Enniskillen fell just short of a victorious second half comeback as their attempt to win the Towns' Cup for the first time in almost eighty years ended in a narrow six point defeat to Bangor.
The qualifying one side raced into a commanding 19-0 lead at half time but had with withstand an Enniskillen revival in the second half as the underdogs settled into the game and started to show glimpses of the rugby that had earned them a cup final spot.
“It was a game of two halves obviously,” said Enniskillen coach Norman Richmond. 
“I don’t know if in the first half it was a bit of awe at playing at Ravenhill, but we showed them too much respect. 
"It was maybe a bit of the rabbit in the headlights scenario. 
"The Towns' Cup in the blue riband tournament in junior rugby in Northern Ireland so it is always a big one and I suppose the fact that we hadn’t played in it since 2007 is bound to work through the player’s minds. 
"That brings its own pressure. 
"Pre match I think everything worked out okay. We had the timings sorted and everything planned. 
"We arrived at Ravenhill in good time and got ourselves out onto the pitch and everything seemed ok and going according to plan, but perhaps when we walked out for the game we maybe got caught up in it.”
Less than a minute into the second half Enniskillen finally got themselves onto the score sheet, and that penalty seemed to kick start the team as they chipped away at the deficit.
 “Once we got on the scoreboard with Adam Lendrum the body language possibly looked a bit better and we started to play the rugby that I know we are very capable of,” said Norman. 
“We showed what we can do then, and the boys delivered a performance in the second half that they should be very proud of. 
"I think the score line at half time wasn’t good but I was confident they could come back," added the Skins Head Coach.
And Richmond says that having worked with the players over the last two years, he knew that they had the character to mount a comeback in the second half.
"They are a really good bunch of fellas and I know they have that spirit within them to fight back," he commented.
"They have put in a lot of hard work over the last two seasons and they showed great spirit to come back when faced with what could have been a really bad end to the game. 
"We took our opportunities and our chances to get back within six points, but at this level there are very small margins and to win cups you need a bit of luck and need to be on your game for 80 minutes.”
A Matt Maguire try and a successful conversion brought Enniskillen to within a converted try of victory but they could not force a final opportunity as Bangor closed out the game to claim the trophy. 
“Another five or six minutes on the clock might have helped us, but Bangor played very well in the last few minutes and didn’t give the ball up easily and finished it off by keeping the ball in hand,” admitted Norman. 
“I think at that stage they knew we were a more dangerous team than maybe they thought coming into the game and they dug in and came through.”
Despite the defeat, the manner of Enniskillen’s come back against treble winning Bangor has given the squad great cause for optimism as they approach the final few league games of the season, with promotion still a possibility. “Everyone was bitterly disappointed but we have to take the positives out of it,” said Norman. 
“They are a great bunch of lads and they should be confident going into their next games. 
"We have done ourselves proud and it’s just a matter now of digging in for the last couple of games. We have four games left and we have to keep fighting on. 
"We need to win them all to potentially force our way into a play off for promotion so there is still is that possibility that we could get promoted out of the league, but it is going to be an uphill battle because we have four games in ten days.”