Ballymoney 3XV Vs Lurgan 2XV

Ballymoney 3XV Vs Lurgan 2XV

After a long layoff dating back to the 1st week of December Ballymoney River Ridge 3rds headed up the road for the return fixture with Lurgan hoping to keep the performances of late and come away with victory.

Unfortunately the long layoff took its toll and it took until the 2nd half for the Toon to switch back into gear.

With a number of injuries and numerous players unavailable it was a much change side that look the field, with William Parkhill moving in the from the wing to lock down the scrum at No1 alongside Morrow and McCaw. The front row at scrum time put the Lurgan opposite numbers under extreme pressure all day. A special mention to Christopher Campbell making his first appearance of the season for the 3rds after 18 plus month out with a knee injury and the veteran John Hunter pulling on the boots instead of the team manager’s shoes this week managing 60 plus minutes in a number of different positions.

The game kick off with Ballymoney playing up the hill and receiving the kick off. A good catch by Morrow allowed the toon to setup their exit strategy, unfortunately the kick didn’t make touch and the Lurgan backline move the ball with pace leaving the sleeping Toon men in their wake to score in the corner, unconverted. The second try was almost a carbon copy of the first. Poor communication resulted in some missed tackles allowing Lurgan to score in the same corner. Spurred on Ballymoney found some good field position as Lurgan failed to deal with the kick off. A solid scrum by the toon men allowed the backs, led by the powerhouse Benji to turn the screw and some brilliant footwork and raw strength allowed Phil Doc playing No9 for the first time to burst free and score a lovely individual try. The score now 10 – 5. Again poor communication and tried legs allowed Lurgan to score twice before the break to leave the score at the break 20 – 5 in Lurgan favour.

After strong words from Captain of the day Neil Campbell and his generals Toss, Dean and Benji at half time saw the toon men start to play the fast flowing brand of rugby they enjoy. From the kick off Ballymoney refused to let Lurgan exit from their 22. From the resulting turnover Neil cut back on the angle to score below the posts converted by Stuart McHugh making his debut for the 3rd at the ripe old age of 18. Unfortunately the kick off wasn’t cleared and a charge down allowed Lurgan to extend their lead to 25 – 12. The Toon increased intensity now was causing problems all over the park with strong runs from Dean, Welly and Chris Campbell resulted in the South African bull scoring the 3rd try again converted by McHugh, reducing the score to 25 – 19.

With the game now very much in the balance Lurgan wing broke free only to be cut down by Duffy in a great cover tackle, however the toon men where second best to the breakdown to allow quick ball for Lurgan to again score in the corner and extend their lead to 30 – 19. From the kick off the toon pack went through the gears and goods tackles from Caldwell and Ferris resulted in turnover ball feed to the fullback Welly only to be stopped short but quick rucked ball by McCaw and Neil feed Morrow to crash over and again McHugh converted to reduce the score to 30 -26.

Three minutes now on the clock the Toon men went on the charge to win the game but one slip by both the ref and toon men allowed some confusion for Lurgan to sneaked in for the final try to leave the score 35 -26. The final try was a bit unfair on the Toon men but there can have no complaint, the poor start cost us the game.

Team Capt. Campbell commented after the game a very good second half allowed us back into the game but the poor performance from everyone is the first half cost us the game. Having got the wheels now back on, Toon now look forward to the home game next week against Dungannon. A special mention must go to number of players playing out of position, debuts and those returning from long injuries.

Man of the Match goes to Benji