Banbridge 2nds 17 - Ards 2nds 3

The second team travelled to Banbridge this week for what turned out to be a well contested match. The playing conditions were perfect and the young Ards men were eager to get down to business.
The first half started well and the Ards forwards lead the way with some thumping tackles and aggressive running with the ball in hand, letting Banbridge know they were in for are in for a hard game. In fact the entire first half was well contested as out half Paul Cox kept the home side pinned in their own half for long periods of play, and with some great attacking runs in the centre of the pitch from Chris Agnew and Alan Crawford, Ards looked to be in command of the game. After only thirty minutes however Ards were hit a blow as Brian McNally was carried off the pitch due to an ankle injury, and with a number of other forwards picking up knocks the hill started to look steeper. Despite these setbacks, Ards finally broke the deadlock when Banbridge conceded a penalty, directly in front of the posts on the halfway line. Paul Cox lined the kick up perfectly to put Ards 3 points ahead. A few minutes later, after some good interplay between backs and forwards Andrew Jess drove over the line, only to be denied a try as the referee judged the ball to have been held up by a Banbridge defender. The remaining few minutes of the first half were played out between the two ten meter lines as both sides continued to probe each other for weaknesses.

The second half started the way the first half had done, with the Ards forwards providing a platform for the backs to attack. Ten minutes in Banbridge seemed to step up a gear and dominated the young Ards side for some twenty minutes. During this period the Ards defence seemed to fall to pieces, and some poor tackling gave Banbridge the opportunity to score two tries in quick succession to go 12 – 3 up. This wakeup call seemed to kick Ards back into life, as they lifted their game and for the next ten minutes went on the attack forcing the home side to work hard in defence. Predictably however Banbridge finally took advantage of the extra man as they gradually wore Ards down. With just five minutes to the final whistle the home side scored a third try to seal the game at 17 - 3.
It was good to see yet another young Ards player getting blooded into the senior end of the club with Gareth McBurney stepping up from the under nineteen side.

The Ards Team were as follows: McNally, Garrett, R Hamilton, Presho, McBurney, Mawhinney, McKee, Reid, S Hamilton, Cox, Jess, Crawford, Devlin, Scott, Agnew.