Banbridge Rugby Club - Northern Ireland

Both teams were understrength. The home side had several players on representative duty while Bann were missing a number of players from the squad that had secured a bonus point win at Wanderers the week before. Paul Ross came in at hooker in place of Jonny Murphy who was on Ulster Ravens duty, while prop Colin Bickerstaff was forced into a late cry-off with a leg injury. In the back row, the unavailable Ryan Patterson was replaced by Jonny Gibson, while Shandon Scott started at scrum half after Neville Farr sustained a knee ligament injury in Dublin.

Robin Thompson had an opportunity to register a score after only two minutes when Bann were awarded a penalty following positive forward runs from lock Simon McKinstry and prop Michael Cromie. However the outhalf's effort fell wide of the posts.

Despite enjoying good territory and possession in the opening period that followed, Bann were unable to make a breakthrough and instead it was the home side that opened the scoring.

After a quarter of an hour ‘Hinch out-half Ryan Bambry stepped inside his opposite man to break through the Bann defence before feeding centre James Thompson who had a clear run to the line. Bambry converted to give ‘Hinch a 7-0 lead.

Robin Thompson closed the gap to four points with a penalty kick midway through the half. Good work at the breakdown from Bann full-back Ben Purvis allowed Brian Hanna to effect a turnover and feed scrum half Shandon Scott. Scott broke down the blindside to take play from the half-way line into the Hinch "22". The supporting Cromie was tackled without the ball and Bann were duly awarded a penalty which Thompson slotted over.

‘Hinch widened the gap between the two sides on the half hour mark. A series of five metre scrums had failed to elicit a score for the home side with the Bann pack continually frustrating their efforts. However, when the ball was moved wide, Adam Craig found space to race in for a try which Bambry converted.

Banbridge replied with a try of their own five minutes before the interval. Cromie, Ross and wing forward Mark Wilson all made good ground to take play deep into the ‘Hinch "22". Bann looked to have squandered a good scoring opportunity when the ball squirted out the side of a ruck and was recovered by the home side. However good counter-rucking allowed Bann to regain possession and Thompson was able to find a gap in the ‘Hinch defence to race under the posts for a well deserved score. The out-half converted his own try to once again reduce the gap to four points at 14-10.

Thompson had an opportunity to bring the scores to within a point when he had another kick at goal midway through the second half. Bann were awarded a penalty after the referee adjudged a number of retreating defenders to have been interfering in an offside position. However the out-half was off the mark with the difficult attempt.

With fifteen minutes remaining ‘Hinch increased their lead when replacement David Drake exploited an overlap out wide with the Bann defence stretched. Bambry converted to give the home side a 21-10 lead.

Dale Carson came close to scoring late on when he broke clear of the ‘Hinch defence after an initial Chris Allen break. However the Bann No 8 was eventually brought down metres short of the line. Bann continued to press for a score in the final minutes, but the ‘Hinch defence held firm.

When the home side worked their way into the Bann half, scrum half Scott was forced to watch the last play of the match from the sideline when he received a yellow card for a deliberate knock on with ‘Hinch pressing for a bonus point score.

And ‘Hinch made the extra man count in the final play, scoring the all important fourth try with Craig once again getting the touchdown. Bambry pushed the conversion wide to leave the final score 26-10 in the home side's favour.

Banbridge will face another tough test when Sunday's Well come to Rifle Park this Saturday, but will take plenty of positives from this performance going into the All-Ireland League fixture. The pack produced another impressive performance, while Purvis at full back again attacked with positive intent and to good effect at every opportunity.

Sunday's Well sit one place below Banbridge in fifth position with both sides having won the same number of matches. A single point separated the sides in the same fixture last season as Bann held out for the win, and Saturday's affair can be expected to be equally close. The match kicks off at 2.30pm at Rifle Park.