Ballynahinch travel south for defeat in Bateman Cup

Ballynahinch travel south for defeat in Bateman Cup

25 January 2017

BALLYNAHINCH travelled with a busload of supporters to Anglesea Road on Saturday to take on Division 1A side and Leinster senior champions Old Belvedere in this Bateman All Ireland Cup semi-final.

With no Ulster allocated players available to be released, it was a true Ballynahinch club side that travelled to Dublin to take on the full complement of the Leinster outfit.

Ballynahinch could not have made a worse start, when an unfortunate bounce resulted in the ball landing in the arms of Belvedere centre John Kennedy who ran in from 22 metres out. Willie Staunton pushed the conversion wide.

Staunton didn’t miss five minutes later when a ‘Hinch indiscretion saw a penalty awarded.

The visitors eventually got to grips with the game, began to make some yards and put the home side under pressure.

Michael Graham and Stuart Morrow were to the fore and with Gareth Gill adding an impact from the bench the game was evenly poised.

The final eight minutes of the first half proved decisive. Two quick-fire Belvo tries from deep in their half swung the game in the home side’s favour.

Firstly, hooker Cathal O’Flynn bundled over in the corner and then Ben Woods went in under the posts. Staunton converted both and tagged on a penalty for good measure to see the home side lead 25-0 at the break.

If the end of the first half went in favour of Belvedere, the early stages of the second half belonged to the visitors.

A rejuvenated ‘Hinch took the game to the Dublin side and from the kick off found themselves in the Belvo 22.

A nice passage of play saw Gill, Irvine and Graham link up and get the visitors on the front foot. Nicholson and Grattan took ball on and a number of phases later James Simpson drove over under the sticks for a try which Rea converted.

‘Hinch began to get their offloading game going and managed to find space behind the Belvedere defence.

Good interplay between backs and forwards saw Ross Carlisle dive over, Justin Rea added the extras and Hinch were back in the game at 25-14 with only 8 minutes gone in the second half. 

The final 20 minutes saw the home side’s athleticism and power come through as they scored three unanswered tries through Killen, Riordan and McDonald. Staunton added two conversions.

Despite the scoreline ‘Hinch can be very pleased with a number of aspects from the game and they will look to build upon these this Saturday when they welcome Dolphin to Ballymacarn Park as the Ulster Bank League restarts.

Old Belvedere 44

Ballynahinch 14

BATEMAN CUP SEMI-FINAL