Clinical toon go top of the league! For now!

Ballymoney were back in league action in premier division 2, and Bangor 2s were the visitors to Kilraughts Road, writes Calum McDonald.

Bangor made the journey north to try and set the record straight after a closely fought game back in September, which the toon came out on top 14-0.

This was an exciting 2s side on paper, with Matthew Blair, Dave McKeeman, Jack Alexander, Matthew Steele and Matthew Bell coming into the side.

The game started out just as Ballymoney expected, extremely physical, the opening exchanges were hard-hitting from both sides, the competition at the breakdown was fierce and highly contested, with both sides turning over a lot of ball, and some handling errors also as the weather was unpredictable with various showers.

The first scrum of the day went the toons way, and they continued to do so as the game progressed, giving the men in blue and navy a great platform to play on the front foot.

Finally the deadlock was broken when another strong scrum got the toon men going forward, with some strong Carries from Jack Alexander, Matty Blair and Joel Heggarty in the following phases, the ball was moved wide for Robbie McNeill to score in the corner. Chris Watson covered the try; 7-0 Ballymoney.

The next 20 minutes were dominated by Ballymoney, who had all the possession and played some great direct rugby, as captain Jonny Linton was pulling the strings at 10, throwing some lovely flat passes to the strong ball carriers like Watson, Brown and McKeeman. The Bangor men were going backwards, but defended brilliantly at the breakdown in the 22, turning over ball on multiple occasions and clearing their lines.

Finally, just before half time, Ballymoney were on the front foot again, with Andrew Millar throwing off nice dummies and straightening the line, strong carries again from the forwards, Jason Clyde was causing havoc with the ball in hand and Bangor was scrambling once again. Finally the pressure showed as Co-Captain Neal Mullholland threw an outrageous dummy and dived in from 2 yards, showing that the old dog still has plenty of gas in the tank. Chris Watson converted; half time 14-0 Ballymoney.

The chat at half time was positive, to keep the foot on the gas and to look after the ball a little better, the result would come.

The second half began at the same intensity as the first, tit for tat at the breakdown, and strong carries up the middle from Bangor, trying the punch a whole in the toons defence, but time and time again, Ballymoney stood firm and came away with the ball, with some excellent work on the floor from Alexander, Linton, Lowry and Heggarty. Also some fantastic clearances from experienced scrum half Matthew Steele relieved the pressure.

Ballymoney's third try came from Neal Mullholland once again, his second of the game, as another powerful scrum from Ballymoney was marching forward over the Bangor line, the ball squirted loose and Mullholland used his NBA background to pluck the ball out of the air and dot it down. 19-0 Ballymoney.

Soon after the toon got their bonus point try when another strong scrum saw Alexander dive over the line for a well deserved score. 24-0 Ballymoney.

Ballymoney then rung the changes - with Tom Lowry and Jack hart, who both had excellent games, coming off for George McAuley and Marc tweed - fresh legs were needed.

This paid dividends as Ballymoney then went on to score a fifth try, a second of the game for Robbie McNeill who finished strongly in the corner. 29-0 Ballymoney.

A sixth score was then added when Jason Clyde got a well-deserved try, which was converted by Chris Watson; 36-0 Ballymoney.

It was at this stage when Ballymoney began to fatigue slightly and the gutsy Bangor side kept fighting till the end, giving everything they had they battered Ballymoney’s line during the closing stages, with Neal Mullholland going to the bin for a deliberate knock on as Bangor were moving the ball wide, the toon men once again won a critical turnover which kept Bangor scoreless in what was one of the best performances of the season so far by Ballymoney. An excellent result - Ballymoney 36-0 Bangor.

A massive shout out goes to Russell Blair also who pulled the side out of a hole after a late withdrawal from the side.

The team will take great confidence from this result, dispatching a quality Bangor side, and with an away trip to Enniskillen next week, and a massive away trip to Queens University in the Crawford Cup the week after, this is an important stage of the season for the toon men.