Ballymoney lose to league leaders

The JKC BMW sponsored Ballymoney 1st XV returned to league action after a week off against league leaders Grosvenor RFC. In an intense battle Grosvenor ran out deserved winners 0-23 to keep their unbeaten run intact.
Ballymoney were without injured Daniel Ramage and Michael Armstrong from the last game against UUC so Neal Mulholland started in the forwards and Nathanial Steele and Thomas Hunter returned to the backs. Rory Strang was unavailable so Martin Irwin started at 10 with fellow player coach James Cleland partnering him at 12 in the back line.
The game was a very physical battle and both teams were actually very evenly matched in personnel. The end score didn’t reflect the closeness of the game but more the fact that the well drilled and disciplined Grosvenor side took their chances and managed the game better than Ballymoney.
The opening minutes were well matched as both teams shut each other out in defence but Ballymoney let the visitors set up an attack after being penalised at the break down. From a maul close to the line Grosvenor picked and drove at the Ballymoney defence to get the early score and after several phases were able to barge over for an unconverted try to leave the score 0-5 after only 6 minutes played.
Ballymoney did get back into the Grosvenor half and were awarded a penalty but James Cleland was off target with the attempt. Both teams were trying to get to grips with some of the decisions at the break down and at the scrum. This resulted in a yellow card for both teams during the half but neither could take advantage of the extra man.
As the half closed Ballymoney finally put some phases together and a break up the wing by Matthew Bell saw him come close to a try only for some good scramble defence by Grosvenor to stop the try and then ill-discipline at the ruck by Ballymoney to allow the visitors to relieve the pressure through a penalty. Further mistakes and penalties allowed Grosvenor back into the Ballymoney 22 and again they attacked the try line. This time clever running from their centre used the referee as a shield to crash over close to the line. The try was converted to extend the lead to 0-12 right on the stoke of half time.
The early exchanges of the second half belonged to Ballymoney but again they could not capitalise on sustained pressure on the visitor’s line due to errors or penalties giving Grosvenor a chance to release pressure. A turning point of the game came then as the visitors had absorbed the pressure to see two penalties give them field positon into Ballymoney half. A kick through put play into the Ballymoney 22 and from a penalty Grosvenor extended their lead to 0-15.
A further penalty moved the score to 0-18 as Grosvenor managed the game well. Ballymoney did show some signs of what they could do in attack but again some good scramble defence from Grosvenor denied any comeback. Then with only 5 minutes to go, the victors broke up the blind side and some offloading lead to them crashing over in the corner for an unconverted score and end the game as a contest at 0-23
Man of the Match: John McFetridge
1st XV Squad; M. Blair, P. Irvine, A. Brown, N. Mulholland, J. Bleakly, M. Allan, D. McKeeman, J. McFetridge (c), M. Steele, M. Irwin, A. Brown, J. Cleland, N. Steele, M. Bell, T. Hunter, K. McAneaney, C. Hughes

Coaches Comments; After the game coaches Hanna, Cleland and Irwin commented “The score I don’t think reflected how close the two teams were. Grosvenor didn’t really have any clear line breaks but instead they made less mistakes and managed the game well in the second half. We matched them in the physical battle and our fitness was good. The set piece went well but there were some strange decisions at the scrum for both sides. Our issue was in attack. We seemed to panic a bit and made too many mistakes and through these mistakes and penalties we gave the ball back to Grosvenor too easy. If we could have showed more control and got on the score board early in the second half I think the result would defiantly have been a lot closer. Fair play to Grosvenor they deserved the win and our guys will learn from the game and we look forward to meeting them in the second half of the season in the return fixture.
Next week is another big fixture as we entertain Armagh 2nd XV at home in the semi final of the Junior Cup. Ballymoney RFC will be underdogs for they do have home advantage so please come out and cheer on the guys as they try to tear up the form book and book a place in the final at Ravenhill. Kick off is at 2.30pm at Kilraughts Road. The players are holding a pub quiz after the game from 6pm – 7.30pm so why not stay about and support the team.