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In contrast to last week, the weather and pitch conditions at Upritchard Park were good. However, Bangor’s preparations got off to a bad start when centre Mike Aspley aggravated an injury in the pre-match warm-up and was unable to play. A quick re-shuffle saw Chris Morgan come in from full back as his replacement, and Adam McCusker taking up the full back role. For Enniscorthy’s part, they came to this fixture on the back of a good run of results in the Leinster League Division 1A, and sitting in second place in that table.

A mistake by Bangor right from the referee’s whistle at kick-off looked to have handed the visitors an opportunity to take the initiative. However, having won the ball back, McCusker put a superb kick deep into the Enniscorthy twenty two that left the defence no option but to put it into touch. The Bangor line-out was taken cleanly by Curtis Stewart, and a maul was formed that surged towards the Enniscorthy line before Jamie Clegg dropped with the ball and scored the game’s first try after just 4 minutes. Mark Widdowson made the conversion, and the score was 7-0.

Within 3 minutes the lead could have been extended when Enniscorthy were penalised for a high tackle. However, this time Widdowson’s kick drifted wide of the posts.

If Bangor thought things were going their way, this soon changed as Enniscorthy gathered themselves and started to gain confidence through a lengthy period of possession, aided in some part by Bangor’s readiness to kick when in possession themselves. The Enniscorthy attack was now causing Bangor headaches, with the result that the penalty count started to rise. Eventually these repeated infringements around the breakdown led to a yellow card being shown to James Henly. Enniscorthy saw this as their opportunity to capitalise, and laid siege to Bangor’s line. Bangor doggedly held their line despite conceding further penalties, and having to defend the resulting line-out and drive combination by Enniscorthy. As Henly’s 10 minute period in the sin bin came to an end, Bangor had somehow managed to hold off the Enniscorthy attack, and had actually managed to turn over the ball, giving them a chance to clear their lines and gather their breath. However, in a bizarre series of events, Ricky Armstrong’s clearance kick was charged down and bounced back towards the Bangor line, only to be gratefully accepted by one of the big Enniscorthy forwards who was still getting to his feet from the preceding ruck. With barely two steps to the line, he touched down for the try, leaving the Bangor players confused and dejected after working so hard to prevent the score. The conversion was missed, keeping Bangor narrowly ahead by 7-5, after 23 minutes.

For most of the remainder of the first half, Enniscorthy kept play in Bangor’s half. Bangor looked dangerous on the counter attack, with some good runs by the wingers Davy Charles and Mark Widdowson. For Enniscorthy’s part, they had several good scoring opportunities but either knocked-on or missed a pass at the crucial moments. A half time score of 7-5 would have been gladly taken by Bangor but, as 40 minutes approached, a lapse in concentration while in their own twenty two, led to a missed tackle which was clinically exploited by Enniscorthy, allowing them to run in for their second try which, although unconverted, gave the lead by 7-10 as the sides turned around.

As has been the case in many other games, Bangor’s second half performance moved up a gear, and it was now the visitor’s line that was coming under attack. Within the first 10 minutes, Bangor looked to be in a good scoring position, but the Enniscorthy defence was equal to Bangor’s first half display. Although unable to break through at this time, Bangor were now looking more confident as the initial Enniscorthy charge appeared to be stuttering. This certainly looked the case when, after 25 minutes had elapsed, the Enniscorthy kicker elected to go for the posts from close to the half way line – a strange decision given the relatively poor conversion attempts earlier. Once again the kick was missed, but Bangor had at least been pushed back into their own half.

As the game entered the final 5 minutes, it was beginning to look like Enniscorthy would hold firm and take the win. However, in a repeat of the exemplary performance displayed at Clonmel in the previous round, Bangor simply lifted their game again and mounted a surge against their tiring opponents. With just 2 minutes of normal time remaining, Jamie Ball gathered the ball at the half way line, and then passed it to Clegg on his left. Leading by example, Clegg went straight, taking the ball past the 10 metre line and drawing the approaching Enniscorthy defender. A well-timed pass to his left was equally well-received by Widdowson on the wing, who rounded his opposite number and sprinted for the line. With little space to work with and the full-back still to beat, Widdowson produced the speed and footwork necessary to take him over the line, to the left of the posts. He then managed to add the icing on the cake with another well-struck conversion which put Bangor ahead by 14-10.

The moments immediately after scoring are particularly dangerous, and with Enniscorthy now throwing everything they had, the remaining couple of minutes were incredibly tense – for both sets of supporters. To Enniscorthy’s credit, they skilfully kept recycling the ball – almost like sevens rugby – bringing the game back into Bangor’s twenty two. But in the end, it was just too much, with Bangor eventually managing to turn the ball over and close out the game, bringing despair and delight in equal measure on the faces of the opposing players.

To the Bangor supporters who had been unable to travel to the game at Clonmel, and who had not fully appreciated the performance there, this brought everything that had been said into focus, and with it the realisation that Bangor now have the ability to go all the way in this competition. With Ulster rivals Clogher Valley and CIYMS, and Leinster high-fliers Dundalk now joining Bangor in the semi-finals, the next hurdle will be equally challenging, but having beaten two of the strongest junior sides in Ireland, confidence is high and everything is now to play for.

Bangor side: J Leary, A Jackson, P Whyte, G Irvine, J Henly, R Latimer, J Clegg (c), C Stewart, R Armstrong, J Morgan, M Widdowson, C Morgan, M Weir, D Charles, A McCusker

Subs: O McIlmurry, F Black, M Crockford, J Ball, M Thompson

Bangor scores: J Clegg (1T), M Widdowson (1T, 2C)

Tense wires by David van Keulen [#ExploreTheCity #URBNdc]