Newry halt unbeaten run

The JKC BMW sponsored Ballymoney RFC unbeaten league run came to an end on Saturday with a 17-13 defeat away to Newry RFC on Saturday.
Ballymoney travelled to Newry missing Young, Blair, Bleakly and Nevin but in their absence gave Munnis and Morrison their first call up to the 1st XV this season. Due to the 1st XV pitch being unplayable Ballymoney kicked off on Newry’s lower pitch. The pitch suited the larger more physical home team as it made it difficult to get pace onto the ball. I meant also that the team who took their chances would win the game and that is how it played out.
Ballymoney controlled the early exchanges but a charge down from an attacking kick from Cleland lead to a foot race between the Ballymoney and Newry wings. With confusion in defence Cleland was able to get back to recover but he was adjudged to kill the ball, giving Newry the first chance of points from the penalty. Newry converted to lead 3-0 after 5minutes.
The conditions lead to the ball being slow at the rucks resulting in a number of scrums in the middle of the pitch. Two attacks on the Newry line were stopped illegally and Ballymoney’s James Cleland kicked both penalties to give Ballymoney an 3-6 lead after 15mintues.
From the kick-off Newry competed in the air and won the back. A missed tackle allowed the Newry forward to carry to the line. Ballymoney defended several phases of Newry attack from forwards picking and going for the line, however the pressure finally paid off when the Newry second row crashed over. The conversion was successful and now lead 10-6 at the break.
The second half was a war of attrition but it was Ballymoney who took the lead. The lineout was working well and they kicked to the corner but Newry halted the drive but Ballymoeny were awarded penalty. Prop Moxen took a quick tap and caught Newry sleeping to dive over for a try below the posts. Cleland added the conversion to give Ballymoney a slender 10-13 lead.
However with 15 minutes to go Newry struck a vital blow. They made their first real venture into the Ballymoney 22 when their second row gathered an over throw from a lineout on the 10metre run. He was stopped but Newry again used their large pack to push on and get close to the line. With defence stretched they moved the ball out the back for the wing to crash over. The conversion was added to give them a lead 17-13.
The final 15mintues was spent in the Newry half. A number of penalties were kicked deep into the corner and Ballymoney maul was halted time and time again by an infringement. The conditions didn’t allow the ball to be moved fast and was difficult for players to change direction, thus favouring the very well drilled and physical defence of the home team. The solid Newry defence manager to prevent any further scores to take a deserved win and inflict the 1st league defeat on the younger Ballymoney team.
Team: P. Irvine, K.McAneaney, A. Brown, M. Allen, N. Mullholland, A. Pollock, D. McKeeman, J. McFetridge, M. Steele, J. Cleland, C. Morrinson, C. Watson, N. Steele, G. Pattison, S. McCrea, I. Moxen, J. Munnis
Coaches Comments, After the game coaches Cleland and Hanna stated “It was very disappointing to lose today and it really opens up the league now as although we have a few games in hand we are now in second place behind a PSNI full of confidence. Newry deserved the win today. We had plenty of time and procession in the Newry half but couldn’t convert any of our procession and that is really what it came down to. Newry took their chances and we didn’t.
I am sure the team will learn from this and put the effort into training to improve. We have a cup game this week against Q1 league team Carrick and this will be a test and will be another step up for Saturday. The league is now our priority and hopefully at training this week we can work on getting the intensity levels increases as we now have a must win game every week.