With a strong breeze blowing directly down the length of the Gibson Park Avenue pitch, and the prospect of heavy rain to come, playing conditions were not ideal. However, Bangor would be first to benefit from the wind advantage as they got the game underway, and it didn’t take long for their backs to show more of the flowing moves that have served them so well in previous games. As the ball was swept across towards the left hand side, Danny Young made the initial break, with Connor Scollan proving close support on the left touchline. After a quick pass to Scollan, then receiving another pass back seconds later, Young was set free with a clear run to the goal line and Bangor’s first try of the game. Gareth Millar added the extras to put his side ahead by 0-7 with just over one minute on the clock.

On a rare occasion when Grosvenor had an attacking lineout just inside Bangor’s half, Bangor managed to disrupt the set piece and mount a counter attack through their backs. Craig Gilroy joined the attacking backline and soon made good progress towards the left wing. With Scollan providing the same support as he had given earlier to Young, Gilroy cut through the Grosvenor defence to score and, with Millar again adding the conversion, Bangor were now 0-14 ahead.

Grosvenor’s difficulty in this opening half was to get into Bangor’s twenty two, but when they did, their sustained pressure eventually forced Bangor to concede a penalty, which was successfully kicked and opened their scoring account.

A few minutes later, a long positional kick into Bangor’s twenty two was safely taken by Gilroy who then set off on a charge back into the Grosvenor half. With the attack then carried on by Scollan and then Ally McIvor, Bangor were soon close to the Grosvenor line. Some determined Grosvenor defensive rucking appeared to have stopped Bangor’s advance, but as the ball came back, McIvor was on hand to dive over from close range, to extend Bangor’s lead to 3-19.

Although Bangor had another excellent scoring opportunity in the closing minute of the first half, Grosvenor defended well and the score remained at 3-19 as the referee blew for half time.

With so much possession and apparent control of the game so far, Bangor were hoping to quickly add another try and secure the bonus point in the process. However, a long restart kick by Grosvenor was touched down by Bangor inside their own goal area, and resulted in a goal line drop-out. With consideration for the prevailing wind, Millar struck the ball low, but in doing so allowed the Grosvenor players to charge it down. Bangor were fortunate to collect the loose ball and clear their lines at the second attempt. Having weathered this early pressure, Bangor soon worked their way back up-field and won a lineout close to Grosvenor’s twenty two. Having been on the receiving end of some strong rolling mauls the previous weekend, it was now Bangor’s turn to use this to good effect and, as the maul trundled slowly forward, the ball was finally grounded by Blair Morgan for his side’s valuable try-scoring bonus point. The difficult conversion into the wind was missed, but the score hade now moved to a relatively comfortable 3-24.

It was only a few minutes later that Bangor seemingly put the game to bed with the best try of the game. Another kick for position by Grosvenor was fielded by Scollan close to the half way line. Although there were plenty of Grosvenor players ahead of him, he set off on a typically darting run which completely split the home defence, leaving a race for the line. Scollan’s pace was too much for the backtracking defence, resulting in an excellent score close to the Grosvenor posts. This time Rhys Larmour was on kicking duties, and the straightforward conversion was added to put Bangor well clear at 3-31, with 30 minutes left to play.

At this point, the final outcome looked all but settled, but as handling errors and lapses in concentration started to creep into Bangor’s game, Grosvenor raised their tempo and sensed there was still plenty to play for. Unsurprisingly, the lineouts were proving difficult to manage in the windy conditions. As a Bangor throw-in was missed, Grosvenor tidied up the loose ball and drove forward deep into Bangor’s territory before putting in a delicate chip over the advancing defence. The bounce of the ball favoured Grosvenor allowing them to scoop it up and run through for the try.

This score put the spring back into Grosvenor’s game, and their concerted efforts were rewarded when a missed tackle by Bangor while inside their own twenty two allowed Grosvenor to continue their run and score under the posts for a converted try, which took the score to 15-31, with 15 minutes left to play.

Within minutes, it looked like the game had swung back towards Bangor after their dominant scrummaging eventually resulted in a yellow card for one of the Grosvenor props. However, this only seemed to spur the home side on further and, with just 3 minutes left to play, their persistent forward drives was rewarded with another try, although unconverted this time.

Suddenly, Grosvenor were within touching distance of Bangor’s score at 20-31, and another try would not only earn them a try-scoring bonus point, but also a losing one as well, not to mention an outside chance of then snatching an unlikely victory. However, despite the added drama of a late yellow card for Bangor, they managed to sufficiently compose themselves and deny their hosts any further scores.

This win for Bangor, combined with other scores from the day, lifts them to third place in the league standings and will go a long way towards boosting confidence ahead of their next league fixture against Portadown in two weeks’ time.