Coleraine 2XV 15-22 Ballymoney 3XV

On Saturday Ballymoney 3XV travelled the short journey to face local rivals Coleraine 2XV.

The game started off physically with both sides vying for early dominance. Ballymoney opened the scoring through a well worked lineout play with Gavin Finney crossing the line leaving the score 0-5 to the visitors.

Through some discipline issues from Ballymoney, Coleraine quickly closed the gap with a penalty leaving the score 3-5.

Ballymoney aimed to strike back in the game but couldn’t get the ball over the line, coming close on a few occasions.

In the closing minutes of the half Coleraine scored out wide to leave the score 10-5 to the hosts at half time.

In the second half Coleraine started the brighter and extended their lead to 15-5 and the Toon men knew they had to respond to stay in the game.

With Jonny Linton pulling the strings in the backline and after some strong carries from Davy Rea and William Parkhill, Ballymoney had worked their way up the pitch. Rab Newton crossed the line from close range with the conversion slotted by Marc Tweed to close the score to 15-12.

The Toon men continued to grow into the game with Gillan Carruthers putting in some big hits in midfield and Joe Lynas working hard at the breakdown. After sustained pressure deep in the Coleraine ‘22, Neil Campbell showed great athleticism to cross the line putting Ballymoney in the lead 15-19.

In the closing minutes of the game Marc Tweed converted a penalty to put the game out of reach. Final score Coleraine 2XV 15-22 Ballymoney 3XV.

Manger Chris Campbell commented, “In periods we had to work hard to stay in the game but we certainly showed great moments and we can take these positives into future games. Everyone can be happy with their work rate and it’s great to start off our league fixtures with a win.

Ballymoney 3XV’s next fixture is at home to Limavady 2XV on 27th September.