MATCH REPORTS AND PICTURES FOR SEASON 2005 - 06

 

Clwb Rygbi BANGOR Rugby Club Ltd.

Clwb Rygbi BANGOR Rugby Club Ltd. Season 2005 - 2006 

 

 

 

SCORERS 2005 - 06

 

DEVELOPMENT TEAM 2005-06

 

DEVELOPMENT TEAM SCORERS 2005-06

 

CLICK ON PICTURE TO SEE FULL SIZE

HEINEKEN CUP 17th Oct 2005

Robbie McBryde and the juniors

President Alan Davies and Chairman Stewart Waters

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DIVISION 5 NORTH

SATURDAY APRIL 8^th

BRO FFESTINIOG 43 - BANGOR 10

 

The game was played on a small water logged pitch in terrible conditions. Snow , hail and thunder  accompanied the play and both teams did their best to play open rugby.  Bangor started well and finished well but in between they had great difficulty getting their hands on the ball and could not bring down the heavily built home side  when they ran at them. Bangor took the lead with a well worked blind side move. The ball passed through several pairs of hands before scrum half Mathew Baston touched down in the corner for a try. After that a barrage of penalties against Bangor saw play swing back to Bro who were clearly rattled at finding themselves behind. By half time they had scored three tries to lead 17 - 5.

 

Bangor had very little ball to handle in the second half. With more missed tackles to help them, Bro scored another four tries but Bangor had the last say when a few well timed passes put winger Gavin Hughes in at the corner. For Bangor, forwards Gareth Roberts and Mark Pritchard stood out as players able to bring down the bigger men and veterans Bleddyn Butt and Irfon Williams showed calmness in despatching balls to the touchline.

 

At the end of the game the players thanked coach Roger Walker for holding the team together in  this difficult season and Roger retuned the complement by thanking them for saving the club by turning out enabling the club to fulfil its fixture commitments.  The players were in jubilant mood despite losing all their league fixtures and Roger said we must now start rebuilding the team for next season.

 

Click on pictures to see full size. Bangor played with their shirts turned inside out because of the colour clash and appear in Grey.

 

 

1. Bangor put in a high kick - spot the ball

2 Sean Kelly wins the lineout in a good attacking position

3. Gavin Hughes goes in at the corner for the last try.

4. Sean Kelly leads Bangor off at the end.

5. Bangor clap Bro off at the end.

6. The Bangor team with Roger Walker on left -  sorry I cut off half of you Roger.

 

DIVISION 5 NORTH

SATURDAY APRIL 1^st

BANGOR 0 - RHAYADER 22

 

Hopes that their improving performances recently might yet get them a win, faded in the first half when Rhayader made the most of the strong wind at there backs to keep Bangor on the defensive. Despite holding out for a while Bangor caved in when Rhayader sent the ball out from a lineout and the right winger came off his line to take the ball and cross without a finger being laid on him. A second try later came from a maul and with two conversions and a penalty to add they were 17 points up at the break.

 

With the advantage of the wind, Bangor had great territorial advantage in the second half and spent long periods camped on the Rhayader try line but the team seems to have forgotten how to score tries and  failed to capitalise on their advantage with no one able to break the defence. When Rhayader eventually forced play into Bangor territory and scored a try, picking up at the back of the scrum and crashing over, Bangor's heads went down with disappointment at the score line.

 

Bangor end their league season next week with a visit to Bro Ffestiniog for the rearranged fixture.

 

Left to right -

Sean Kelly lifts his head as Mathew Baston sorts out his opposite number.

Bangor get second phase in this first half attack with Mark Pritchard arriving to receive the ball.

Mathew Baston is forced into touch in this first half attack.

Bangor lose their own lineout just 5 metres out from the Rhayader try line.

 

 

DIVISION 5 NORTH

SATURDAY MARCH 26^th

Rhosllanerchrugog 15 - BANGOR 6

 

Bangor's "man of the match", veteran outside half Bleddyn Butt, controlled operations from the outside half position. His excellent touch kicking and occasional breaks always kept Bangor in the game. After withstanding early pressure from Rhos and a battery of penalties against them, Bangor struck with two penalties of their own expertly slotted over by Captain Mathew Baston. Rhos managed to keep the game tied up with mauling and rucking but Bangor's back row were up to the task of keeping them the right side of the try line.  Bangor's best move of the first half was a break away from the back of the lineout by Mark Pritchard supported by Gareth Roberts and Sean Williams but the move broke down. Rhos were eventually rewarded with a penalty late in the first half and then in first half injury time their outside half broke through a tackle for a simple try to give them a lead of 8 - 3 at the break.

 

Bangor dominated much of the second half.  Baston created Bangor's best chance with a clean break but did not have enough support to finish the move. Bangor came close again when Baston tapped the ball overhead into the corner but prop Kevin Roberts was just beaten to the touchdown. Rhos started to dominate the later stages but their backs never looked like scoring with good tackling from Bangor's centres but the forwards came close to driving over several times. Eventually Bangor caved in and conceded a soft try when the ball was sent blind to a forward arriving at speed who went into the corner and the excellent conversion by their outside half sealed the game.

 

 DIVISION 5 NORTH

THURSDAY MARCH 16^th

BANGOR 17 - RHYL 21

 

Click on Picture to see them in all their glory

Guto Jones, Andy Brady, Alyn Jones and Gareth Roberts examine a rugby ball made from bits and pieces - the sort of ball children in the third world might make if they want to play rugby. Support World Vision.

 

In this nail biter of a game fate was so cruel to struggling Bangor. Bangor turned in their best performance of the season and came so close to breaking their duck with a fantastic second half performance.

 

The first half went to Rhyl with Bangor getting off to a slow start. They opened the scoring with a maul and drive taking them over from a lineout  with second row forward Dylan Jones getting the touch down. Bangor were losing the ball at the breakdown and errors allowed Rhyl to expose their defence first with a superb try from centre Simon Davies from half way and then from stand off John Hall from even further out. Bangor then seemed to start getting some shape and support into their play aided by the return of John Raby  (Lord Brocket) to the full back position after a long absence. With the scrum firming up and captain Mathew Baston providing a good service at scrum half, Irfon Williams got Bangor rolling with a well struck drop goal just before half time.

 

Trailing 3 - 17 Bangor started the second half with purpose and got on top with a complete reversal of pushing power in the scrums. This produced a push over try with No.8 Sean Kelly getting the honours and a great conversion from Winger Iwan Jones brought them to within 7 points. Prolonged pressure on the Rhyl line produced the first yellow card when a desperate defender slapped the ball down. Spurning two kickable penalty chances Bangor opted for scrums but couldn't cross the line. A second yellow card for spoiling activities gave Bangor another easy penalty chance but again they opted for the scrum and a pick up and drive session resulted in forward Mark Pritchard getting a well deserved try. When Iwan Jones converted to level the score and the game well into injury time and apparently over, Bangor made the fatal mistake of relaxing and messed up the restart. Within reach of the Bangor try line for the first time that half, Rhyl took the opportunity and No.7 forward Ben Badham clinched the game for them. There was just time for a final restart but the game ended when Rhyl put the ball into touch.

 

MID WEEK FRIENDLY

BANGOR 12 - LLANGOED 0

Thursday Feb 23^rd

The game was played in good spirit with Bangor's mainly youthful players matching Llangoed's more mature players in all departments. No one troubled the score board in the first half. The ever green Owain Humphreys missed a penalty for the visitors but generally kept Bangor on their toes with little darting runs. Bangor got on top in the second half with the help of senior player Aled Hughes coming on at No.8. They scored two quick tries after sending the ball wide. The first was scored by second row Gruff Tudur with Iwan Jones converting. Soon after winger Andrew Brady showed a good turn of pace crossing in the corner.

 

DIVISION 5 NORTH

SATURDAY FEB 18^th

MACHYNLLETH 12 - BANGOR 3

Bangor almost caused a major upset as they narrowly lost at Machynlleth on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Indeed they had enough chances to win the match. A couple of  overlaps were not used   when a score was inevitable  and a pair of unlucky bounces denied them the spoils. With two difficult Bangor penalties missed, the scoreline was nil all at the interval and confidence was high after the break when the proud visitors dominated for long periods.

The evergreen Shane Kelly , playing out of position at scrum half, was a constant menace to the home side and linked well with Mathew Baston, the captain who had moved back to fly half for this game.

It was, however, Machynlleth who scored first when their lock forward caught the Bangor defence napping with a quickly taken tap penalty and crossed over unopposed for a soft try which went unconverted .

The visitors immediately reduced the deficit with a Mathew Baston penalty in front of the posts when one of the host's forwards was penalised for not releasing.

Totally against the run of play Mach scored a seven point try from half way after some clever footwork by their fly half .

Towards the end Bangor were only denied from scoring by some sterling defence from the home side's pack.

Bangor's man of the match was hooker Kevin " cup of cocoa "Roberts , but his name sake Kevin Roberts junior deserves a mention for his tackling, especially a magnificent try saving effort on the home side's diminutive scrum half. When the final whistle went it was a very relieved Mach who were the fortunate victors.

Bangor's next game is a friendly on Thursday evening against Benllech -Kick-off 7.30pm .

The  Wales - Ireland game will be on the big screen at Cae Millter next Saturday with refreshments provided. The following Saturday Bangor play hosts to Rhyl at their Cae Milltir home ground.

 

DIVISION 5 NORTH

SATURDAY JAN 28^th

WREXHAM 34 - BANGOR 5

 

This was a good result for Bangor. Playing uncontested scrums gave them enough ball possession to provide useful opposition to their opponents from the other end of the table. Ferocious tackling from mark Pritchard and the rest of the back row forced Wrexham into making elementary errors and good tackling in the back division stopped Wrexham spreading the ball wide. The home pack had a large weight advantage and using it to the full they wrestled their way over for three tries in the first half.

 

Bangor shocked the home team after holding out in the second half for some time they got on the score sheet when centre Guto Williams put in a long kick down the touchline and winger Gavin Hughes giving chase caught the bouncing ball and went on to score a fine try. Wrexham came back with renewed vigour and responded with three tries in quick succession but Bangor did not cave in. Irfon Williams keeping his cool at outside half put in many good touch line kicks and  full back Hywel Jones put up a stout defence to help repel all further attacks.

 

 

WRU DIVISION 5 NORTH

BANGOR 9 - LLANIDLOES 64

january 21^ST 2006

 

Playing with fully contested scrums throughout, Bangor were outweighed and had very little good ball to attack with. They took the lead twice early on with two well struck penalties from Iwan Jones. Despite a third  penalty from Jones and some stout defence, half time saw the visitors leading  9 - 17 with three tries to their credit.

 

In the second half Bangor lost their coherence with two yellow cards and a penalty try awarded against them as their scrum disintegrated against the heavier pack. With seven second half tries the visitors ran out easy winners.

 

Click on thumbnails for full picture. Pictures may be copied and published without permission.

 

 

 

WRU DIVISION 5 NORTH

WELSPOOL 34 - BANGOR 0

january 14^th 2006

 

The first game of 2006 brought no relief to beleaguered Bangor but their young team put in a gutsy performance against their older, heavier and wiser opponents. Bangor spent most of the game on the back foot defending bravely and let in two tries in the first half and three in the second when they were reduced to thirteen players through injury and a sin binning. Wing forward Mark Pritchard was tireless in making tackle after tackle. Sean Kelly kept the pack working against the odds and captain Mathew Baston at scrum half did a great job keeping them motivated.

 

 

 

 

 

WRU DIVISION 5 NORTH

RHAYADER 34 - BANGOR 11

decEMBER 10^th 2005

 

Another improved performance from Bangor still saw them being  out-gunned by 5 tries to 1. Although Bangor's defence has tightened considerably over the past few weeks, they had no answer to the home side's classy centre whose electrifying turn of foot saw him darting through for a brilliant hat-trick of tries.

 

The visitors experimented with Dafydd Tudur & Kevin Roberts junior swapping their usual positions of centre and flanker and both looked comfortable in their new roles.

It was Robert Eston , playing his first game for a month, who was the most potent force in the backs, and he made several powerful runs and indeed scored a fine try  from one kick and chase attack. Iwan Jones was solid in defence & scored two good penalties.

 

Bangor's man of the match was young Gruff Tudur who is developing & maturing into a fine prospect.

 

Bangor's next match is away to Blaenau Ffestiniog on the 7th January , followed by another away fixture to Welshpool on the 14th January .The next home game is on Saturday 21st January versus Llanidloes .

 

 

 

 

WRU DIVISION 5 NORTH

BANGOR 5 - rhos 29

decEMBER 3^rd 2005

 

This basement battle was a game Bangor hoped to win but they started disastrously letting in two tries early on. Bangor came back with some spirited play and should have scored at least once but with Rhos dominating the scrums and lineout they spent the rest of the first half on their heels. Even the return of Alan Owen to their ranks and the exultations of Captain Mathew Baston could not stop Rhos adding another three times to end the first half with a 29 point lead.

 

The second half was a different matter and the defence improved considerably making Rhos spill the ball and giving Bangor the chance to counter. Bangor dominated territorially and came close to scoring several times. They eventually got on the score sheet with the best try of the game when a quick penalty tap put veteran outside half Irfon Williams away for a 50 meter dash down the touch line to the corner.

 

 

 

WRU DIVISION 5 NORTH

RHYL 64 - BANGOR 3

NOVEMBER 12^th 2005

Bangor's ill luck continues & a Saturday morning withdrawal of a player who was stranded a 100 miles away with car problems meant the team had to travel to Rhyl with only 14 men. Illnesses , injuries & work commitments also deprived their smallish squad of a further 7 players.

Remarkably they started off rather well and took an early lead through the boot of Matthew Baston' penalty kick. The writing was soon on the wall however , when several missed tackles leaked in 4 Rhyl tries in the first half. Once the first tackle was missed there was an instant overlap and a two on one man advantage and this scenario proved costly and frustrating throughout the match.

Rhyl were rampant and full of confidence in the second period & literally ran in 6 more tries, most of them from 50 & 60 meters after breaking the first tackle. This emphatic victory did not dismay the young and brave Bangor side, & they never gave up. They could indeed have scored on more than one occasion, only for some stubborn defence to hold them at bay.

There were some heroic tackles and big hits from the Bangor pack, but when wing Gavin Hughes limped off their efforts were in vain against Rhyl's 15. With 5 minutes left, centre Dafydd Tudur also hobbled off, but their opponents were unable to increase their lead against their dozen opponents.

 

 

WRU DIVISION 5 NORTH

BANGOR 10 - machynlleth 43

OCTOBER 29^th 2005

 

In a game of two halves Bangor's poor defence leaked in seven easy tries in the first period , four of which were converted by the opposition's inside centre. With a half time score line of 0-43 it looked as if another huge defeat was looming. However after the turnaround Bangor tightened up their defence considerably and looked a completely different outfit. Indeed it was only heroic tackling by Machynlleth that prevented more scores.

Bangor dominated the second half and were finally awarded a deserved try after constantly pressurising the visitors' try-line when Matthew Baston wriggled through from close range to touch down for an unconverted score.

The home side, containing half a dozen 18 & 19 year old local lads , will regret some poor tackling in the first half , but will also be encouraged from their brave performance after the break. Young Kevin Roberts and Gruff Tudur were immense in the pack, with the former always in the thick of things, carrying the ball forward extremely well , winning good lineout ball and putting in huge tackles. With more experience the youngsters on display will become much better players and prove a big asset to the club. They are definitely ones for the future and their development is of vital importance .

Bangor's other try was a clever touch down by Rhys Owen after some excellent work by the back row .

With the Winter Internationals upon us Bangor's only league game in November is an away fixture against Rhyl on Saturday 12th. Next Saturday the Clubhouse will be open all afternoon for the Wales v New Zealand match on the Big Screen -kick off 4pm. Everybody welcome.

 

 

WRU DIVISION 5 NORTH

BANGOR 14 - welshpool 18

OCTOBER 22^nd 2005

 

Bangor fielded a strong front row with Donald Hughes and KevinRoberts dominating up front. They played with contested scrums for the first time this season and this made a dramatic difference to the team who hung on in there and then made a dramatic second half come back and almost snatched their first victory.

 

Bangor should have scored straight from the kick off but they failed to capitalise on a Welshpool mistake and instead  found them selves defending following a defensive clearance kick that put them back onto their 5 metre line. Welshpool mauled their way over for a try with Garry Tate getting the touchdown. When Tate repeated this a few minutes later mauling his way over from a line out it looked as though Bangor were in for another walloping but Bangor showed a lot of grit and put up stern resistance for the rest of the first half. This did not stop Welshpool going further ahead with a penalty from Daly Jones and yet another try from a rolling maul launched from a 5 meter lineout. This time John White got the touch down.

 

The second half was all Bangor's. The pack started to dominate the scrums and used the linout intelligently. They kept play in their opponents half most of the time.  Using a shortened lineout they drove through the line and Sean Kelly touched down. Outside half Iwan Jones made a magnificent  conversion from the touchline. Soon after Bangor drove a 5 metre scrum back and were awarded a penalty try when Welshpool collapsed the scrum. Jones' conversion brought them within 4 points but despite their best efforts they could not add to the score.

 

 

Scenes from the game. Click to see full size.

 

MIDWEEK TEAM

BANGOR 22 - COLEG NORMAL 22

October 17^th 2005

The game was played fast and furious with both missing chances through over enthusiasm but Bangor went into the lead with a forward try from Donald Hughes and conversion from Iwan Jones. Normal came back with two tries and a conversion to take the lead. Bangor's old stalwart Bleddyn Butt playing at scrumhalf levelled the score with a try then prop Kevin Moran got another forward's try to give the lead. Jones converted from the touchline. Normal then finished strong with two tries and seemed to have the game won but a rare penalty awarded to Bangor was struck cleanly by Iwan Jones to tie the score.

 

WRU DIVISION 5 NORTH

LLANDUDNO 105 - BANGOR 5

OCTOBER 15^th 2005

 

Although they were outgunned in all departments, Bangor's young and inexperienced players never gave up and managed to slow the pace of scoring down in the second half. They conceded less points in the second half than the first. Bangor had very little ball possession to use but scored a good try in the first half when winger Gavin Griffiths pounced on a mistake and beat two players before off loading to captain Mathew Baston to score. Baston came close to a try in the second half with a fine break. Sean Kelly gave a good display in the forwards.

 

Bangor play Welshpool at Cae Milltir next Saturday in a rearranged fixture.

 

                                                                           

Super sub Irfon Williams is bundled into touch                       Kevin Roberts takes acts as scrum half

WRU DIVISION 5 NORTH

BANGOR 0 WREXHAM 80

OCTOBER 8^th 2005

 

The team was only able to field 14 players and so the game was played with uncontested scrums. Incredibly, Bangor were only down by two tries at half time  and actually had the greater territorial advantage. After the break, Wrexham used their weight superiority and rubbed Bangor out with ten second half tries, several of them being scored in the extra ten minutes that the referee played for no apparent reason.  Despite this onslaught, Mathew Baston came with  close to scoring a try and the players showed that they do have some talent in the ranks with Sean Kelly and Robert Eston putting up stern resistance and local Bangor lads Guto, Kevin and Gavin giving it their all.

 

 

DIVISION 5 NORTH

 BANGOR 0 - BRO FFESTINIOG 67

SEPT 10^th 2005

Bangor started the 125^th year of their club's history by having to call on the support of some of their retired veterans and some very young players in order to field a team. They did well for ten or fifteen minutes matching Bro in all departments but then the tries started to flow and Bro ran in 11 tries in all. To their credit Bangor kept on competing with Mathew Baston urging them along from behind the scrum. They came close to scoring a few times and their best chance came when Owen Humphries broke from deep and nearly made the line before being caught.

 

lLANIDLOES 57 - BANGOR 0

OCTOBER 1^st 2005

 

Bangor is just about the oldest rugby club in Wales being a founder member of the Welsh Rugby Union but are finding their 125^th year one of the most difficult in their long history. Following a special club meeting  last week loyal Bangor players were adamant that they would fulfil their league fixtures this season despite major upheavals at the club that has seriously reduced their playing strength. Bangor will soon have a new management structure in place to build on the successful junior section and hopefully bring the club back to its former glory. An appeal has been made to former and new players to rally around and see the club through.

 

Bangor took the long journey to Llanidloes on Saturday with only thirteen players following last minute withdrawals of some players from the team. With some new and youthful faces in the reduced squad they put on a courageous performance against overwhelming odds. The back row players, Kevin John Roberts and Sean Kelly were impressive  and Sean Williams returning to the squad after a long injury is an excellent prospect. They ended the first half trailing 26 - 3 with four tries from Llanidloes and just a penalty in reply from Bleddyn Butt. Bangor actually got on top for 15 minutes on the restart and came close to scoring but with the ever present overlap when they got the ball Llanidloes scored another five tries in the later stages to run up a total of 57 points.

 

Bangor are home to Wrexham next Saturday.