St. Mary’s are unable to hold Ballynahinch

5 November 2014

THE Dubliners were out of tune when they visited Ballymacarn Park on Saturday and were forced to play second fiddle.

After a strong start from the home side the visitors began to dominate territory.

In the 10th minute a couple of missed tackles by the ‘Hinch defence created the space for scrum half Dave Fanagan to exploit, and he did well to send full back Ray Crotty clear to dive over in the left corner. Cathal Marsh failed to convert leaving the visitors with an early 5-0 lead.

‘Hinch put their first points on the board in the 19th minute when Richard Reaney converted a penalty after St. Mary’s failed to release on the ground.

‘Hinch No. 8 Charlie Butterworth was caught with his hands in the ruck in front of his posts and Marsh dispatched the penalty to give St. Mary’s an 8-3 lead, which they held until half-time.

Now playing into the deteriorating conditions the visitors struck first in the second half when prop Robert Sweeney was driven over in the 47th minute following a catch-and-drive from a line-out.

‘Hinch needed to use the conditions to their advantage with Aaron Cairns and James McBriar kicking with accuracy to pin the Leinster men deep in their 22.

In the 55th minute the visitors defence came under sustained pressure and infringements began to mount. As a result Kevin Sheahan was yellow-carded for straying offside in front of his posts and Richard Reaney converted the penalty as the home side started to build some momentum.

As the pressure mounted on the visitors defence Reaney finished off a great move started by centre Robin Harte in the 67th minute.

The ‘Hinch centre cut through the St. Mary’s midfield and passed wide to Ross Adair, who was halted just a couple of metres short of the line by full back Ray Crotty and wing Conor Toolan.

‘Hinch recycled the ball with Butterworth and Kyle McCall both having a dart for the line. With the St. Mary’s defence sucked in, Aaron Cairns moved play left where Reaney raced clear to score. He converted his try to give the Hinch a 14-13 lead.

‘Hinch pilled the pressure on the visitors’ line. In the 75th minute hooker Jonny Murphy picked up a loose ball in the midfield and sent James McBriar clear.

McBriar put in a neat chip for the corner, which was chased by Ross Adair who controlled the ball with his foot and won the race for the touchdown. Reaney added the extras to make it 21-13.

Three minutes later, Charlie Butterworth did well to charge down a St. Mary’s clearance.

The loose ball was kicked through by prop Ruaidhri Murphy and Robin Harte won the race to dive on the ball for an unconverted try.

Further drama was to follow when St. Mary’s conceded a penalty in injury time. Hinch opted to kick for the corner where John Donnan secured the ball from touch.

As the ‘Hinch maul rumbled towards the St. Mary’s line, it was deliberately collapsed a metre short and referee Mark Patton awarded a penalty try. Reaney added the extras to complete the scoring and ‘Hinch were more than happy to claim five valuable league points.

Ballynahinch: Steven Honey, Stephen McCauley, Richard Reaney, Robin Harte, Ross Adair, James McBriar, Aaron Cairns, Charlie Butterworth, Paul Pritchard, Jonny Madden, John Donnan, James Simpson, Craig Trenier, Jonny Murphy, Ruaidhri Murphy. Replacements: Peter Weir, Kyle McCall, Chris Quinn, Michael Graham, Andrew Harper.

Ballynahinch 33

St. Mary’s College 13

ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE DIVISION 1A

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