Ballymoney 2XV narrowly beaten by Bangor

This week Ballymoney 2XV hosted Bangor 2XV in the league. The home team were hoping to add a second win at home this year after a tough start in the league campaign.

The hosts had most of the possession in the opening 10 minutes with strong carries from the forward pack and multiple line breaks from the backs, however Bangor were first to put points on the board when they gained possession in the Ballymoney half and were awarded a penalty just outside the 22 which they converted.

Ballymoney opened their account through winger John Gilkinson after scrum dominance in the middle of the park to turn the ball over and multiple carries from the forward pack allowed scrum half Matthew Pollock to get quick ball out to the pacey back line who showed slick hands to allow Gilkinson to crash over in the corner.

The home side showed resilience in defence after a period of possession from the visitors and forced handling errors from Bangor which allowed Ballymoney to clear their lines. Bangor scored their first try after passing the ball wide to allow their winger to beat the defence and score under the posts. Ballymoney continued to pile on the pressure with multiple phases in the opposition half but failed to capitalise, leaving the score 10 - 5 to the visitors at the break.

'The Toon' started the second half strongly having a long period of possession in the Bangor half and after a number of strong runs were awarded a penalty just outside the opposition 22 metre line and decided to kick for touch. Ballymoney reaped the reward from this decision after a well worked line-out allowed the pack to set up a driving maul which led to hooker Joel Heggarty crossing the line. The home side failed to convert making the score 10 points a piece. Bangor were next to get points on the board after making the most of an overlap in the Ballymoney half, allowing their winger to touchdown in the corner. The Bangor centre converted to make the score 17-10 to the visitors.

Possession was back with the home side after winning a penalty and Ballymoney opted for the line-out which was a strong asset on the day and produced quick ball for the back line to stretch the Bangor defence and to carry the ball into contact. After multiple phases from the home side they capitalised on their possession after nice link up play between scrum half Matthew Pollock and second row Andrew Millar allowed the captain to break through the Bangor defence and offload the ball to oncoming support in James Milsopp who finished off a well worked try.

The away side continued to test the home side defence and got their reward after a number of phases when they were awarded a penalty which was kicked by the Bangor centre, making the score 20-15 to the away side.

After several changes the home side fought back and continued to put the Bangor defence under pressure. Ballymoney levelled the score through centre Aaron Brown after strong carries from the forwards and some nice link up play between the backs allowed him to crash over the line but Ballymoney failed to convert off the tee.

Bangor put the hosts under pressure in the final 10 minutes of the game and scored a converted try to extend their lead to 27-20. They also kicked a penalty in the final minute to leave the final score 30-20 to the away side.

Overall it was a physical game with a close score line resulting in the home team falling just short on the day. Ballymoney can take plenty of positives from the defeat, especially the dominance in the forwards in scrums and line-out and the set plays on display from the backs to produce some well worked tries. The Toon will use training on Tuesday and Thursday to iron out the errors leading to penalties and conceding tries ahead of Saturdays home clash with Portadown 2XV which lines up to be a promising game.

Ballymoney 2XV: 1. J Anderson, 2. J Heggarty, 3. I Moxen, 4. A Millar, 5. M Ngyutin, 6. L Wray, 7. J Millsopp, 8. N Mulholland, 9. M Pollock, 10. J Cleland, 11. D Rea, 12. A Brown, 13. K McCauley, 14. J Gilkinson, 15. S McCrea, Subs: 16. C Anderson, 17. D McCord, 18. J McAleese