Banbridge Rugby Club - Northern Ireland

Bann started well and the forwards showed they were capable of matching any aggression shown by the home team. They were rewarded when Ryan Graham finished off a fine piece of running rugby by the backs.

From the kick-off the ball was knocked on and from the resulting scrum a penalty was awarded to Portadown which they kicked successfully to reduce the deficit to 3-5.

Bann then extended their lead further after a period of sustained pressure when Portadown conceded several penalties. Opting to kick for position, Bann chose the five-man lineout option which enabled Kasper Kruzycki to carry the ball close to the Portadown line. Bann rucked the ball quickly and captain Jonny McCreery was unstoppable as he scored after brushing two defenders aside. Adam Doherty added the conversion and then five minutes later slotted over a penalty to leave the score at 3-15 at the end of the first half.

The rain arrived for the second half and the match turned into a forward battle for the first 12 minutes with the Bann backs seeing little of the ball. Bann conceded four penalties in a row and were punished for their ill-discipline when Portadown scored a converted try to get back in touch in the game.

At 10pts to 15pts Bann stepped up a gear in a match they were determined not to throw away and Portadown never threatened to score again. The next try came when sustained Bann pressure resulted in a penalty being awarded close to the home line. The tap ball was taken quickly and Peter Cromie dived over for his seventh try of the season, an average of one a game.

Bann returned the ball into the Portadown half from the kick-off after a great catch by Adam Kelly. This allowed them to attack for the rest of the match and play the game close to the home team's line. After driving the ball over the line on several occasions from scrum and ruck and the backs moving the ball from wing to wing, Doherty finally ran past the despairing defence to score a try which he converted.

This was an ill-tempered game in which Bann had to show a lot of self-restraint to win. Joshua Coyle had to take a lot of physical attention but never backed down and Thomas Carlisle and Adam Kelly in particular stood up to the challenge. The man of the match was Adam Kelly who relished the hard-fought nature of the game.