Banbridge Rugby Club - Northern Ireland

It was a cruel way to lose out, but having taken a 6-15 lead into the break, the Rifle Park side's failure to add to their tally after the interval had left them vulnerable against an Old Crescent side that wouldn't give up.

Coach Daniel Soper spoke after the game about his "bitter disappointment".

"We looked so good in the first half and scored two excellent tries," he said. "We looked like a team that deserved to go up.

"We knew they wouldn't lie down. But after ten minutes in their half without adding to our first half score, we started to make mistakes and give away penalties. We couldn't deal with their maul - I think that was the worst 40 minutes we played in the last eight weeks."

It had all looked good for Bann in the first half as they played all the attacking rugby against a home side which at times almost looked resigned to relegation. When Jonny Pollock picked up an attempted clearance on halfway he linked with Ashley Finlay and the full-back's pass set Andrew Morrison off on a 40 metre run that was halted two metres out from the try line.

From the five-metre scrum which followed Dale Carson and Simon McKinstry were just held out, but Crescent were penalised and Robin Thompson slotted over the simple kick to give his side the lead with 11 minutes played.

The home side failed to level the scores when presented with a 35 metre penalty opportunity six minutes later. But when Bann went back on the attack a neat switch between Adam Ervine and Finlay allowed Mark Wilson to set up a ruck close to the Crescent line. The ball came to McKinstry and he linked with Thompson for the out-half to dummy before crossing for the opening try.

The conversion missed the target but Bann still looked comfortable and even after Fergal Lawlor's successful penalty effort from 28 metres reduced the deficit to five points, the Ulster side resumed in control.

A sweeping backline move from a lineout took play close the home line. Bann won a scrum and after a couple of re-cycles hooker Jonny Murphy burrowed his way over for the second try, with Thompson's conversion taking his side 3-15 ahead with 33 minutes played.

Lawlor slotted over a second penalty two minutes before the break after Bann had been penalised at a scrum for ‘boring', a strange decision given the relative comfort of the visiting eight at the set-piece.

As the sizeable contingent of Bann supporters reflected at the interval on a highly satisfactory first-half display, they settled back to watch their side build on that 6-15 interval lead.

That confidence was reinforced as the home side were confined to their own territory for the opening ten minutes of the second half. A fumble in the home defence seven minutes after the break allowed Bann to hack through but Morrison just failed to gather the ball as it bobbled short of the try line. Crescent survived that scare and further pressure before finally kicking their way into the Bann half.

Not it was the turn of the visitors to show their defensive qualities as the Crescent forwards began to make inroads through a very effective maul and a series of ‘pick-and-goes'. No 8 Lemiki Viapulo spearheaded most of the Crescent attacks and he finished off a prolonged assault on the Bann line in the 63rd minute, stretching over out of a tackle to touch down. Lawlor's conversion narrowed the gap to two points.

A great drive from a Bann lineout took play close to the Crescent line where Bann won a penalty. Bann opted for a second lineout but the Crescent defence held out against the pressure before winning a penalty to take play into the opposition half. Another penalty forced Bann back inside their "22" and Lawlor was just wide with a drop goal attempt.

The home side were now asking all the questions and when Bann again infringed in their efforts to hold the line, the referee signalled for a penalty in front of the posts. That gave Crescent a ‘free' shot at goal and when the ruck ball came back, centre Anthony Barry drop-kicked between the uprights to edge his side into the narrowest of leads.

There were still two minutes normal and five minutes injury time left. But Bann had now lost their momentum and the experienced Limerick side were not going to give up possession to allow the visitors any chance of a comeback.

The final penalty of the game was kicked to touch by Lawlor to signal celebrations among the home supporters and despair in the ranks of the Bann players, coaches and supporters.

"I told the players at the start of the season that if we got 48 league points we'd probably get promotion and if we got 50 points we'd definitely get promotion," Soper added. "We got 52 points and ended up in that play-off and maybe the lack of experience of one-off games like that told against us.

"But I'm really encouraged by the style of play we've developed over the season. If we can carry that through into next season I'm confident that we'll be pushing again for promotion in 12 months time."