Bonus point added as Toon undo Ards

On a bright sunny Autumn afternoon, JKC BMW/Causeway Geotech Ballymoney 1st XV entertained visitors Ards to Kilraughts Road for the first home league game of the season with the home side looking to bounce back from the narrow defeat in the Junior Cup against Instonians.
John McFetridge returned at tighthead with Ashley Tweed returning in the second row. In the backs Rory Strang returned at fullback with Andy Young moving to the wing. On the bench, Thomas Hunter returned from long injury lay off with Adam Wright making his debut for Ballymoney.
Ards kicked off and right from the off The Toon started to apply the pressure .inside the first two minutes Ballymoney opened the scoring .A scrum won on half way was flashed wide to Bell on the right wing who , after making 20 yards , was tackled just inside the 22.The ball was popped to Munnis who fed Platt with a short pop who was tackled just yards from the line , was recycled to Blair who again was stopped just short before it was flashed out wide left to centre Laughlin who crashed over the line for a fantastic opening score .Rory Strang easily converting , 7-0 up after 3 minutes.
Ballymoney continued to keep the pressure on and were unlucky not to double their advantage on 10 minutes when a driving maul set up from a catch and drive line out was unfortunate to lose the ball as they drove over the line.
This was to be rectified on 20 minutes however Strang kicked deep into the 22 and bundled the Ards fullback into touch giving Money the put in. From the catch the forwards drove forward the 10 yards and Irvine smashed over with the reliable Strang adding the extra points, Ballymoney now in control 14-0 .
Ballymoney lost Bellingham from the restart with an eye injury giving prop Adam Wright his Ballymoney debut, the reshuffle saw Blair moving back to second row. On 25 minutes Ards opened their account with a long range penalty with Rory Strang soon cancelling it out with a penalty and again, on the last play of the half Ards had another kick at goal, Ballymoney going into the break 17-6 .
Ballymoney continued to show their dominance after the break and were unfortunate not to score shortly after the restart, Hyndman made a good break before Irvine battered in up the middle but his offload to McFetridge just went forward with the score line at his mercy.
Rory Strang stretched the lead further to 20-6 as the away team started to tire and give away penalties.Ballymoney lost Hyndman after the restart when he got split below the eye in a tackle, giving Thomas Hunter the chance to return from a long layoff.
With continued dominance and pressure in the 22, another try wasn’t far away .From a scrum on the far touchline the ball was moved to Laughlin who smashed it up before Steele recycled it to Marty Irwin who went over for no 3 , converted again by Strang. Score now 27-6.
Hunter was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet when Bell fielded an Ards clearance on half way and passed inside to Strang who broke the line before feeding Hunter who was dragged into touch metres from the line .Ramage stole the lineout but after several drive the ball was spilled over the line giving Ards the chance to clear their lines
Ards rallied late towards the Ballymoney line but after a number of phases and a stern home defence , were penalised , made their way down into the Ards 22 and on the last play a break from Marty Irwin popped into Andy Young secured the quota of points .Rory Strang converted , leaving the final score 34-6.
Jonny Hanna was delighted with the win “We dominated the game from start to finish , we were very disclipined and our set piece , especially the line out worked extremely well .Our backs looked dangerous every time they got the ball with Marty controlling the game at 10 . We probably didn’t use our backs enough however but I felt our forwards were also very good, breaking the gain line with most carries .I was particularly pleased with the scrimmaging of young Adam Wright who excelled in his first game. Again we received a few knocks but we’ve a good squad with competition in every position .Also fantastic to see Thomas Hunter back in a Ballymoney shirt after a long layoff.
We must continue to work hard on the training field as we travel to Lurgan next week .It will as always be a tricky place to go but we are confident in our own ability no matter who we play .Thanks again to our minis who provided ballboy and water services to our players , it is much appreciated .”