hand corner, and narrow the gap to 5-7.
3/10/15 Cooke – League 44 photos
Match photos
This score had the effect of jolting Bangor out of their somewhat relaxed state. Having turned a Cooke scrum just inside their own half, Bangor moved the ball to Davy Charles who produced one of his trademark runs, jinking through the opposing line. Although unable to go all the way on this occasion, the ball was recycled to Desi Fusco who used his power to drive over for Bangor’s second try. The conversion was missed, making the score now 5-12 after 27 minutes.
Despite still suffering with more handling and tackling problems, Bangor managed to keep Cooke contained. Thankfully, Bangor’s ability to turn defence into quick and deadly counter-attack came to the fore once more when a poor Cooke pass was dropped, then scooped up off his toes by Mark Widdowson who set off down the left touchline, leaving Cooke players in his wake before touching down for a try. He then added the extras to put Bangor ahead by 5-19.
From the restart, Bangor almost caught Cooke cold as the ball was passed to Ross McCloskey who simply ran through the Cooke line and made for the goal line. His brave run came to an end just short of the line as he was bundled into touch. However, a Cooke knock-on in the lineout returned possession to Bangor with a 5 metre scrum which was then driven forward. Although stopped short, the quick-thinking Jason Guthrie saw that the Cooke defence was moving across to cover the expected attack through the backs and simply stepped through the resulting gap to score the simplest of tries, and secure Bangor’s bonus point in the process. Widdowson was successful once more with the conversion and, as the referee blew for half time, Bangor’s lead was now 5-24.
Obviously aware of the task ahead of them, Cooke started the second half with renewed determination and were unlucky not to get more points on the board, but for some handling errors at crucial moments. By contrast, Bangor’s finishing when in the ‘red zone’ was clinical. Having built up a period of sustained pressure in Cooke’s twenty two, a gap in the defensive line was exploited by Curtis Stewart who had a clear run in to score under the posts. The added conversion extended the lead to 5-31. Just 5 minutes later Bangor safely secured the ball from a lineout around the half way mark and then took it forward through Mike Ferguson before passing to Rob Gamble in the centre. Gamble’s confidence has grown with each game he has played in, and this was clearly evident as he managed to slip through the defensive tackles and score close to the posts.
Obviously frustrated by their lack of attacking success, Cooke sent a speculative kick into Bangor’s twenty two. Although this was easily covered by full back Weir, he chose not to return the kick to touch but to run the ball out of defence and start a new attack. Unfortunately this proved not to be the best choice as he was caught by the determined Cooke chaser who forced the turn over, leaving the way clear to score in the left hand corner, bringing the score to 10-38.
With the best defensive record in the league, Bangor were clearly annoyed at this costly lapse in concentration. From the restart, Guthrie’s high drop-kick was caught by Cooke, but the receiver was hit simultaneously by the charging David Bradford. As the ball was spilled, it was gathered by the Bangor forwards who moved across to the right. As the move came to a stop, the ball was then quickly passed across the backs until it reached Widdowson on the opposite wing whose strong run and outstretched arm just managed to get the ball down on the Cooke line for his second try of the day. He then added the difficult touchline conversion to bring the final score to 10-45.
The lack of competitive rugby last weekend and the various enforced changes in manpower meant that this was not as polished a performance as Bangor supporters have enjoyed in previous weeks. However, the determined and effective manner in which they secured this win is still worthy of praise. Bangor will now be looking forward to next Saturday’s meeting with Instonians at Upritchard Park, confident that they will be able to overturn the narrow defeats of last season. This will be Bangor’s biggest game of the season so far – make sure you get there to be part of it.
Bangor team: O McIlmurry, P Whyte, P Nicol, F Black, D Kelly, C Burton, D Bradford, M Ferguson, J Guthrie, R McCloskey, M Widdowson, D Fusco, R Gamble, D Charles, M Weir
Subs: C Stewart, D Kennedy
Bangor scorers: M Weir (1T), D Fusco (1T), J Guthrie (1T), C Stewart (1T), R Gamble (1T), M Widdowson (2T, 5C)
