A blustery day at Upritchard Park saw high-flying Bangor host Omagh Academicals in an All Ireland League 2C match.

Report and images by Nick Murray

The first 10 minutes saw the majority of pressure come from Bangor, while never threatening the goal line. Omagh started coming back into it towards the end of the first quarter and got the first points on the board through a penalty from Kyle Beattie to lead 0 – 3.

The Bangor scrum was working well but the kicking was more problematic with the wind playing havoc with trying to place kicks accurately. With a wayward kick going straight into touch giving Omagh the lineout, Bangor managed to turnover possession, and make some headway into the Omagh half, but a knock-on brought the momentum to a halt.

Omagh won another penalty in much the same place as the first, but this time Beattie over compensated for the wind and it drifted past the right upright.

With the next 5 minutes being evenly matched, Bangor won a penalty and Gareth Millar evened the scores at 3 – 3. A couple of penalties to Bangor in their own half sees little headway made but they manage to claw their way into the Omagh half if nothing else. Following a lineout, a good driving maul sees Bangor start to penetrate well into the Omagh half, but the whistle brings the half to an end, with the scores level.

The second half sees a pacey start from Bangor and sustained pressure sees them punt the ball forward towards the goal line, but a little too far. A goal-line drop-out from Omagh, followed by some disciplined defensive work, sees them clear to the halfway line. Further pressure from Omagh on Millar and the ball goes out on the full giving the ball to Omagh on the halfway.

A great break by Omagh produces a try from Ryan Mitchell and all the hard work displayed in the previous 5 minutes proves fruitful as the score moves to 3 – 8 in their favour and an exchange of penalties from both 10s in the next 5 minutes takes the scoreline to 6 – 11.

Bangor work a period of sustained pressure near the Omagh line, and they are rewarded when the referee awards a penalty try, and Bangor take the lead for the first time at 13 – 11.

Just a few minutes later and Bangor seem to have built on the momentum when Mark Widdowson went over in the corner, but the touch judge signalled that Widdowson had a toe in touch, and the resultant lineout was well cleared by Omagh.

However, with confidence building, Bangor continue to pile pressure on Omagh and a succession of excellent scrums around the 5m line threaten to add to the score, but a great effort from a resilient Omagh sees the visitors push Bangor back and they clear their lines.

Despite a determined effort from Omagh, Bangor stayed on the front foot and saw out he last 5 minutes to take their winning streak to 5 games.

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