City of Armagh move up to second place in AIL 1B following this win against their near neighbours at Rifle Park on Saturday afternoon. 

It was miserable weather for my early match in Strabane and it wasn’t much different for this one which kicked off under a steady downpour, but substantially less wind. 

Armagh enjoyed the best of the early exchanges, but understandably thrills were few and far between as the game descended into a war of attrition between the two sides. 

Banbridge finally took the lead about 30 minutes in when a penalty try was awarded for interference in a try line bound scrum and the seven points were the only score in the first half. However, on the balance of play the visitors had probably edged territory and possession. 

The second half continued in much the same vein with Armagh enjoying territory and possession but Bann looked sharper on the counter and when Robert Lyttle slid in for a their second try, converted by Adam Doherty, to take a 14 – 0 lead, I assumed that was it and packed up to head to my next game. 

Oh dear! Armagh staged a remarkable comeback bagging a try from Andrew Willis, a penalty try and a penalty, converted by Ryan Purvis, to claim the game by a point. Remarkable. 

Final score: Banbridge 14 City of Armagh 15

BANBRIDGE: Adam Doherty; Conor Field, Andrew Morrison, James Hume, Robert Lyttle; Niall Armstrong, Jonny Stewart; Michael Cromie (c), Peter Cromie, Stuart Cromie, Alex Thompson, Stevie Irvine, Caleb Montgomery, David McCann, Greg Jones. Replacements: Corrie Barrett, Ross Haughey, Chris Allen, Jonny Little, John Porter.

CITY OF ARMAGH: Tim McNiece; Andrew Willis, Evin Crummie, Chris Colvin (capt), Ryan Purvis; Harry Boyd, Harry Doyle; Paul Mullan, Jonny Morton, Phillip Fletcher, Peter Starrett, Josh McKinley, James Hanna, Robbie Whitten, Neil Faloon. Replacements: Andrew Smyth, Eoin O’Hagan, James Morton, Jonny Pollock, Shea O’Brien.