Ballymoney 4s welcomed Limavady 2s to Kilraughts Road for what they hoped would be a great day of rugby. The game kicked off on a glorious Saturday afternoon but it wasn’t long before Ballymoney set the marker, and pressure in the opposition 22 saw Brace and Carruthers run a move to set David Rea up to crash through the midfield to score under the posts. The conversion was added by captain Ryan Brace, 7-0 to the home side.

It was a fast-paced game in the sun and quick response from Limavady brought the score 7-5 after 15 minutes. It wasn’t however without confrontation a moment in the first half saw Ballymoney reduced to 14 men for the remainder of the game.

The Toon men managed to continue the pressure on the Limavady 5 metre line but couldn’t turn the pressure to points and chances went begging. It was just before halftime when David Rea showed his strength to break from the halfway line through a missed tackle and score under the post, with Brace converting taking the game to 14-5 at half time.

Within minutes of the second half getting underway Limavady scored a converted try taking it 14-12. The game was getting heated and another Ballymoney penalty gave Limavady the platform to score stretching the lead to 14-19. The Ballymoney team was losing shape in defence and a series of missed tackles and allusive running from Limavady, saw the a soft try scored with the visitors stretching their lead to 14-26.

Ballymoney restarted the game and from a simple lineout made good headway into the Limavady 22. Cynical foul after foul ensured no one was stopping Jonny Hanna crash over the line from a quick tap to close the gap, with Brace converting to 21-26.

The game was closing in on full time and with the fight back in them, Ballymoney was not giving up easily. A good phase of play saw Limavady struggle to defend and a fresh faced Carruthers reacted quickest to hit and spin out of a tackle, crossing the line to score under the posts for Ballymoney to take the lead 28-26, with 4 mins left on the clock.

The fight back wasn’t to be for the hosts as Limavady piled the pressure on and soon the pressure turned to points, with a converted try scored in the last minute to finish the game 28-33.