The P7 group from our Mini Section travelled to Galway for a successful and eventful tour.
On Friday 13th April 16 players accompanied by 16 parents headed off by coach to the Carlton Hotel in Galway. On the way there, the party stopped off at the Pure Skills activity in Galway West Retail Park.
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Once checked in at the hotel, the new club shirts were presented to the players. As a number of the Ulster team were in the same place in advance of their game with Connaght, both Ruan Pinear and Craig Gilroy helped with the presentation, and lingered afterwards for a chat, photos and autographs. They were very accommodating, and everybody enjoyed this special occasion.
The first match was against Galwegians Under 12 the following morning. As these boys were 6 months older than ours, there was some concern from parents and coaches, as they were much bigger. The other surprise was that the teams for the 2 matches were to be 13-a-side, which was new to the Bangor players who would normally play 10-a-side.
Things got off to an bad start as Bangor were a try down after just 30 seconds. However, the boys came back to win by 4 tries to 2. The second game was won 4-0. The boys played some of the best rugby their supporters had seen – support, continuity and rucking was very good. Aaron Sexton (the flying winger) was presented player of the day by the Galwegians coaches.
In the afternoon, everybody went to the Connaght v Ulster match, and even got a mention from Jim Neilly about being on tour and beating Galwegians.
A Mini Blitz, excellently hosted by Monivea, was held on Sunday morning. The games against Tuam and Monivea were comfortably won by 8 tries to nil. The game against Corinthians U12 was a closer affair, losing 2-0. Like the Galwegians, these were big boys. Although Bangor played really well and had most of the possession, this was a big physical test and the roughest game the boys had ever played, but they stood up well.
After some food, trophies were presented to all the tourists, before finally heading back on Sunday afternoon.
The players and coaches are to be commended for putting on a well-organised and successful tour. With many boys soon making the move towards junior level rugby, both at school and the club, this weekend was surely a high point of their time in the Mini Section.
(thanks to Conor Davidson for the photos and Stephen Bell for this report)
