Ballymoney 2s hold on to secure win against QUB 3XV

Ballymoney's 2nd XV took the field against Queen's University Belfast's 3rd XV on Saturday.

Despite the wet conditions underfoot, a fine day for rugby opened with the home side playing down the hill towards the club. The match opening sequence set the tone for the first half, with a quick set with strong carries by Munnis and a good offload by Millar.

For the first 20 minutes the men in blue worked hard to put the students under pressure - but with a missed home kick at goal and the away defensive line standing firm, stealing the ball in contact on a couple of occasions, and holding Munnis up over the line, the match was scoreless in that first quarter.

As frustration crept in, a couple of high tackles allowed Queens to relieve some pressure, before eventually the deadlock broke in favour of Ballymoney. The scrum had started to show some dominance through the front row of Clyde,Watson, and Munnis - and a set of strong carries by Heggarty and Stevenson, and good short passes by Lowry and Millar - eventually led to a ruck on the goal line, where Murdoch drove over from short range. Chris Watson converted for 7-0.

Another spell of attack for the students with consecutive penalties against the Toon at the ruck led to a sustained defensive effort for 10 minutes. But some strong work in the middle from Linton and Pollock at the ruck winning turnovers, and good cover defense in the wide channel from Brown and McNeill kept the visitors at bay.

As half time loomed Ballymoney got back on top, and again from good scrum pressure and short carries, Clyde took a tap penalty from short range and powered over with the pack driving through in support for the second try, leaving the score 12-0 at half time.

The second half saw several injuries disrupting both sides, with a back line reshuffle and rotating the forwards leading to a few more dropped balls than the first half. But the pattern continued - Ballymoney's scrum dominance helped to keep territorial advantage, but the visitors generally defended well and got two men in the tackle to stop momentum, and their rangy winger looked dangerous galloping up the sidelines.

With Gilkinson off the field for a yellow card following a high contact, QUB got their first score out wide right, using the extra to good effect to make yards, then consolidate infield, and go back out to the wide channel and get over the line. The try was converted for 12-7, and a tense last 20 minutes ahead.

As play wound down, Ballymoney nosed further in front - this time with good work up front from subs Orr and Donnelly, and good carries again from Munnis and Heggarty after their short rests. In midfield, Watson and Gilkinson were starting to make ground as well. Frm a penalty and lineout on the left, the forwards took it up, and then Linton released Watson out wide, who put Gilkinson in for the try that sealed the win. Watson converted for 19-7.

With the last play of the game, Queen's got a further consolation score, a defensive mix up from set piece allowing the winger to score a fine solo try from 40m out. But it was too little too late for the visitors as the final whistle blew. It finished as a hard won 19-14 victory against a well drilled opposition who lost a couple of key players at tough moments in the game as well.

Commenting on the match, injured co-captain Neal Mulholland said "Credit to the students, we had to work hard today - they covered everything we threw at them, but we brought just enough intensity to get the win. but we made it hard for ourselves - we'll look at the lost balls in contact and the repeat penalties as we regroup for the next challenge."

The 2s next game is in two weeks, as we host City of Derry and start the second half of the campaign, before visiting Queen's on the 16th.