Senior Cup is coming home to Ballynahinch

17 December 2014

BALLYNAHINCH fought back from ten points down to beat Malone in the First Trust Bank Senior Cup final at a rain-sodden Kingspan Stadium last Wednesday evening.

Tries from Stephen McAuley, First Trust Man of the Match Michael Graham and Richard Reaney sealed a second ever Senior Cup title for the County Down club and made amends for the loss to Queen’s University in last year’s showpiece.

The result also condemned Malone to a seventh straight final defeat since they last triumphed in the competition back in 1991/92.

‘Hinch fell behind early on when they were penalised for not releasing the ball in the tackle after electing to keep possession rather than clear the danger from their own 22. Malone out half Josh Pentland made no mistake with the resultant penalty to put his side 3-0 ahead.

‘Hinch responded well and brought play deep into opposition territory with strong carries by hooker Jonny Murphy and prop Jonny Simpson. The pressure yielded a kickable penalty for centre Richard Reaney, but his effort drifted wide.

Pentland had two further penalty opportunities to extend the lead, but he was off target on both occasions on what was a difficult night for kickers.

But the East Belfast side were soon rewarded for their endeavours with a well-worked try. Solid forward play provided the platform and neat offloads by Pentland and Michael Barker sent scrum half Jack McMurtry over the whitewash. Pentland’s conversion extended the lead to 10-0.

‘Hinch fought their way back into the game when they exploited space out wide to send Stephen McAuley clear down the right wing.

The full back grubbered through and collected the ball before doting down in the corner. Reaney added the touchline conversion to reduce the deficit to 10-7 at half-time.

Early in the second half Reaney was unfortunate to see two long range penalty attempts ricochet back off the right hand post and it looked like it may be Malone’s night.

But Ballynahinch scored their second try through the impressive Graham, who evaded a couple of attempted tackles to drive over from close range. Reaney was unsuccessful with the conversion but his team were now 12-10 ahead.

Some exceptional interplay between Kieran Joyce and Adam Liddell on the hour mark created a massive overlap for the Malone backs, but a superb covering tackle from captain Harry McAleese prevented what looked like a certain score in the corner.

With ‘Hinch in the ascendancy, Graham then turned provider. After he made good ground he gave a neat pass to Reaney for a simple run in from ten metres out. Reaney failed to add the extras.

Malone piled on the pressure in the final ten minutes. Pentland missed a chance to claw back three points from the tee and a number of handling errors denied Malone of try scoring opportunities.

The ‘Hinch men closed out the game were deserved winners on the night, sparking celebrations as ‘Up She Flew’ to the strains of ‘Shall We Gather At The River’ from the Ballymacarn Park faithful in attendance.

Ballynahinch: (15-9) Stephen McAuley; David Nicholson, Stuart Morrow, Richard Reaney, Ross Adair; Harry McAleese (capt), Aaron Cairns; (1-8) Jonny Simpson, Jonny Murphy, Stuart Orr, James Simpson, Jonny Madden, David McGuigan, Paul Pritchard, Mike Graham. Replacements: Craig Trenier, Conor Pyper, Josh Donaldson, James McBriar, Jordan Grattan.

Malone: (15-9) Andy Bryans; Michael Barker, Nathan Browne, Kieran Joyce, Adam Liddell; Josh Pentland, Jack McMurtry; (1-8) Ross Kane, Darryl Maxwell, Philip Eadie, Corry Tipping, be Alexander, Ben McDonnell, John Burns, Conor Joyce (capt). Replacements: Simon Bailie, Lee Barlow, David Cobain, Shane Kelly, Neil Burns.

Ballynahinch 17

Malone 10

SENIOR CUP FINAL

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