ADAMSON TRIES SEE BANN INTO CE BOWMAN FINAL
Omagh  10  BANBRIDGE Under 18s 18
April 25, 2009

Try scorers, David Adamson (left) and Simon Adamso

Bann’s Under-18’s, sponsored by Gordon’s Chemists, took to a rain-soaked pitch in Omagh on Saturday in the semi-final of the Ulster U-18 (C E Bowman) Cup. The team were without Adam Proctor, Ross Semple, Clarke McAllister and Gareth Hammond through injuries or previous commitments.

Skipper Andrew Kirkwood was still suffering from the side effects of Monday night’s Nutty Krust match and wing Peter Irvine had injured an ankle in training on Thursday, but they still took their place on the bench.

The game started at a fast pace with Banbridge attacking the Omagh line, but the home side showed why they had reached this semi-final with an extremely strong pack making Bann work hard for parity of possession. The Bann forwards knew that they had to make amends for a lack-lustre display in their Nutty Krust semi-final defeat to Ballynahinch. They set about their challenge in determined fashion and attacked as one with the back-row combination of Sam Boyd, Matthew Bird and Stephen Irvine at the forefront.

Prop Josh Neilly also managed to crack the Omagh lineout code early in the game to give his side a slight advantage. Some patient play in the opposition half led to a penalty in the 25th minute which was duly slotted over by Mark Doherty.

Just over five minutes later Banbridge scored a fantastic try as wing Simon Adamson caught a kick and ran at the defence. He fed Mark Doherty who in turn passed to Nathan Martin and after the lock had barged through the defence he popped the ball up for wing David Adamson to score under the posts. Doherty added the conversion to put his team 10 points up at the break.

At the interval Jonny Harris retired injured and was replaced by Jonny Weir. The half-time team talk asked for more of the same with the team also looking to spread the ball to test the opposition backs.

But within three minutes of the re-start Omagh attacked and broke free up the short side to score a try to reduce the deficit to five points. The Bann team re-grouped and within 10 minutes Doherty had slotted over another penalty to put eight points between the sides.

From the re-start Omagh gave a penalty away in the Bann “22” which centre Chris Leathem took quickly. He ran to the opposition “22” and passed to wing Simon Adamson who dived over in the corner. Doherty’s difficult conversion attempt was just off-target.

Omagh hit back with a second try to leave the score 10-18 with ten minutes to go. Open-side flanker Bird took a knock to the head and was more then ably replaced by Andrew Orr. Bann’s defence held firm in the closing stages as the team showed their maturity to close the game out and book their place at Ravenhill.

The coaches couldn’t have asked for any more as the players lifted themselves after the disappointment of the narrow defeat to Ballynahinch the previous Monday. And it will be against their local rivals that the Ulster final will be contested on May 9th.

The coaches and players would like to thank the travelling support which consisted mainly of proud parents for following them throughout the season as the team really appreciate it.

With Bann’s U-14s having won their way through the previous Saturday to their provincial cup final, Bann will be the only club with two teams represented at the Ulster finals.

The U18s who won in Omagh