Ballynahinch hit Ballymena hard

14 September 2016

A BRIGHT and sunny day met the gathering fans and players at Ballymacarn Park for the first of three clashes between these sides this season.

The next two meetings will be in the Ulster Bank All Ireland League, the first of them being again at Ballymcarn Park on Saturday, November 26.

The two teams that met on Saturday are unlikely to bear a great deal of resemblance to the teams that will meet in the UBL as team selection becomes predicated by the allocated players that the Ulster professional set-up release.

With only two Ulster players released between both teams, namely Steven Mulholland for Ballymena and Conor Joyce for Ballynahinch, it meant that two genuine clubs sides were battling for the day’s honours.

‘Hinch took the game straight into the visitors’ half, pressuring them back into their 22 from early doors.

Some excellent forward play, led by captain Mike Graham and vice-captain James Simpson took the home side within metres of the Braidmen’s try line.

With a final burst of effort, flanker Conor Joyce dotted down for the home side’s first score.

The ever reliable Chris Quinn stepped up and added the extras.

The home score was the wake-up call that the visitors needed as they took possession of the ball and maintained continuous pressure on the home side, which resulted in a converted penalty by out-half Bailey on 15 minutes.

The Antrim visitors maintained their pressure for a further 15 minutes as they attempted to break the solid line of defence.

But the wave of attacks only saw them rewarded with another Bailey penalty on 30 minutes to close the gap to one point.

The Ballymena scrum was particularly strong and causing the ‘Hinch men lots of problems, but when ‘Hinch had possession their back line of Chris Gibson, Ross Carlisle, Jordan Grattan, Justin Rea, Chris Quinn, Davy Nicholson and the returning Stephen McCauley constantly attacked. No 7 Conor Philips had a busy afternoon and was constantly working in the loose to secure playable ball for the home side.

The Braidmen’s hooker saw yellow just before half-time for a late tackle, allowing ‘Hinch to regain the momentum.

An excellent break from tight head prop Stuart Orr saw him cover a great deal of ground to off-load to the charging Justin Rea, who couldn’t hold on to the ball over the line.

Conor Philips also had a chance to to the home side’s lead just before half-time, but again the ball was deemed to have been knocked on over the line. Half-time: Ballynahinch 7 Ballymena 6.

Ballynahinch restarted and quickly regained control of the match from the off, still using the sin bin advantage to gain ground. Quinn added a further penalty to make it 10-6.

Excellent work from the ‘Hinch pack, including replacement hooker Joe Roe, saw the Braidmen rocked backwards and giving way penalties.

Quinn put an excellent ball into the Ballymena 22 and from the resulting line-out the ‘Hinch pack mauled the ball towards the visitors’ line where Joe Roe crashed over for the score. Quinn added the extras.

‘Hinch had the upper hand and started to turn the screw. The third try came from winger Callum McLaughlin, with Quinn further extending his personal tally with the conversion.

With Ballymena obviously tiring, ‘Hinch had the wind at their backs and an excellent initial break from Conor Joyce and the dancing Stephen McCauley, saw the ball off-loaded to Davy Nicholson who beat three defenders to dot down under the posts for the bonus point try. Quinn added the extras to leave Ballymena chasing an impossible task with the scoreline at 31-6.

The final few minutes saw the Braidmen on top after James Simpson was yellow-carded for an infringement in the loose and the extra forward advantage saw the visitors work a hard-earned try through their prop, Adrian Kirkpatrick.

This was a great game to watch, played in excellent conditions by two solid club sides, who can both be rightly proud of their performances.

It will be a different match the next time the two sides meet in the UBL, predicated by the generosity of Ulster and what players are released to the AIL Division 1B sides, probably the right league to allow the young Ulster allocated players to get high quality game time.

This Saturday sees the start of the Ulster Bank All Ireland League, with Buccaneers RFC making the relatively short journey from Athlone.

Ballynahinch 31

Ballymena 11

SONI ULSTER PREMIERSHIP

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