Banbridge Rugby Club - Northern Ireland

Bann lost a few players to promotion and injury but with Mark Doherty moving to out-half and Calum Boland to full-back the coaches were able to plug the gaps.

Marc Eadie, the early-season captain, stepped back into the second row with Michael Runciman coming in at centre.
The game was a very close, hard-fought affair with Bann always seeming to have the upper hand, but not being able to pull away from the opposition.

Bann won and converted two penalties to lead by six points but then suffered a major blow ten minutes before half-time. Second row Stephen Nelson, an anchor in the pack all season, sustained an eye injury which forced him to leave the field. Down to 14 men, Bann now needed to dig deep and that is exactly what they did.

Wing forwards Brian Curran and Matthew Bird, joint men of the match, constantly prevented Portadown from crossing the gain line. The pack took on a lot of ball in the tight with Gareth Jelly, Eadie and Andrew Craig putting in great performances. In the lineout Sam Boyd stepped in as jumper and Ringland consistently found his catchers.

Bann were awarded another penalty and went nine points up, but were soon pulled back when Portadown kicked their own penalty meaning a converted try would give them victory.

Bann continued to attack however with Doherty kicking them deep into the opposition territory. With Andy Cowan playing very well, Doherty was able to get the centre pairing of Willie Taylor and Runciman moving the ball wide. Wings John Porter and Peter Irvine were both stopped short of the line in attack, and Boland proved an able full-back coming into the line at every opportunity.

All in all this was a hard fought victory, and if this team goes on to secure the league title, then they will look back on this game as a key performance.

At the time of going to press there was no game programmed for the Thirds this week, but with four league games left to play, it may be necessary to re-arrange a fixture.