Victory for youthful 3XV

Ballymoney 3XV were the only team to play at home this weekend, so ran out onto the main pitch at Kilraughts Road v Carrick 3XV with an optimistic youthful squad, with a few exceptions!

The team withheld some early pressure, before centre Gavin McCaughern broke the deadlock, finishing off some good handling by the back line to score in the corner. McCaughern was a handful all day, and scored a fantastic solo effort later in the half, as he burst through the line to beat the final defender.

In the first half, Ballymoney crossed once more, through Matthew McNaugher, after hooker Adam Coulter made a good run round the back of the line out to offload to McNaugher on the charge.

In the second half, having not yet conceded a point, a couple of holes began to show in the home defence. A strong driving maul seduced Gareth Rankin into giving away a penalty, and he was shown a yellow card. Carrick capitalised and scored through their forwards. They would go on to score two more scores, but never really looked like taking the lead, and Ballymoney’s good pace in attack shone.

Neil Campbell and Matthew Johnston both put their names on the scoreboard, as they forced their way over after sustained pressure. David Holmes joined them, as he blew off some cobwebs galloping down the right wing, finishing out wide. The final score went to full back Simon McCrea, who used his footwork to beat a number of would be defenders. McCrea converted two of the afternoons tries, with scrum half, Matthew Dunlop, converting another.

Congratulations to Jordan Murray (pictured) who made his senior debut, sharing the field with Toss Skelton, who proved that age is just a number, and that the modern rules at the breakdown are overrated.