THIS fixture had been in doubt due to the heavy rain, which had fallen during the previous 48 hours.
By lunchtime, ‘Hinch decided the pitch had drained sufficiently to proceed with the game, with the going officially soft for this Ulster Senior League clash against Queens University.
Richie McMaster had an early opportunity to get three points on the board with a long range effort for Queen’s in the 5th minute, but his kick drifted wide.
‘Hinch made the first serious break when tight head Jonny Simpson burst clear and into space in the 10th minute. Aaron Ferris was on hand to carry the attack forward only to be stopped metres short of the line where the home side infringed at the breakdown.
Back chat to the referee followed allowing Queen’s to kick deep to relieve the pressure.
‘Hinch finally broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute when a loose ball was picked up by Josh Donaldson. He quickly found Aaron Cairns who raced clear taking play deep into the Queen’s 22 where he passed back inside to James Thompson in close support.
The ‘Hinch out half finished the attack, setting the ball down left of the posts. Chris Quinn added the extras to take ‘Hinch 7-0 clear.
Both sides had spells of pressure, but failed to add any further points the ‘Hinch taking a 7 point advantage into the second half.
The home side looked much more determined as play got underway and Queen’s found it difficult to clear their lines. In the 47th minute Michael Graham took a quick tap penalty on the students’ 22, driving play forward.
Chris Stevenson continued the attack pushing Queen’s to within metres of their posts. Quick ball was flashed left by Cairns to find Michael Lawton and Aaron Ferris in space with just one defender to beat, Lawton cutting inside to cross for an unconverted try to leave ‘Hinch 12-0 clear.
Four minutes later ‘Hinch struck again, this time Aaron Ferris had a great solo run down the left wing halted just a few metres short. Queen’s infringed at the breakdown then back chat from Stuart McIlwaine gifted ‘Hinch a penalty, the home side opting for a five metre scrum.
The ball was secured and the Queen’s scrum started to reverse and as it started to turn, Michael Graham picked up and made the line. Quinn failed to convert, ‘Hinch stretching their advantage to 17-0.
The bonus point came in the 65th minute. ‘Hinch were awarded a penalty in the Queen’s 22 and hooker Gavin Armstrong took a quick tap making good ground.
The ball was quickly recycled and Cairns fired it left to find James Thompson in space with Ferris on the outside, but Thompson backed himself and despite the attentions of several Queen’s players he made it over in the corner to score his second try. Quinn added the extras from the touchline to make it 24-0.
The final try came in the 76th minute following a great surging break by Jonny Madden into the heart of the Queen’s defence, Madden was eventually halted by Andrew Butler, but he managed to off-load to Neil Faloon who continued the attack.
Once Cairns got his hands on the ball it went left again, this time centre Paddy James had a straight dash for the line and dived over to score. Michael Lawton added the extras to complete to scoring the ‘Hinch winning 31-0 and remain top of the league, four points clear with two games remaining.
Despite the conditions underfoot it was an entertaining game with great credit to both teams for attempting to run the ball. Also, a special mention for the young referee Peter McClure who had an excellent outing, he is only 22 years of age and is sure to become a top referee in Ulster.
After the game coach Charlie McAleese said: “We are happy with the result, particularly when the match was in doubt this morning and the pitch was so heavy.
“I suppose we had a slow start in the game and only had the one try for a sizeable part of the first half. Once we looked after the ball and maybe applied ourselves to the basics there was space eventually after a few phases and there were one or two nice tries in the second half.
“Queen’s had a very solid defence and we didn’t do the some of ground work in the first half to give our back three the opportunities. The better continuity in the second half meant that they got the space, but I thought that generally, it was a reasonable team performance in the second half.
Ballynahinch: Chris Quinn, Michael Lawton, Paddy James, Robin Harte, Aaron Ferris, James Thompson, Aaron Cairns, Michael Graham, Josh Donaldson, David McGuigan, John Donnan, Jonny Madden, Jonny Simpson, Andrew Harper, Chris Stevenson (capt). Replacements: Matthew Arneill, Gavin Armstrong, Neil Faloon, David Nicholson, Andrew Irwin.
Ballynahinch 31
Queen’s University 0
ULSTER SENIOR LEAGUE