Flying start gives Ballynahinch nod over Buccaneers

22 February 2012

BALLYNAHINCH were determined to put the setbacks of recent weeks well and truly behind them and made an explosive start to this encounter.

In the fifth minute the ‘Hinch won a penalty just outside their 22 and James Lash hit a wonderful kick to within five metres of the Buccs line. They secured possession from the line out and after a series of drives the ball was passed to winger Robin Harte on the blind side and he did well to cross in the corner.

Lash’s conversion attempt hit the top of the right hand upright and bounced out.

From the restart ‘Hinch gained possession and Lash chipped a ball over the top for Davy Nicholson to run on to, but Buccs full back John O’Brien did well to get to the ball first for a 22 out.

Carty went deep with his restart from the visitors’ 22 and it was fielded by Lash who launched a monster Garryowen. The Buccs defence missed the catch and the friendly bounce landed in the hands of centre James Thompson, who sprinted in to touch down under the posts. Lash added the extras taking the home side 12-0 clear after nine minutes.

In the 28th minute Lash took advantage of the blitz Buccs defence. He chipped over the top, the ball once again bounced kindly into his hands but as he sprinted clear into the 22 he tripped himself up with the line at his mercy.

The ball was quickly flashed wide from the ruck and full back David Nicholson came into the line to put winger Aaron Ferris clear to race in to score.

Lash added the conversion from the touchline to take the ‘Hinch tally to 19 points.

‘Hinch increased their score when Lash converted a penalty in injury time to lead 22-0 at the interval.

It was an impressive first half display from the Hinch, the home support confident that the bonus point would soon be in the bag. However, the Connacht side had other ideas and started the second half like a different team.

The Buccs line out started to function well with James Tormey stealing several ‘Hinch throws to the front and with just six minutes of the second half played the ball was flashed along the halfway line to McCrea and the big winger left the ‘Hinch cover defence in his wake as he crossed for the score. Carty added the extras to make it 22-7.

Play was one-way traffic in Buccs’ favour as the Hinch struggled to break out of their half of the field, and with every minute that passed the visitors looked to be getting stronger.

In the 66th minute the home side did manage one attack into the Buccs half of the pitch but when Lash failed to find touch in the corner with his penalty kick the chance to score was missed.

This visibly lifted the Buccs and in the 68th minute they were back on the ‘Hinch line where the pressure from their pack finally paid off when replacement hooker Garrett Halligan went over for his side’s second try after a series of great forward drives. Carty added the extras to take the score to 22-14.

In the final ten minutes the ‘Hinch had all the possession and territory, as they pressed hard for the fourth try.

Turning down all kickable penalties they opted to kick for the corners to set up the catch-and-drives, but the Buccs defence held firm.

Ballynahinch had their skipper, Neil Hanna, yellow-carded for a late tackle with two minutes to go, but they were able to hang on and prevented the Athlone men from getting a losing bonus point.

Ballynahinch: David Nicholson, Robin Harte, Stuart Morrow, James Thompson, Aaron Ferris, James Lash, Harry McAleese, Jonny Graham, Gavin Armstrong, John Madden, Chris Napier, James Simpson, Jerry Cronin, Neil Hanna. Jonny Simpson. Replacements: Andrew Harper, Fergal Lynch, John Donnan, Aaron Cairns, Mark McCormick. Man of the match: Gavin Armstrong.

Ballynahinch 22

Buccaneers 14

AIL DIVISION 1B

Tweets by @TheDownRecorder