‘Hinch battle to retain title

‘Hinch battle to retain title

6 September 2017

IT was a sunny, but windy day at Deramore Park as Ballynahinch started their campaign for a fourth successive First Trust Senior Cup, a feat that has only been done once before, nearly a century ago.

‘Hinch started with a pace to their step and clear intent in their play.

They pressured hard into the Quins’ half and further into the 22. On several occasions, the visitors attacked through their fast running backs, but the final execution went awry and three try scoring opportunities were missed.

Quins were no pushover and clearly a lot of work had been done by Nick Wells and his coaching team during the summer. The Belfast side pressed hard into the ‘Hinch half on the 20 minute mark, but turnover ball from ex-Harlequins player Ollie Loughead saw the County Down pack work through several phases before releasing the backs. 

A break from winger Aaron Ferris saw him move the ball back inside to new Kiwi out half Tim Crossen, who drew the last defender before releasing Paddy Wright and he headed for the post, only to be brought down by the scruff of the neck by Quin’s full back Mark Glover, who swiftly saw yellow from referee Lee Evans.

‘Hinch kicked for the corner and after several phases moved the ball wide to the right for Paddy Wright to get the try he was earlier denied. Strong winds made the extras difficult for Crossen, 5-0 after 29 minutes.

Quins came back with a long-range penalty through out half Ben Sloan, but the Ballymacarn Park side were soon back on the scorecard, with Wright bagging his brace on 38 minutes after further solid forwards play. Crossen missed the extras and ‘Hinch took a 10-3 lead into the break.

‘Hinch were soon back in control and further extended their lead five minutes after the restart.

After a penalty infringement by the home side, ‘Hinch opted for the corner, won the line out and with the ball was moved wide, Richard Reaney crossed in the left corner, with the difficult extras missed.

Harlequins, to their credit, did not lie down and continued to try and attack the ‘Hinch line, which they eventually managed to cross on the 60 minute mark through some clever forward play, with Neill Montgomery dotting down under the posts.

‘Hinch continued to contend with Quin’s pressure and on 70 minutes Conal Boomer saw yellow and Quins converted the penalty to close the score line to 15-13.

Now down to 14 men, ‘Hinch went on the counterattack and made ground to beneath the Harlequins posts and when the home side infringed, James McBriar stepped up to give the County Down outfit back its five-point lead. 

With a short injury time to play and Boomer back on, ‘Hinch maintained the front foot and saw out a hard-earned victory.

The ‘Hinch take on local rivals Banbridge in the SONI Ulster Rugby Premiership Division 1 clash at Ballymacarn Park on Saturday. There will be a pre-match lunch and details to book a place are available via the Ballynahinch RFC Facebook page. 

Ballynahinch: Jonny Blair, Conor Piper, Zac Cinnamond, John Donnan, James Simpson (capt), Brian Howard, Ollie Loughead, Matt McKelvey, Blane McIlroy, Tim Crossen, Aaron Ferris, Will Stewart, Callum McLaughlin, Richard Reaney, Paddy Wright. Replacements: Ben Cullen, Graeme McKittrick, Conal Boomer, James McBriar, Rhys O’Donnell.

Belfast Harlequins 13

Ballynahinch 18

FIRST TRUST SENIOR CUP