Hinch denied by Munster defence

Hinch denied by Munster defence

21 October 2015

BALLYNAHINCH came into this Ulster Bank League clash on the back of their Senior Cup quarter-final win against City of Derry.

There was the usual selection pressure on coach Derek Suffern, specifically his increasing injury list, with Mike Graham, Aaron Cairns, Jonny Murphy, Paul Pritchard and David McGuigan all unavailable.

Young Munster kicked off and within two minutes Munster referee Frank Murphy penalised the home side for an infringement at the ruck. Paul Downes stepped up for what appeared to be a relatively straight forward kick, but pushed his early attempt wide.

Charging Munster hooker Ger Slattery got the first of the visitors’ scores from a line-out after the Young Munster pack worked the ball towards the Hinch line. Downes was more assured with the extras.

Referee Murphy blew up both sides with alarming regularity over the next ten-minute phase, though the visitors were playing better rugby and Downes fortuitously slid another three points in off the upright to extend the lead to 10-0.

Will Stewart was sent to the sidelines under the concussion protocols by the referee on 21 minutes, further weakening a leaky Ballymacarn defence.

On 34 minutes, after an obvious knock-on, which both the referee and linesman failed to spot, the Limerick side’s lock, Sean Duggan, sauntered over to dot down, with the erratic Downes missing the extras.

‘Hinch were trying to counter the Munster onslaught, but their lack of clinical handling and poor tackling were making life easy for the visitors.

Chris Quinn, normally assured with the boot, was unlucky going for three-pointer, his huge effort from the half-way line on 36 minutes falling just short.

The Cookies responded with another charge downfield and Dan Goggin danced through the weak defence for an easy try, with Downes adding the extras. ‘Hinch managed to get on the scoreboard on the cusp of half-time with a Quinn  penalty to trail 22-3 at the break.

Referee Murphy had another impact on the game from the restart as Andrew Harper received a straight yellow card for allegedly collapsing a maul.

The Cookies punished a further demoralised Hinch with their bonus point converted try from their No 8, Ben Kilkenny, on 43 minutes, followed four minutes later with Young Munster winger Diarmuid McCarthy crossing to add an unconverted fifth and taking the scoreline to what appeared to be an insurmountable 34-3.

On 51 minutes Ballynahinch appeared to have an epiphany after another inconsistent refereeing decision as Cookie lock Darren Gallagher collapsed the ‘Hinch maul in the Munster 22, but without any retribution.

Referee Murphy did, however, show full back Craig O’Hanlon yellow as he cynically interfered with the ‘Hinch ruck ball. ‘Hinch opted to kick for the line-out and Zac McCall, impressive in coming on as a replacement for Harper, crossed for ‘Hinch’s first unconverted try.

The home crowd now came into full voice and ‘Hinch responded by taking control of the game.

Lorcan Dow, who undoubtedly played his best game so far, rampaged in the centre field alongside back row compatriot Conor Joyce with good support from James Simpson and a charging Jonny Madden.

Craig Trenier made a big impact from the bench and settled a troubled scrum alongside the McCall brothers and with the backs now finding their hands, the ball moved across the width of the pitch to find the dancing Harte who dotted down for ‘Hinch’s second try, with Quinn adding the extras.

With another try-scoring chance lost on the Munster line as the ball spilled forward from Dow, the resulting scrum to the now tiring visitors was taken against the head and the ‘Hinch pack drove for the line, only for the Cookies to collapse the scrum.

Referee Murphy awarded the home side a penalty try with Quinn easily adding the extras, the score was now 34-22.

Ballynahinch were on the front foot, ably led by their rampaging forwards. The Young Munster bench was now emptied to try to stem the flow. Downes missed a further penalty chance to stretch the Cookies lead, but otherwise Suffern’s charges retained control in the dying minutes of the game and continued to chase the losing bonus point and potentially a victory.

With the Cookies defence stretched and penalties coming thick and fast, Hinch took the opportunity to put themselves on the Munster 5m line.

The line-out ball was won and the ‘Hinch forwards ploughed towards the  visitors’ line for Craig Trenier to deservedly touch down for a bonus point try and Quinn added the extras to close the gap to five points with two minutes to go.

The final minutes belonged to the home side and it was only desperate defence from the visitors that stopped them from scoring again.

Unfortunately, Ballynahinch had yet again left themselves too much of a job to do and the final whistle saw a delighted Cookies team leave with five points, with Hinch only able to add a losing and try bonus to their points tally.

Derek Suffern now has two weeks to rest his players before heading to Cork Constitution for the next leg of the Ulster Bank League on October 31.

The rest period will hopefully allow several of the injured ‘Hinch masses time to get back on the pitch and turn around what has been a disappointing start to the season, although not without glimpses of the Ballynahinch of old. 

Ballynahinch (1-15): Ruaidhri Murphy, Andrew Harper, Kyle McCall, James Simpson, Jonny Madden, Conor Joyce, Thomas Donnan, Lorcan Dow, Paul Rowley, Richard Reaney, Chris Quinn, Will Stewart, David Nicholson, Robin Harte, Manihera Eden. Subs: Craig Trenier, Zac McCall, Keith Dickson, Conor Spence, James McBriar.

Ballynahinch 29

Young Munster 34

ULSTER BANK LEAGUE