Medallion win tough battle

Dalriada started off the well with constant pressure in the Bangor half through good retention of the ball from the tight five forwards David Dysart, Nathan Philipson and Chris Wright before spinning the ball wide with Henry Ross running a superb line to hold the Bangor inside defence and allow Luke Clements to get the ball in space and run in for a try.

Dalriada received the kick off and began about setting up good attacking options through Oliver Watt and Conor Clarke carrying the ball well before kicking the ball deep into the opposition 22m. However the speedy Bangor fullback collected the loose ball and out sprinted the Dalriada team to score. This swing of momentum gave Bangor a renewed confidence and they entered the Dalriada 22m building several phases before moving the ball to their fullback who crashed over the line to score his second try. Half time 14-7.

After a team talk by captain James Allen at half time Dalriada set out to close Bangor down. Dalriada were now playing into a tough wind making all kicking difficult. They struggled to build a strong platform to exit out of their 22m and Bangor enjoyed large spells of possession and time in the Ballymoney half. The home team were determined to ensure that Bangor did not score and through great counter rucking from second rows Josh Watson and Jack Murdoch, Bangor could not gain clean ball from the breakdown. First up tackles from Thomas Hunter and Adam Wright forced Bangor to make mistakes and the game ended 14-7 reflecting how tight a contest it really was.