Saturday was a very good day for the teams of Ballyclare Rugby Club as each one managed to win their respective league games. The 1st XV against a useful Queens 2nds in the Qualifying Conference league played possibly their best rugby so far and the “new faces” such as Gillan,Baird and Robinson all made a telling contribution in the 21-8 victory. Tony Turner`s Thirds had a 32-10 win away to Limavady2nds while the Fourths Minor league match against Ards 4ths was once again blown up early with the Clare 63-5 ahead. The Under 19 XV coached by Robin Byers got their opening league success at home to Coleraine in a close affair 23-20.
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Ballyclare 21 Queens 2nds 8—This Conference game was played on a wet Cloughan pitch at a fast pace but the conditions at times made handling difficult. An Early break by Lawther made ground but the students came back and ran the ball deep into the home 22. Then Jackson made a strong run only to see the final pass go forward. The visitors were off side but Morrow was just wide withe penalty and two minutes later missed again in tricky conditions. Good work by Coburn and Robinson kept the pressure on Queens and when the Students came forward they were halted by strong tackling by Baird and Gillan but they did force a penalty on the home 22 and slotted it over to lead 3-0. Then after a weak clearance by King , Lawther managed to kick to the opposite 22. After a strong run by Logan the visitors were penalised and this time Lawther took over the kicking duties and a well struck penalty made it 3-3 at half time.
In the second half the Clare began to dominate more up front and did not suffer so many turn overs but Queens had more of the early territory control forcing the home side to defend the exchanges. Lawther cleared well to put his side into a strong position and Weatherup made ground. Logan took the ball on and found Weatherup who sliced through the defence for a try which was converted by Lawther to go 10-3 ahead. Queens hit back but King cleared well and after a foul tackle from the Students Lawther kicked the penalty to increase the home lead. Following a breakout by Weatherup a well won lineout by Logan allowed Coburn to drive deep and the ball was moved wide for j.J.Baird to race in for the try of the match which was not converted and it moved the Clare into an 18-3 lead. At this stage a player from each side was sin binned for a minor altercation. Robinson made ground for the Clare and Queens were penalised to allow Lawther to slot the kick for a 21-3 lead. But the visitors finished strongly despite a try saving tackle by Morrow. They kept up the pressure to get a try on the left side with only a few minutes remaining to leave the final score 21-8. Overall this was a strong Clare performance with Logan,Coburn,Wylie,Robinson and McKinstry showing up in the pack while Jackson,Morrow,Gillan and Baird all had a good second half in the backs.
Team-G.King;G.weatherup,C.Gillan,J.Jackson,J.J.Baird ; N. Lawther,C.Morrow; A.Boyd,A.Wylie,M.Finlay;M.Crothers,G.McKinstry;P.Robinson,W.Logan (capt),C.Coburn.
BALLYCLARE THIRDS WIN WELL
The Clare Thirds captained by Tony Turner went to Limavady 2nds with a fairly good side and produced a winni ng performance.In the first half they dominated play and had tries by Gareth Byers and Ricky McAdam as the backs broke the home befence line on a number of occasions. One try was converted by Andrew Alexander who also kicked a penalty . The home side did manage a score in the corner from their pack but the Clare boys were 15-5 ahead at the interval.
In the second half the Thirds won enough ball to allow the backs to threaten the Limavady line and both Byers and McAdam scored further tries with Alexander kicking a conversion. Although Limavady also got a try back the visitors scored another good try through winger Mark Weatherup. This left the final score at 32-10 to the Clare side and according to skipper Turner there were good performances from man of the match Byers as well as Phil Moan in the pack but it was also a fine team performance.
FOURTHS WIN EASILY—The Clare Fourths are continuing to totally dominate their section of the Minor League and on Saturday for the third consecutive week had their game blown up fifteen minutes early being 63-5 ahead against Ards 4ths. This time they scored 10 tries and full back John Wasson kicked 5 conversions.
The tries were scored by Harry Gaston (2),Trevor Clarke,George Peel,Jonathan Barnett,John Wasson (2),Nial Lamont,Mark McAdam and Artie Campbell plus a penalty from Wasson.
UNDER 19 SUCCESS-The Clare Under 19 XV met Coleraine in a closely contested game at the Upper Cloughan and had to come from behind to get a narrow win 23-20. Coleraine started with a try before Chris Harvey cut the lead to 5-3 with an accurate penalty. Then Harvey went in for a try but the visitors hit back with a try of their own to make the score 10-8. Ballyclare regained the lead with a try from Lennon before Coleraine scored to lead 17-13 at half time. In the second half a try from Zac Robinson gave the Clare the lead only for the visitors to reply with a penalty. They led 20-18 until a kick from Ballyclare was adjudged to have made more ground than the visitors thought and close to the end Beasant went in for a try to take the lead at 23-20 and hold on for a very useful win.
Saturday Fixtures—1st XV v Larne (home); 2nd XV v Clogher Valley 2nds (away); 4th XV v Antrim (home); Under 19 XV T.B.A.
