Impressive from Ballynahinch

Impressive from Ballynahinch

15 November 2017

ON a dark and drizzly night at Eaton Park, Ballynahinch brightened up proceedings with a superb display to take all five points home to Co Down.

The visitors were able to pick a strong side with a near full-strength back line as Johnny McPhillips returned at out half.

In the pack Keith Dickson was pressed into service in the second row after a couple of excellent outings at blindside flanker to accommodate the returning Aaron Hall.

Ballymena looked strong up front on paper and ‘Hinch knew they would have to master both the Ballymena pack and the deteriorating conditions to get a result.

They went about this with an intensity and skill level that their hosts simply could not come close to matching and as the game wore on their superior conditioning was in evidence as Ballymena visibly tired.

The coaching team can also take a lot of credit as they clearly had plans in place to deal with the threat of the Ballymena maul and targeted the home team around the fringes with direct carrying through the likes of Stuart Morrow and Hall. 

The heavy Ballymena pack showed their intent early on with strong carrying from Argentinian prop Nacho Cladero Crespo, but failed to look after the ball well enough to gain any momentum.

They had a couple of attempts to maul over the line but were repelled by excellent ‘Hinch defence and when Hall picked a great line close to the ruck to surge through and score under the posts in the 16th minute, ‘Hinch never looked back.

Excellent tactical kicking and direct running from McPhillips and superb fielding and countering from the back three of Callum McLaughlin, David Busby and Connor Kelly continually turned the Ballymena pack around.

‘Hinch also weathered the sin-binning of Zack McCall on 26 minutes and went in at half-time leading 12-0 when Johnny Simpson was driven over the line.

The second half followed a similar pattern with suffocating ‘Hinch defence allowing Ballymena very few options.

McPhillips took his team more than two scores clear with a penalty on 57 minutes and the game was effectively ended as a contest three minutes later when the excellent Conall Boomer finished off a great team try against his former club.

Zack McCall’s unlucky red card after a second yellow with ten minutes to go gave Ballymena a lifeline, but they were unable to exploit their numerical advantage and the home fans were drifting away by the time Busby scored in the final seconds to give Hinch the bonus point. Man of the match McPhillips nailed the conversion to cap a superb display. 

The ‘Hinch fans were jubilant and their mood was improved further on Saturday when the news came through that pacesetters Shannon had slipped to their first defeat, leaving ‘Hinch just three points behind in second place.

The next month will define the ‘Hinch season as they seek to defend their Senior Cup title and face in-form UCC away ahead of a back-to-back double header against Shannon in the UBL. 

Ballynahinch: Connor Kelly, David Busby, Rory Butler, Stuart Morrow, Callum McLaughlin, Johnny McPhillips, Aaron Cairns (Capt), Campbell Classon, Zack McCall, Johnny Simpson, Jack Regan, Keith Dickson, Aaron Hall, Ollie Loughead, Conall Boomer.

Replacements: Clayton Milligan, Zac Cinnamon, Graham McKittrick, Rhys O’Donnell.

Ballymena 0

Ballynahinch 27

ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE 1B