Fourths reach the Forster cup quarter finals

BHSFP Seconds 3

Bann Fourths 6

BANN Fourths just about did enough to secure their passage to the quarter finals of the Forster Cup with a hard fought 6-3 win away to Belfast High School Former Pupils on Saturday.

In the muddy conditions at Greenisland both sides struggled to get much flowing rugby going and in the end two penalties from Ally Lewis proved decisive in extending Bann’s post-Christmas winning run.

Having beaten their hosts twice in the league already this season Bann approached the fixture with confidence but soon found that they were playing against a seemingly more determined High School team.

Nonetheless, it was Bann who had the better of the opening exchanges with the locals’ line-out managing to steal several opposition throws through Bryan Curran and captain James Mathers.

This superiority out of touch was counter-balanced though by the High School’s stronger scrum which dominated throughout the match. Bann though did look dangerous with the ball in hand and they managed to get the opening score with a penalty from out-half Lewis midway through the first half.

A good back-line movement had culminated in a strong run from left winger John Haughey taking play to the High School 22. From there Bann continued to pressurise and when the High School infringed to the left of the posts Lewis calmly converted the penalty for a 3-0 lead.

Lewis indeed had a further opportunity to extend Bann’s lead before the interval but his kick fell short of the posts so the score remained 3-0 at half time.

The High School started the second half in determined mood and perhaps held the balance of play over the half as a whole. With their centre missing two penalty kicks they changed kicker fourteen minutes into the half and a well struck penalty from their full back levelled the scores at 3-3.

As the game entered its final quarter and with extra-time looking like a strong possibility Bann lifted their game and began to play a lot more of their rugby in the High School half. This resulted in a couple of a further penalty kicks for Lewis. The first again fell short but making no mistake with the second he gave Bann the lead for the second time in the game at 6-3 with 14 minutes remaining.

The High School fought back but Bann’s tackling remained resolute, as it had been throughout the game, with centres Martin Armstrong and Andrew Kirkwood proving especially solid.

The final whistle left Bann both relieved and yet delighted to have won a closely fought match.

Without playing especially fluent rugby Bann nonetheless showed admirable determination and resilience and will be pleased to have extended their winning run to four matches.

In the forwards the experience and leadership of Mathers, Stuart Forsythe and Barney McKevitt showed in their battling and dogged displays whilst each of the backs defended with strength and grit.

With a quarter final to look forward to in March Bann turn their attention back to the league campaign this Saturday as they play host to Coleraine Fourths, looking to exact revenge for a heavy away defeat early in the season.