On Saturday, the JKC/Causeway Geotech sponsored Ballymoney 1st XV welcomed Carrickfergus RFC to Kilraughts Road, as League fixtures resumed after last week’s Town’s Cup victory over Coleraine.
The coaching staff rung the changes, with Jack Murdoch and Jordan Munnis returning to the pack, and Marc Tweed making his debut at scrum half. Andrew Stevenson and Philip Beattie were joined on the bench by Owen Boyd, who was returning from a shoulder injury.
Carrick kicked off towards the Clubhouse and from the kick off, a dropped ball led to a scrum outside the 22. Carrick won the ball and moved the ball out wide right to score in the corner.
Ballymoney struggled to get into the game in the early stages but after 20 minutes drew level when a penalty kicked to the corner was hit up by the forwards, with Matty Blair crashing over to open the Toon account.
Ballymoney conceded a penalty shortly afterward and the Carrick goalkicker slotted over the kick, giving them a 8-5 lead.
A Jordan Munnis try gave Money the lead again, when he drove over the line following a catch and drive lineout, which was to be the final score of the first half, giving the Toon a slender 10-8 lead at the break.
Straight from the kick off at the start of the second half The Toon stretched their lead further when constant forward pressure in the Carrick 22 lead to Andrew Stevenson crashing over, Gervais adding the conversion to stretch the lead to 17-8.
Following more Ballymoney pressure, the ball broke to Marty Irwin who threw a long pass out to Lewis Hawthorne on the wing, who just managed to stay in to feed the support run of Andy Young, who added the fourth try. Young converted his try with the score now 24-7.
Carrick replied from the restart when a kick to the corner gave them the opportunity to drive at the home pack reducing the score to 24-15.
Matthew Blair scored his second of the game when further pressure inside the 22 led to Low Gear smashing over the line, conversion missed 29-15.
Andy Young then added his second try of the day from the line out, Philip Beattie made a break, drew in his defender before popping to Andy Young who ran a great line, beat three defenders to score a super try and with the conversion added, the Toon were now 36-15.
With Carrick out on their feet, Jack Murdoch added the final try of the game, securing a well-deserved bonus point win by a margin of 41-15.
“A very satisfying result,” said Chris McIlmoyle after the game, “we had made several changes due to a few injuries and unavailabilities so, it took us a while to settle into our pattern meaning the first half was a fairly tight affair. Second half I felt we were much improved, and our superior fitness paid in the end as we finished quite comfortable winners. It says a lot about the quality of our squad as we were able to make quite a few changes and still win well. Marc Tweed had an excellent 1XV debut and has a bright future in the game.
This was an important game to win as it stretches the gap between the mid and lower end of the table. It is now the midway point of the League campaign and we currently sit fifth in the table however, we know there is a lot of rugby to play yet, and our return fixture to Carrick is only next week so, we’ll prepare through the week and expect another battle up in Carrick next weekend.”