Banbridge Rugby Club - Northern Ireland

Bann continued to move the ball wide as they looked to take advantage of the superior pace of wingers John Haughey and Packie Downey, the latter playing his first game of the season. This provided dividends when Haughey touched down after the ball was moved through several pairs of hands. Downey converted to give Bann a 12-0 lead.

Portadown came back into the game through their most effective weapon in the form of a driving maul from lineouts, and this brought them back into the game with two tries towards the end of the first half to leave the half-time score 12-12.

Portadown started the second half strongly but good defence by the back row trio of Stuart Forsythe, Jamie Murray and Sean Duke repelled Portadown attacks. After 50 minutes, from a Bann scrum in midfield, a miss move in the centres allowed Downey the space to touch down out wide. Unfortunately for Bann the lead was short lived as Portadown found a gap in the Bann defences to score in the corner and level the scores at 17-17.

With the game tied and up for grabs, Bann showed composure to score two tries in the final 10 minutes and secure the win. Firstly Anderson got in for his second try, galloping in from his own half for a fine score under the posts, and with five minutes remaining a strong burst and side step from centre Chris Berry saw him touch down for a deserved score . Both tries were converted by Downey to leave the final tally 31-17 in Bann's favour.

This was a good all-round performance by the Fifths, and although it was the threequarters who scored the tries, it was based on a robust performance from the Bann pack who secured plenty of ball in the tight phases despite playing against a much heavier Portadown pack.