Poor Seconds suffer heavy defeat Share
BANBRIDGE 2NDs 0 Armagh 2nds 32September 24, 2011
On Saturday Bann Seconds hosted Armagh in the 2nd XV League, and the recent run of results seemed to give the players the idea that they could just turn up and a result would follow. The effect of this was that they allowed Armagh to dominate nearly all facets of play, and by the time the home team tried to shrug off their lethargic approach, Armagh were out of sight on the scoreboard. With Armagh looking clearly sharper, they gained the first try after 13 minutes when they moved the ball from a steady scrum under the posts, and crossed the line at ease through a weak defence. The lesson was not learnt by Bann who, although managing some decent ball retention, were not able to utilise it in the way Armagh did. So it was no surprise when the visitors crossed the line again in the 28th minute to go 12-0 up after spreading the ball wide. Four minutes later Armagh scored a breakaway try from inside their own half, after Bann yet again were unable to protect their own ball after a passage of improving play. The visitors added a penalty to give them a 20 point interval advantage. The second half saw Bann with a better attitude, with some interplay between backs and forwards, but the lack of a cutting edge kept the opposition line intact. Armagh continued to look more assured and they added two further tries in the second half to underline their control. Although Armagh totally deserved this victory, even they must have been surprised at the lack of commitment or fight put up by Bann. The only good point to take from a display like this is that it would be nearly impossible to repeat, and it hopefully will be the wake-up call for the majority of the team.
The opening exchanges saw each team try and stamp their authority, but it was Armagh who tried to convert a penalty from inside their own half after three minutes. They obviously expected a sterner test, but they need not have worried about quick points, as they eventually cruised to victory through a total of five unanswered tries.