Banbridge Rugby Club - Northern Ireland

Bann won the toss but elected to take pitch position and give Cavan the kick off. With only seven forwards the pack knew they would have to dig deep and this they did. Having won a scrum they won the ball cleanly and when it reached Stephen Scott he sidestepped his man to go over for the opening score. He followed up with a conversion to make the score 7 - 0.

Cavan were never going to lie down and when the ball was spread along the backline a missed tackle allowed Cavan to score under the posts to level the score at 7-7.

Bann upped their game again but a dropped pass allowed Cavan in for an unconverted try. The final passage of play in the first half saw Bann piling the pressure on the home line. Cavan eventually conceded a penalty and Scott made no mistake to leave an interval score 12 - 10 in Cavan's favour.

Bann's objective in the second half was to get the first score and this they did after the ball was played out from a ruck in midfield. It reached Lyle Cairns who gave the scoring pass to Matthew Copes who went over in the corner. The conversion was missed but Bann were back in front 15 - 12.

Bann's seven forwards were more than holding their own against the Cavan eight and Bann really should have had another score on the board but when it seemed simpler to score Bann decided to complicate matters and chances went a-begging.

Instead it was the home side who registered the next score, an unconverted try taking them ahead on a 17-15 scoreline.

The game was far from over and Bann surged up field again and following some great passing between forwards and backs Cairns scored an unconverted try to edge his side back in front.

Cavan hadn't read the script and being cheered on by quite a vocal home support they broke free to score underneath the posts, adding the simple conversion to go 24-20 in front.

Bann continued to drive upfield as the match entered the final 10 minutes. From a clean lineout on the right hand side the ball moved to a ruck in midfield. It was spun out left and Matthew Quinn's try in the corner gave his side the slimmest of advantages.

The next minute was a bit surreal - the Bann kicking tee had disappeared, the kick was virtually on the touch line, Scott had forgotten his own boots and was playing in a borrowed pair two sizes too small so what does he do? He drop kicks the conversion, right between the posts!

The final few minutes were played out at a hectic pace as Cavan went for a winning score but Bann's 14 men held out for a well deserved victory.

This was a hard physical game but Bann's mainly young side stepped up and produced outstanding performances. The referee played his part in letting the game flow and controlling a few incidents which could have boiled over and spoiled the match

This was an all-round team effort as every man raised his game to make up for the missing player. Copes, the youngest player on the pitch, capped an all-round fine display with his well-taken try. Not to be outdone, Cairns, who had the honour of being 30 years Matthew's senior, also capped an all-action display with a try.

However, it was Tony McCrea and Scott who stole the show. McCrea produced a gutsy performance, constantly taking the ball into contact and adding to some fine scrummaging. Scott capped an round display with some very physical tackling against much bigger opposition which proves that good tackling technique, aggressiveness and determination can compensate for a smaller stature.

This win follows the previous Saturday's excellent away win in Ballynahinch. This week the Fifths travel to Armagh Thirds in the league and hopefully team manager John McIlwaine will have returned from his travels and captain Justin Gerring will have recovered from injury.