Bold Ballynahinch dig in to net spoils

THE visitors from Dublin 4 had the wind advantage in the first half and made a steady start as Ballynahinch struggled with the early pace and intensity of play.

It was a case of digging in as wave upon wave of opposition attacks surged into the ‘Hinch half of the field.

Lansdowne out half Scott Deasy missed an early opportunity to put his side in front in the fifth minute after ‘Hinch had infringed at a ruck.

The ‘Hinch men had a horrendous penalty count in the first half — 11-3 in favour of Lansdowne — and they were rather relieved that Deasy had failed to execute his normal accuracy off the kicking tee when he missed two further kickable opportunities before half-time.

The opening half was dominated by Lansdowne as the home side continually defended and they battled hard to keep the score 0-0 at half-time.

As the second half started the wind ped away, but Harry McAleese and Aaron Cairns kept the home pack driving forward with some intelligent kicking.

Michael Graham, Jonny Madden and Paul Pritchard started to get into the game with some decent carries. while former Lansdowne player Charlie Butterworth and second row James Simpson looked impressive on the ball.

As the home momentum started to build, Stephen McAuley created room down the left wing in the 47th minute and fed inside to Rodger McBurney. The big full back cut inside and showed great pace and determination to sprint clear and score behind the posts. Harry McAleese converted to give the ‘Hinch a 7-0 lead.

Now under pressure, it was the turn of the visitors to concede penalties which gave the home side had an opportunity to extend that lead but Richard Reaney pushed his shot at goal wide of the mark in the 54th minute.

Lansdowne continued to play with pace and accuracy and hit back with a well-worked try in the 63rd minute.

As the ‘Hinch backline slipped of a couple of tackles play was driven close to the line where number 8 and skipper Ron Boucher picked up to dive over. Deasy added the extras to tie the scores.

In the 74th minute Deasy was on target with a penalty after McBurney was pinged for not releasing on the ground.

McBurney made amends three minutes later when he finished off a well-worked score after good work from Robin Harte had created room out wide. Reaney converted from the touchline to put the Hinch in front with just five minutes to play.

From the restart Ballynahinch took control and played all the rugby deep the Lansdowne half, managing to hold on to secure an important victory against genuine league contenders.

‘Hinch coach Derek Suffern was delighted with his team’s effort. “We are really happy with that game, we are really proud of the boys,” he said afterwards.

“It was a big week for us, and a big game for us. It was the last game of a block of four, and at home, so we really felt we needed to win this one to put ourselves in a reasonable place after four.

“The boys’ attitude all week was superb, and I suppose we put a lot into action today that we had not managed to do in the other games thus far, so from that point of view we are ecstatic with the victory.

I think today we showed a lot of composure, a lot of trust in each other, trust and belief in what we are trying to do, and eventually got over the line with that.

From my point of view I think the first half epitomised the performance, to nil them playing into that wind was a great achievement. Granted they missed a few kickable penalties, but I have to say our defence was very good in the first half.”

Try scorer McBurney said: “Yes it was a good performance, a good all-round team performance.

We were against that wind in the first half and everyone stuck together. We knew what we had to do and kept them to 0-0 at half-time. In the second half we had a bit of wind which did ease off quite a bit, but again we knew what we had to do and made the most of it.

We felt some of the decisions in the first half were a wee bit harsh, so we kept our game very simple and kept working our way up field. I managed to get across the line for a couple and even had a shot at a drop goal - it was from halfway, but it was worth a pop.

I think last year we lacked experience of the league at this level. It is very different from Division 1B. This year we have that experience, now we know exactly what we have to do.”

It has been a positive start to the campaign for the ‘Hinch, with two wins and a losing bonus point leaving them in sixth place.

The next Ulster Bank League fixture will be against St. Mary’s College at Ballymacarn Park on Saturday, November 1.

Ballynahinch 14

Lansdowne 10

ULSTER BANK AIL DIVISION 1A

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