The JCK BMW Sponsored Ballymoney Rugby Club 1st XV travelled to Lisburn for the 2nd league game of the season and obtained a bonus point win in an entertaining 41-19 win.
From last weeks’ win Thomas Hunter, Chris Hughes and Daniel Ramage were unavailable due to work commitments, however Ballymoney were able to call up experience 1st XV players Nigel Nevin, Adam Pollock and Michael Armstrong to the squad.
Although there was a slight breeze the weather conditions were perfect for running rugby and the pitch was in good condition. Ballymoney knew they needed to start well and they did. From the kick off they put Lisburn under immediate pressure. Ballymoney returned the kick and moved the ball wide but Nigel Nevin was forced into touch on the 22. David McKeeman continued on from his excellent performance last week as he rose in the lineout to steel the Lisburn ball. A kick through from outhalf Young was chased through by fullback Cleland whose hard work paid off as he bundled the Lisburn fullback over the try line for a 5m scrum to the toon men.
The pack showed their intent and were awarded a penalty from the scrum and with the advantage, moved the ball to the wing. Watson was stopped just short but a quick ruck seen the ball moved to the barraging Irvine who burst through the defence to score the opening try. Cleland added the conversion to give Ballymoney a 0-7 lead.
From the kick off Ballymoney went on the attack and kept Lisburn under pressure in their own half. A break from the back line saw full back Cleland tackled 10metres out. A great carry from winger Watson was followed up by a series of forward drives for the line before captain McFetridge powered over from close range for a great team try. Cleland was just wide with the conversion but Ballymoney now lead 0-12.
Another lineout steel by McKeeman at the Lisburn maul allowed Ballymoney to kick deep in the Lisburn half. The kick chase was good from Ballymoney and they won a penalty at the ruck for Lisburn being off side. From the kick over on the far left of the pitch Cleland slotted the kick to extend the Ballymoney lead 0-15 with 20minutes played.
The 3rd try came on 30minutes as a result of two turnovers. The first from a tackle started a back move when outhalf young set centre Steele on a strong run but his offload was knocked on at the edge of the Lisburn 22. From the scrum pressure from the Ballymoney front 5 resulted in a turnover and captain McFetridge picked and passed to Young who drew the 12 to pop off to centre Irwin at speed who ghosted through the gap to score under the posts. Cleland added the extra 2 points to take the score line now to 0-22.
The most of the remainder of the half was played in the middle of the pitch as the game started to loosen up and become more open with each side eager to run the ball. The half ended with Ballymoney on the attack with some good link play between forwards and backs but a knock on halted what could have been the bonus point try.
The second half got under way and the bonus point try finally came within 5 minutes after a lineout maul was pulled down, the forwards again went on the advance and captain McFetridge was on hand to power over for his second try and the teams 4th. The conversion was successful with the score now 0-29.
The game started to become open again with 30mintues left, which suited the fast running backs of Lisburn. A run from the fullback took play into the Ballymoney half. A Lisburn Lineout was drove and caught the Ballymoney forwards sleeping and resulted in their first points of the day. The conversation was successful to make the score 7-29.
Any thoughts Lisburn had of a comeback where quickly dented by more Ballymoney pressure close to the line and this time instead of the forwards driving over it was the quick feet and thinking of scrum half Matthew Steele who got the try to extend Ballymoney lead to 7-34.
A break at the ruck from the Lisburn prop seen them take the ball into the Ballymoney 22 and from some aggressive running they scored another try to take the score to 14-34. From the Lisburn advance Ballymoney suffered injuries to prop Blair and wing forward Pollock which saw Centre Irwin move into the back row.
The remaining minutes saw another try for both sides as the game ended 19-41 with Martin Irwin going over for a Ballymoney try converted again by Cleland.
Team: M. Blair, P.Irvine, A. Brown, J. Bleakly, M. Allan, A. Pollock, D. McKeeman, J. McFetridge (c), M. Steele, A. Young, C. Watson, M. Irwin, N. Steele, N. Nevin, J. Cleland, K. McAneaney, M. Armstrong.
Maine Gym Man of the Match: Michael Allan
Coaches Comments; After the game the Ballymoney Coaches stated “The team started well today and we improved on the areas we worked on during the week. We had a good structure and scored some very well worked trys. It was great to get the bonus point early on and to push on in attack. As the game opened up some unforced errors came about which lead to giving Lisburn easy possession resulting in the trys they had, however we finished the game strong. The down side was injuries to Matthew Blair and Adam Pollock and I think they will be out of next week’s cup game against Academy. We play Academy at home in the cup this Saturday and may now look to bring in some guys performing well in the 2nd XV. We also have an U20s game on Wednesday night against Rainey RFC at home 7pm Kick off. Again this will give some guys a chance to force their way into the game on Saturday. Overall having been promoted last year we are just taking it a game at a time but are delighted to have started with 2 wins from the first 2 games.