2s through to the Crawford Cup Final

Ballymoney's 2nd XV took the field at Kilraughts Road in the Crawford Cup semi-final against Armagh 3s. With Armagh in the league above, but the Toon men sitting in second place, it was poised to be a tough match.

Between injuries and availability, several changes were needed to a previously settled side - Simon McCrea stepped in to fly half for usual captain Linton, Adam Donnelly came into the front row alongside Jordan Munnis who had recovered from injury and illness, and Adam Hodges covered at outside centre, with Peter Irvine also called on to provide cover at hooker if needed.

And those changes blended in seamlessly to the side in the opening exchanges, as Ballymoney's season-long dominance in the forward pack continued to make life difficult for the opposition, who were themselves missing a couple of key players on the day.

After a solid initial defensive set, Ballymoney were first on the scoreboard, with Munnis the first to barrell over the line from short range after a series of good carries from the pack.

But despite significant territorial advantage for the home side, Armagh were making it difficult to stretch the lead, with several turnovers and penalties won at the breakdown, and a couple of clean breaks by Jack Alexander and Andrew Millar held up.

However, the visitors couldn't escape their own half, struggling to retain the ball at their own set piece. And when the influential centre received a yellow card for a third high tackle, Ballymoney capitalised.

First Alexander touched down from a huge scrum for the pushover try, converted by Tweed for 12-0. Then perhaps the try of the match was scored by Robbie McNeill - good breaks from Gilkinson, Alexander, and Brown all collapsing the defense, and then good hands through McCrea and Hodges put the winger around the outside for the score.

At that point the teams returned to equal numbers, and Armagh started to show their own nature - finally getting a period of retained possession and working through many phases inside Ballymoney's 22 - and eventually crashing over from short range for 17-7.

But the home side would finish the half on top - a long clearance from Gilkinson with a good kick chase trapped the fullback and won the turnover. A couple of quick phases later and Philip Beattie was able to sell a Calvin-esque dummy and charge through the line to score. With Tweed's conversion good, half time came at 24-7.

In the second half the visitors threw everything they had into getting back into the game, and with a few loose passes and penalties from Ballymoney handing the advantage to Armagh, the gap between the sides would close quickly.

Following McNeill's yellow card, again for a high "seatbelt" type tackle, Armagh made the extra man count. First from a lineout the forwards sucked in the defenders before the backs found the space out wide for the winger sto score. And shortly afterwards, a poor clearance and another penalty gave Armagh the territory, and a series of phases led to a try in the corner.

At 24-19, suddenly the comfortable lead had disappeared, and the large crowd supporting both teams were nervous as the game headed into the final stages.

But with the teams back to equal numbers again, Ballymoney started to tighten the game up - Gilkinson and Tweed putting good clearing kicks in, and the forwards making yards once more in the tight exchanges. The scrum at this point really kicked into gear, pushing Armagh backwards at every opportunity. And from one of those scrums, a quick tap penalty and a few quick phases gave the attack enough momentum for Jordan Munnis to power over again from short range.

With a two score lead restored, and a clear advantage in the set piece, Ballymoney closed the game out at 29-19 - a superb victory over a solid Armagh side, and a return to the Crawford Cup final for the first time since 2012.

Player of the Match Andrew Millar was delighted after the game, declaring "That was a full squad effort today - the front row I thought were amazing both in the set piece and around the park - but everyone really stepped up. We've missed out at this stage recently, and it's great to go one step further and get to the final."

That final date is still to be confirmed, where Ballymoney will meet Ballyclare 2s, who are flying high at the top of their league, so it's sure to be a challenge the Toon men will be keen to measure themselves against.

Before that, next week sees the return of league action as Portadown visit Kilraughts Road on Saturday for the 2s last home game of the season, kicking off as usual at 2:30pm.