Bangor achieve cup double over Ballymena
Bangor progress to the third round of the Powerade Towns Cup after an excellent performance against a strong Ballymena 2nds, finishing ahead by 10-3.
Bangor fielded a similar side to the one that was narrowly beaten at Instonians last week. The most notable changes were Neil Cuthbertson coming in on the wing in place of the unavailable Davy Charles, and Conor McEvoy making his debut at hooker in place of Phil Whyte who moves across to play at prop. The chat from some of the Ballymena supporters was that this was possibly their strongest 2nd XV of the season, and their intention was to reverse the narrow defeat by Bangor at Eaton Park at the start of the Junior Cup competition. For Bangor, it was important that the mistakes and disappointment of last weekend’s defeat were put behind them and they could bounce back with another good cup run.
Ballymena kicked off with the considerable breeze at their backs and within 2 minutes of concerted attacks, won a penalty which was converted giving the visitors an early 0-3 lead. Bangor were finding it hard to escape from their own half, as the sustained Ballymena pressure combined with the headwind kept them pinned down in their own half for lengthy periods. As Ballymena set up their attacking platform, it was clear that this was a stronger and better drilled side than Bangor had met earlier. However, despite several slick backline moves that got the ball to their fast wingers, Ballymena were unable to breech a solid and well-organised Bangor defence. Although thwarted in their attempts to score tries, Ballymena had scoring opportunities in the form of kickable penalties, but these drifted wide of the posts. Having enjoyed the bulk of possession, but not converting this into points, Ballymena resorted to attempting a drop goal, but again this was off target…….. CLICK HERE for the full story & shots !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
