Ballymoney 3XV Vs Dungannon 4XV
The River Ridge sponsored Ballymoney 3XV put Dungannon to the sword at Kilraught Road.
Ballymoney 3XV Vs Dungannon 4XV
The River Ridge sponsored Ballymoney 3XV put Dungannon to the sword at Kilraught Road.
Ballymoney welcomed Dungannon to Kilraught Road hoping to continue playing the brand of rugby they finished against Lurgan the week before and gain revenge for the loss they suffered against Dungannon earlier in the season.
With 4 teams out this week it was a much changed side taking to the field for the Toon. Special mention must go the 7 debutants, 4 from our U18’s, Daniel Brennan, Graham Donnelly, Adam Patrick and Jordon Gamble, with 3 from Dalriada, Scott Gamble, Adam Stewart and Thomas Hunter. A big thank you must go to them all and was great to see the talent that both have produced.
Dungannon started the brighter of the 2 teams and after early pressure were awarded a penalty to lead 3 – nil. From the kickoff Ballymoney refused to let Dungannon clear their lines and after a turnover by Parkhill, quick ball was fed by Doc to release the rampant Blair to open the scoring for the Toon, unfortunately the try was not converted leaving the score 5-3. From the kickoff Ballymoney couldn’t clear their lines resulting in the ball being killed at ruck time offering Dungannon the chance of a second kickable penalty in front of the posts. The kick was easily converted putting Dungannon back into the lead 6 – 5. Ballymoney’s second try of day came from a deep kick from Dungannon which was fielded by fullback Thomas Hunter, who weaved past everyone with lighting speed and a swing of the hips to score a lovely individual try. Again the conversion was missed leaving the score 10 – 6 in the Toons favour. The 3rd try of the half came from hard yards by the pack before releasing the backs. Hard running by Dean, split the Dungannon defense before offloading to his centre partner Patrick who drew the last man and released Thomas to score his second in the corner, unfortunately the extra points were missed. The final action of the half was again poor discipline by the Toon men resulting in a team yellow for Daniel Brennan and another easy 3 points to leave the score 15 – 12 in the home teams favour.
The half time team talk this week was very much more of the same. Hard running by backs and forwards alike with quick rucked ball and slick hands was causing Dungannon lots of problems all over the park. The only thing letting us down was the high penalty count, keeping Dungannon in the game.
With Daniel still in the bin Ballymoney started the second half with 14 men, but this didn’t stop them playing open attacking rugby and it wasn’t long before the crowd where treated to the bonus point try. A penalty in the middle of the park was kicked to the corner and the resulting lineout taken by Adam Stewart set up the driving maul which allowed the pack to push Dungannon towards their try line for Balmer to launch from the back to score his first senior try. With the score 20 – 12 the Toon men welcome Daniel back from the bin, unfortunately his place was quickly taken by Joel who was harshly judged to have tackled the Dungannon no10 high. The 5th try of the afternoon came from the base of the scrum Neil feeding Doc only to be stopped short, but soft hands from Doc popped the ball back inside for Neil to crash over, this time Hunter took over the kicking duties to convert the extras. With Ballymoney’s dominate scrums anchored by Scott Gamble allowing a good platform for the backs to launch attacks of 1st phase ball. Graham Donnelly playing out of position cut in from his left wing to take the ball from Welly only to be stopped short. The flankers Toss and Daniel where first on hand to recycle the ball and veteran Toss picking up the loose ball to score again converted by Hunter. With Joel now back on the field giving the Toon men their full complement of forwards it was the backs turns to have a 10 minute rest. Welly getting the 3rd yellow card of the afternoon for the Toon. With 20 minutes to go Dungannon went in search a try, but the closest they could manage was the 5 metre line. Time and time again strong tackling by the whole squad keep them at bay especially Matthew McConaghy and Scott Gamble. After a extended period of this pressure the turnover came, quick hands from the confident backline from behind their own goal line finally released Hunter to raced away to score and convert his 3rd try of the afternoon. Try no8 came shortly afterwards again slick hands from the backline cut the Dungannon defence to shreds again to be finished by Hunter this time he missed the conversion to prove that he is actual human. With time now running out the best and last try of the afternoon show what confidence can do for aside. From the kickoff the ball was recycled by the forwards and after numerous breakdowns, quick rucks and the ball being passed through every pair of hands on the team, resulted in our own Mr Grump (Morrow) scoring his 3rd in as many games with Hunter adding the extra to leave the final score 53 – 12.
A very big thank you must go the 7 young guys making their 1st senior appearances. Everyone acquitted themselves admirably and all have a big future ahead of them, hopefully in the blue of Ballymoney. Today’s performance was a great team effort from everyone, both in attack or defence there was always Ballymoney men on hand to put their bodies on the line, anyone could have been awarded man of the match. However with 4 tries and 4 conversions Thomas Hunter is our Man of the Match.
Good luck to Dalriada next Saturday in the School Cup and our own U18 who kick off their own cup competition in the coming weeks. We will hopefully get you all out again before the end of the season. Next week we are away to CIYMS and will be looking for more of the same.