Hinch fortress is breached

Hinch fortress is breached

25 March 2015

BALLYNAHINCH lost their first game at home this season in a thrilling cup tie against north Dublin side Clontarf.

Playing in perfect conditions both sides served up an entertaining game with the result in doubt right up to the final whistle.

‘Hinch opened the scoring in the 10th minute when Ross Adair intercepted in the Clontarf  half to dot down near the left corner, Richard Reaney converting to give the home side a 7-0 lead.

The Dubliners were back on level terms in the 16th minute when second row Tom Byrne smashed his way over from close range and David Joyce added the extras.

A great break in the 27th minute by Adair should have resulted in a second ‘Hinch try, but his final pass to Paul Pritchard was not accurate and the chance was missed.

Reaney put ‘Hinch 10-7 in front with a penalty in the 31st minute after the Leinster men went offside at a ruck.

Clontarf hit back with a second try from Tom Byrne in the 39th minute after the visitors took play through a number of phases which eventually ended with an overlap out right where Byrne dived in to score an unconverted try to leave his side with a narrow 12-10 lead at half-time.

‘Hinch made a poor start to the second half, gifting a penalty attempt for Joyce in the first minute, which he pushed to the right of the posts.

The visitors increased their advantage in the 45th minute with their third try which came after another period of sustained pressure.

After a number of phases the ball was moved left to send wing Rob McGrath clear to dive in at the corner. Joyce failed to convert.

Reaney closed the gap to 17-13 with a well-struck penalty in the 50th minute. Play remained nip and tuck for the next ten minutes with ‘Hinch starting to take control.

In the 64th minute a good run from Charlie Butterworth created room for Stephen McCauley to attack down the right wing.

The ‘Hinch man did well to stay strong and skip past a number of tackles for a well-taken score. Reaney added the extras to take the home side into a 20-17 lead.

As the game entered the final stages the Dubliners threw everything into attack and in a carbon copy of their previous try right wing Michael Brown came into the line and went over in the left hand corner. Joyce did well to convert from the touch line to take his side 24-20 clear with four minutes to play.

‘Hinch threw everything at the Clontarf defence and play never left the visitors’ 22 for the remainder of the game.

Time and time again, ‘Hinch had a drive for the line and then with the final play it looked like an overlap had developed out wide, but Michael Graham was tackled into touch by Joyce.

Ballynahinch and Clontarf will meet again at Ballymacarn Park in 3 weeks time for the final Ulster Bank league game of the season. With both teams still pressing for a play-off place it is sure to be a game not to miss.

‘Hinch coach Derek Suffern was unhappy with the defeat. “We are very disappointed today. We felt that we had got back into the game and we thought we had done enough to hold on,” he said.

”I think it was a good game of rugby. Certainly we were very happy with our attacking play, Clontarf are one of the best defensive sides in the league and we have struggled to break them down in the past.

“I think we can take a some huge positives from the fact that we created a lot of opportunities.

“We are in Cork next week and a win is the only thing that is acceptable down there. If we can play the way we did today we should win that game and that should set up that final clash against Clontarf at home to finish off the AIL.”

Ballynahinch 20

Clontarf 24

BATEMAN CUP SEMI-FINAL