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Clwb Rygbi BANGOR Rugby Club Ltd. Season 2008 - 2009 

SCORERS 2008 - 09

DEVELOPMENT TEAM 2008-09

A horrible cold wet day with no shelter. Bangor entered a team in the morning session who gave a good account of themselves winning the game against Benllech. A team of Bangor exiles (old boys) played in the afternoon session under the name of St. Albans coming together for a reunion  after 10 years. Full marks to the other Bangor players who stayed on in the cold and wet to help make up the numbers. The team lost to eventual tournament winners Llangefni but convincingly beat Congleton and ran Warwick Ba Ba's close.

Dafydd Mali, Chris Williams, Andre Griffiths, Craig Pritchard, Joe Brogden Ciaran Hill, Martin Dunn, Paul Taylor

VIDEO   OLD BOYS V LLANGEFNI   OLD BOYS V CONGLETON   OLD BOYS V WARWICKSHIRE BA BAS

MACHYNLLETH 78 - 12 BANGOR

TUESDAY APRIL 29^th

BANGOR 0 - 78 COBRA

LEAGUE 2N APRIL 18^th

Bangor's young and lightweight side were overpowered again by 12 tries and nine conversions. They were not helped by being reduced to 14 men for most of the game by a red card early on and thirteen at one stage by a yellow card offence.

BRO FFESTINIOG 89 - 6 BANGOR

LEAGUE 2N APRIL 11^th

Although the score line speaks for itself there were some positives for Bangor. Meurig Thomas made his debut for the senior team having reached the age of 18 and put in a terrier like performance. Other youth team players put in a creditable performance with Sean Williams slotting over two early penalties even giving Bangor the lead for a few minutes. Joe Brogden put in some great tackles against men twice his size. Bro had the size, pace and close support to break through Bangor's lightweight team but they didn't score as many points as they did at Bangor earlier in the season.

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BANGOR 7 - 50 RHOS

LEAGUE 2N APRIL 4^th 2009

VIDEO

A long break, many missing players and a major setback for the club who might have expected to do well against fellow strugglers Rhos but credit to the players who took to the field and fulfilled the fixture. The old men of Rhos managed to hang on to the ball a lot and as the game progressed simple basic rugby let them almost walk over the try line at will. Only Dafydd Mali really made any impact against the visitors and came close to scoring. Scrum half Sean Williams got Bangor's solitary try getting to the touch down after the ball was kicked behind the defence to the in goal area. He also converted it.

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BANGOR 12 - 36 WELSHPOOL

LEAGUE 2N 7^th MARCH 2009

Bangor played with the wind at their backs in the first half and at one time they only faced 13 players due to 2 yellow cards being issued to the visitors but they could not take advantage with an uncoordinated and disjointed performance that left them 0 - 17 down at the break. Dafydd Mali played at flanker and got away from the opposition several times only to find himself isolated without any support.  Only in the second half did the home side start to show some cohesion and confidence. Although they let in another 3 tries they did respond with two good tries of their own with centre Goose Monahan getting one and winger Joe Brogden scoring the second. The second try was created by full back Craig Pritchard returning from injury. He gave Brogden a chance to beat his opposite number on the outside which he did well and stormed down the touch line to score under the post.

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VIDEO

BANGOR 12 - 48 RHYL

LEAGUE 2N 21^st FEBRUARY 2009

The first half gave supporters great hope of running Rhyl close despite letting in a try in the opening minute but Bangor crumbled under the greater weight of the visitors in the second half.

The game started badly when Bangor tried to run the kick off from their own line but lost the ball and gave Rhyl a great opportunity that they gratefully took. Bangor struck straight back in style getting up some momentum that gave winger Joe Brogden his first try at senior level and the conversion brought them level. In the best period of play for the home team, Bangor should have scored at least one more try. The best chance came from Dafydd Mali who was stopped just short of the try line. Bangor gave the visitors another opportunity calling mark inside the 22m only to send the free kick straight to the opponents instead of touch and they gratefully ran in a try. Unperturbed Bangor fought back with character and a great run from flanker Gregor Aitken brought a try to bring them level. Rhyl scored again just before half time with a opportunistic hack up field and they found Bangor lacked the pace to beat them to  the touch down.

The second half became a nightmare for Bangor after making a few changes they visibly crumbled in all departments and Rhyl ran in 5 second half tries.

The scorers for Rhyl were  scrum half John Hall (2 tries), Simon Davies, Rob Tilly, Stew Fellcrock and Barry Pickton. The conversions came from the boot of Ben Morris.

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VIDEO

WREXHAM 31 - 3 BANGOR

JANUARY 24^th

There is a growing spirit in Bangor's young squad, light at the end of  the tunnel, turning the corner, little green shoots what ever you want to call it. The score line does not tell the story. Bangor had a squad of 27 players all wanting to get on the field. Prop Dafydd Mali made a welcome return after a few weeks absence. Their undoing was the size of the Wrexham pack and Bangor's plan to run them around the field failed because they simply didn't get enough ball in their hands. Wrexham scored twice in the first half through their pack with No.8 Dean Griffiths going over first and the second coming from a push over try from No. 6 Ian Sanger. Although largely on the defensive for most of the game, Bangor put in some great tackles and stalled the home pack on the line many times. With the penalty count against them and the luck it seems, Bangor were denied chances when the referee failed to let them play the advantage rule. Bangor's only reward was a penalty by outside half Mongahan.

The second half almost brought a surprise when centre Dafydd Roberts broke out of defence but not quite having the pace to go the length of the field he was just unable to get away the final pass. Wrexham then delivered the killer blow with a soft blind side try from Sanger. Veteran Sean Kelly appeared to to be away for Bangor intercepting a pass from the line out but the referee blew and gave Bangor a scrum, the last thing that they wanted, a strange advantage. Wrexham were awarded a penalty try when Bangor thwarted another push over try and their last try also came from a scrum near the try line with  M Jones getting the try and his third conversion. The home team were definitely flagging in the last 15 minutes and this was the only period Bangor were on top occupying the home 22 meter area and forward Gruff Tudur seemed to score at the corner but the referee could not see the touch down and ended the game.

VIDEO

SCENE 3 TAFF GETS STAMPED ON

SCENE 5 GRUFF'S TRY THAT WASN'T

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BANGOR 0 - 56 BETHESDA

JANUARY 17^th

Bethesda won the toss and elected to play into the teeth of the howling gale. Helped by the wind Bangor restricted them to three tries in the first half. Bangor did show a marked improvement in their defence with determined tackling from players like their young Scottish flanker McGregor but they never really came close to scoring. With the wind in the favour after the interval, the visitors turned the trickle into a flood running in seven tries and getting three conversions. Bangor unable to kick in defence bravely tried to run the ball out and Brogden nearly got free on one occasion but the task was too much for them. The score line is an improvement on their last game against Bethesda and this young team can still come good.

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COBRA 62 - 7 BANGOR

DECEMBER 13^th

The scoreline was a respectable 15-7 on the half hour with the home side scoring 3 tries to Bangor's interception score. When the hosts scored twice in a matter of minutes just on the interval the writing was already on the wall for a tough second period.
Although the Meifod based club, who are one of the strongest sides in the league, scored a further 5 tries, four of which were converted, the Bangor youngsters to their credit never gave in and battled on bravely right until the final whistle and their efforts were applauded in the clubhouse after the game. The hosts named Matt Monaghan the  Bangor stand-off as the visitor's man of the match and the young fly half was worthy of that honour.
Bangor 's next match is a home game on the 3rd January 2009

BANGOR 0 - 95 BRO FFESTINIOG

DECEMBER 6^th

Bangor were overwhelmed by the league leaders. They did show some encouraging resistance and mounted some attacks in the second half. Bangor played in Blue to avoid a clash of colours.

Another hard day for the young Bangor team still with much to learn in all departments and now showing signs of losing spirit. Rhos were quick to get on the scoreboard and after that it was heads down for most of the game. Rhos ran in 7 tries to Bangor's one. There were bright spots for Bangor with some individuals putting in tackles and making ground and Bangor did spend quite a lot of time in the Rhos half of the field but unfortunately never had enough ball to do anything.  Their solitary try from winger Joe Brogden was well executed and showed what they could do given the chance. Bangor have fulfilled all their league fixtures and played with contested scrums throughout all of them. With the Autumn internationals about to start they have a 3 week break  to get things on track and desperately need the squad to train and practice and put some shape into their play.

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BANGOR 10 - 65 MACHYNLLETH

Playing at this level is turning out to be a bit too much for the young players of Bangor who are in desperate need of a few older and wiser heads to leads them. Machynlleth ran in 11 tries, 7 of them in the second half. Bangor scored a try in each half one from winger Dan (Batty) Davies who is one player to make the transition from youth to senior level successfully. The other try came from a maul right on the final whistle. The youth team also went down 27 - 0 at Bala to an older side but gave a good account of them selves.

WELSHPOOL 63 - 3 BANGOR

WRU LEAGUE 2 NORTH

SATURDAY OCTOBER 11^th

The two hundred mile round trip into the heart of Powys gave Bangor their biggest defeat of the season against a side who were also without a win before this game. The writing was on the wall as early two minutes into the match when poor defence saw the home side score an easy try which went unconverted. Bangor struck back with a penalty to register their only score of the day before the avalanche where Welshpool scored a further six tries, three of which were converted to lead 41-3 at the interval.

To their credit the Bangor youngsters kept the scoreline down to four tries against in the second half & only sterling defence by Gruff Tudur & Sean Kelly with good line out ball by Nathan Dawson brought some respectability to the second period.

Next week the city boys are at home to Machynlleth who registered their first win of the season against Wrexham on Saturday. Kick off 2-30pm. Defence & tackling will be they main points to be addressed on training nights this week .

BANGOR 10 - 29 NEWTOWN

WRU LEAGUE 2 NORTH

SATURDAY OCTOBER 4^th

Bangor should have done much better especially in the first half with the gale force wind behind them. They had territorial advantage for much of the half but failed to cross the line despite having some good chances. Welshpool discovered that some of the home team were reluctant to tackle and scored two tries running the ball out from deep inside the Bangor half.

The second half saw better resistance from Bangor but many silly free kicks and penalties kept them under pressure and the visitors ran in another two tries. At this point Bangor gained some shape for the first time and in a surge scored two tries in quick succession. The first came from forward Tom Jones who mauled his way over the line. The second came from a rare bit of back play with the ball reaching Dan Davies on the wing who showed a turn of pace to score in the corner. Another silly free kick let the visitors in again late on.

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BETHESDA 63 - 0 BANGOR

WRU LEAGUE 2 NORTH

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 20^th

Bangor were outclassed in all departments but there was spirit and effort from this young side with players like Aled (Tank) Hughes outstanding in defence giving maximum effort from start to finish but the tackling was generally poor with defenders allowing even the lightest Bethesda players to hand them off. Bangor's new outside half showed a touch of class with fine touch kicks and and attacking play with the limited ball provided. The young front row did well to not to cave in under pressure. Bethesda were outstanding with their support of anyone carrying the ball. The half time score was 34 - 0.

RHYL 37 - 15 BANGOR

WRU LEAGUE 2 NORTH

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 13^th

Despite the score line Bangor put in a very encouraging performance against a much improved Rhyl side. Bangor got on top in the early exchanges with some energetic play and went into the lead with a penalty from scrum half Sion Williams. Rhyl struck back with two tries in quick succession first from their powerful outside half Shacks and then winger Jim Edwards. Hooker Grant Salisbury added another after picking up at a ruck and thrusting over the line. A great last ditch tackle from Aled (Tank) Hughes saved Bangor from giving away another try and the teams turned around with scoreline standing at 15 - 3.

Rhyl had a powerful set of backs who ran onto the ball at speed and ran the angles and would have run away with a larger score line but players like Andy Brady, Guto Roberts and Craig Pritchard put their bodies on the line with some amazing tackles. Bangor's pack stood up well in the scrums and line outs and were never outclassed. When forward Aled (Tank) Hughes wrestled his way over the try line Bangor were back in the game but this was short lived. Bangor gave away a penalty for too much talking at the referee and a quick tap from Rhyl put second row forward Dave Argles over for a try converted by J Badham. More woe was in store for Bangor when they dropped a pass inside the try area and scrum half Barry Pickton pounced on it for simple try. Two more tries from centre Ben Morris and wing forward Lee Craig put the game beyond reach but it was a sign of the spirit in the Bangor team that they struck back with a spirited chase downfield from Andy Brady leading to Sion Williams crossing for a try that he converted.

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1 Craig Pritchard runs the ball.

2 Sion Williams gets the ball away to the backs.

3. Bangor take a line out

4. Gruff Tudur picks up at the back of the scrum

5. Sion Williams puts in a clearance kick

6. Another line out

7. Joe Brogden wishes he had got a pass.

8. Captain Sean Kelly at the bottom of ruck.

9. Winger Dan Davies looks to see where his kick is going.

10. Bangor prepare to scum down

11. The boys relax after a hard game

BANGOR 7 -32 WREXHAM

WRU LEAGUE 2 NORTH

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 6^th

Bangor's return to league rugby saw a battle of possibly the youngest team in the league against the oldest and it was the mature players of Wrexham that scored the points with three tries in each half and a conversion. Bangor's young players had their moments competing from start to end and might have scored some more tries with a little more weight behind them. Bangor needed to run the ball and use their youth and speed but the wind and rain was against open play. Wrexham had much more ball to play with and made their weight tell more as the game progressed. Bangor's solitary try came from and interception by centre Craig Pritchard. Scrum half Sean Williams converted.

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BANGOR IN GREEN