U17s battle hard to beat Portadown

U17s battle hard to beat Portadown

Portadown U17s 10

Bann U17s 27

BANN'S U17s travelled to Portadown for their third league game of the season and had to battle hard to win aphysical encounter.

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 rugbyby the backs.

From the kick-off the ball was knocked on and from the resulting scrum a penalty was awarded toPortadown 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, Bannchose the five-man lineout optionwhich enabled Kasper Kruzycki to carry the ball close to the Portadown line.

Bann rucked the ball quickly and captain Jonny McCreery was unstoppable as hescored after brushing two defenders aside. Adam Dohertyadded 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 10-15 Bann stepped up a gear in a match they were determined not to throw away and Portadown never threatened to score again. The nexttry 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 fromthe kick-off after a great catch by Adam Kelly. This allowed them to attack for the rest of thematch 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 toshow a lot of self-restraint to win. Joshua Coyle had to take a lot ofphysical attention but never backed down andThomas Carlisle and Adam Kellyin particularstoodup to thechallenge.The man of the match was Adam Kelly whorelished the hard-fought nature of the game.

Bann 4ths get the ball away from Cooke. INBL43-RUGBY6

A Banbridge 4ths player gets the ball away during their match against Cooke. INBL43-RUGBY2

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