Ballynahinch are taken to the wire by lively students

Ballynahinch are taken to the wire by lively students

4 March 2015

BALLYNAHINCH maintained their unbeaten home record this season with a tough victory over UCD, but it was a nailbiting finish as the visitors’ Liam Bourke watched as his penalty attempt on final play drifted right of the posts.

’Hinch won the toss and opted to play into the elements in the first half, but despite a lively start they went behind in the fifth minute when out half Bourke converted a long-range penalty goal for a 3-0 lead.

‘Hinch hit back in the seventh minute when Kyle McCall broke free and gave a great off-load to Aaron Cairns. The ‘Hinch scrum half sprinted clear and despite being tackled by Barry Daly he managed to ground the ball under the posts. Cairns converted his try to take the ‘Hinch 7-3 clear.

It was important for the home side to maintain their discipline and referee Kieran Barry took no nonsense at the breakdown. ‘Hinch conceded a penalty in the 12th minute for not releasing the tackled player, but Bourke failed to convert.

Bourke added two further penalty goals in the 19th and 36th minutes, but pushed a fifth shot at goal wide in injury time, leaving the visitors from Dublin with a narrow 9-7 advantage.

‘Hinch were happy to be so close at the end of the opening 40 minutes, but as the conditions deteriorated in the second half the home side struggled to get any decent field position.

In the 61st minute ‘Hinch found that matters didn’t get any easier when they lost hooker Jonny Murphy to the sin bin for 10 minutes after he failed to release a player on the ground. 

UCD seized the initiative forcing the ‘Hinch deep, and when they conceded a further penalty a quick tap and go by centre Stephen Murphy in the 65th minute caught the ‘Hinch sleeping and Murphy grabbed an opportunist try. Bourke converted to take the students 7-16 clear.

There was no panic from Ballynahinch as they took play through phases to mount a fight back. A high tackle on Stephen McCauley gave Quinn a chance to close the gap, and his success made it 16-10.

In the 68th minute turnover ball on the left wing was counter attacked sending Ross Adair clear, and he cut inside UCD full back Conall Doherty, to dive over for the second try which went unconverted, leaving the ‘Hinch a point adrift at 16-15.

Three minutes later, Quinn put the ‘Hinch back in front when Ruaidhri Murphy won a scrum penalty to nudge the home side 18-16 clear.

In the 77th minute another great run from Ross Adair almost resulted in a score, but determined cover defence from the students halted the ‘Hinch wing within inches of the line and he knocked on. 

The ‘Hinch pack put the students’ scrum under pressure and forced a turnover. The ‘Hinch scrum rumbled forward and James Simpson picked up to dive over, but was penalised for a double movement.

As the scoreboard clock showed time was up, UCD just held onto possession. For 12 minutes they worked the ball through phases and eventually won a kickable penalty.

As Ballymacarn Park held its breath, Bourke pushed his kick wide of the uprights and the ‘Hinch just managed to hang on to claim four vital league points and move up to fourth place in the table.

Ballynahinch 18

UCD 16

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