Promotion hopefuls UCLan Men’s Rugby Union 1sts took on the newly promoted Bangor outfit at home looking to get their season off to a winning start and send out a message to their potential league rivals.
UCLan kicked off and immediately began posing questions to a resolute and fired up Bangor defence. UCLan put down an early chance to take the lead, knocking on close to the line following some good scrummaging and solid lineout work from the forwards. UCLan continued to camp out in the Bangor 22 coming up against robust defence resulting in UCLan giving away a penalty allowing Bangor to momentarily relieve the pressure.
UCLan continued to play a territorial game spending the majority of the first twenty minutes in the Bangor half. The UCLan lineout outclassing their Welsh counterparts, and providing a solid platform to attack from. UCLan again came close through a Chris Heptinstall tap penalty but support was slow in coming and Bangor cleared their lines following the turnover.
Andy Deakin took the direct approach to Bangor knocking back his opposite number and forcing the defence to concede a penalty for not rolling away. Heptinstall pushed the resulting penalty wide. UCLan resumed their assault on the Bangor line encountering more committed and aggressive defence. Bangor took the impetus from their defensive display and forced UCLan to show some muscle of their own in order to gain parity with Bangor’s bullying tactics.
After thirty minutes Bangor made their first foray into the UCLan half, putting UCLan’s defence to the test with direct running from the backs. UCLan remained resolute in their defence as Bangor offered little penetration, relying heavily on brute force to try and bludgeon their way to the line. After exchanging turnovers in the midfield Bangor were eventually rewarded for combining phase after phase with a penalty for UCLan not rolling away. After spending the vast majority of the half in the opposition 22 UCLan found themselves three points behind as Bangor opted for the posts. UCLan responded well and played a good territorial game, pinning back their opponents and counter attacking well on some errant Bangor kicking. Just before half time UCLan finally converted their pressure into points with Andy Deakin finishing well in the corner following some good straight running from Ash Watts to hold the defence and clinical handling from the backs to exploit the overlap. Chris Heptinstall came close with the resulting conversion attempt leaving the score at 5-3. That’s how they went in at half-time.
UCLan began the second half as they finished the first, showing real vigour and purpose. After stringing together some good phase work and more than matching Bangor’s physical presence UCLan began unlocking their opponents previously steadfast defence. Some classy UCLan backs moves ensued with Tom Hughes scything through the confounded opposition and linking well with the supporting Joe Moretta to gain valuable territory and once again set Bangor on the back foot. UCLan’s pressure paid off as they were rewarded with a sought after early score. Ryan Miemczyk utilised UCLan’s attacking strengths, executing some expansive attacking patterns with flair and panache, linking with Tom Hughes who stepped and skipped his way through the drift defence to the line and scored under the posts. Heptinstall duly converted to take the score to 12-3.
Perhaps one of the deciding factors in the game, UCLan’s solid performance at the scrum and lineout allowed the industrious forwards to capitalise on the capitulating Bangor set piece after 55 minutes. The pack, led by captain Ash Watts, worked well to take a scrum against the head and the backs dutifully complied with a confident finish to punish Bangor with the turnover ball. Luke Roberts picking up at 8, linking with Heptinstall who dummied Miemczyk opting to set up Andy Gibson coming back in against the now wearied drifting defence. Heptinstall again converted to make it 19-3.
UCLan then looked to put Bangor to the sword but the lack of a clinical edge rendered their efforts far from ruthless. The eagerness with which UCLan looked to offload the ball in contact embraced the exciting and attacking intentions of the team. But as well as they played UCLan couldn’t add to the total and it finished 19-3.
UCLan’s next game is away at local rivals Lancaster, where first team captain, Ash Watts, is looking for his team to follow up a good opening performance with another victory.
