Opening win well worth waiting for

Opening win well worth waiting for

9 December 2015

SATURDAY saw Storm Desmond and its worst ravages impact the island and a vast majority of rugby matches due to be played suffered as a result of the extreme conditions.

At Ballymacarn Park — testament to the quality of the works completed in upgrading drainage on the first XV pitch — a perfect playing surface awaited the visitors from Dublin.

To the delight of the 130 gathered for the pre-match lunch, the game would still go ahead in what would prove to be very difficult playing conditions

Ballynahinch RFC had the privilege of hosting Ulster Director of Rugby Les Kiss and his forwards coach, Allen Clarke, who where there off the back of Ulster’s Pro12 win over Edinburgh, to watch the contracted and development players turning out in this crucial Ulster Bank League match.

Lansdowne won the toss and chose to play with the brutal wind in the first half. Straight away they put ‘Hinch deep into their own 22.

With the conditions just so difficult, kicking into the wind was never an option, so it became a savage slogging match mainly played between the forwards as both teams struggled.

Many watching this match knew that the wind advantage had to be used to its maximum benefit and after 12 minutes, Lansdowne’s regular kicker, Scott Deasy, in the No 9 shirt, had given the Dublin 4 visitors a 6-0 lead.

The battle between the forwards continued back and forth, with the Ballynahinch tight eight acquitting themselves admirably against the seasoned visitors.

What was most notable was the game management of the home side as they avoided giving Lansdowne any advantage as the penalty count remained very low.

The ‘Hinch front three of Trenier, Murphy and Mo Simpson, playing a particularly dominant game, provided the engine for an excellent drive down field on 38 minutes.

Excellent supporting play from James Simpson and Ulster’s Peter Browne resulted in  Trenier crashing over for the home side’s first score. The wind conditions meant Quinn was tested with the extras. He kicked hard into the wind, but it fell short. Half-time: Ballynahinch 5 Lansdowne 6.

With the gale at their back, Derek Suffern’s charges started the second half at pace, attacking deep into the visitors’ 22 and eventually forcing a penalty, which Quinn deftly pushed out into the wind, letting Storm Desmond do the rest of the work to add another three points.

‘Hinch continued to use the the wind to their advantage and McBriar’s high floating ball became the play of choice in the conditions, constantly testing the visitors’ back three, with the pressure coming from the Ballymacarn centre partnership of Reaney and Harte.

On 60 minutes, with Lansdowne penalised and ‘Hinch opting for a line-out in the opposition 22, the ball was moved through several sets of hands and recycled several times for Mo Simpson make it over the line past an ever tiring Lansdowne defence. Quinn added the extras to stretch the homes side’s lead to 15-6.

Quinn was sure with the boot again on on 65 minutes and added another three points.

The referee had to work very hard as conditions deteriorated and infringements and poor play saw him award some 20 penalties in a similar amount of minutes.

On 71 minutes, former Ireland U-18 Schools captain James Ryan, playing out of his usual lock position in the back row, scrambled across the line near the ‘Hinch posts after a period of sustained pressure from the visitors. Deasy added the extras to close the gap to 18-13 with 10 minutes to play.

The pressure started to get to the home side as they defended their lead against desperate attacks from the Lansdowne backs in the final few minutes.

But the heavily penalised defence — down to 13 men after Lorcan Dow and James Simpson both saw yellow — held firm and allowed Suffern’s team to go back on the attack.

With a penalty awarded to the home side, the ball was kicked to the sideline for the line-out.

The resulting maul worked its way towards the try line and Ulster scrum-half Paul Rowley darted over for Ballynahinch’s third try. Quinn judged his kick into the wind beautifully and the ball split the posts.

The final few minutes saw Hinch chase the bonus point try and Lansdowne took every opportunity to spoil, the game finishing cynically when the ball was kicked into touch to deny Hinch the bonus point opportunity.

This was a huge and very welcome result for the Ballymacarn faithful against last year’s Division 1A champions and especially for the players, who have been competing exceptionally well in a very difficult league.

With the defence of the First Trust Senior Cup coming up at the Kingspan on Thursday, December 17, there is still plenty to do on the training paddock and with a break over the holiday period before playing Lansdowne in Dublin on January 2, players returning from injury should bolster the selection choices for Derek Suffern.

Ballynahinch (1-15): Craig Trenier, Jonny Murphy, Jonny Simpson, James Simpson, Peter Browne, Conor Joyce, Lorcan Dow, Mike Graham, Paul Rowley, James McBriar, Chris Quinn, Richard Reaney, Robin Harte, Davy Nicholson, Manihera Eden. Replacements: Jonny Blair, Zack McCall, Jonny Madden, Chris Gibson, Adam Craig.

Ballynahinch 25

Lansdowne 13

ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE DIVISION 1A