In cold windy conditions a young Ballymoney 2nd XV beat Carrick 2nd XV 15 v 0 in the first round of the Crawford Cup.
Carrick Pitch was in poor condition with the recent weather and the muddy surface was always going to mean the game would be a batter of the forwards. The game started off fairly even with Carrick playing with the wind advantage kicking the ball deep. However the Ballymoney back 3 of Sandy McAuley, Nevin and Dunlop returned the ball well.
Ballymoney knew they needed to keep the ball in the hands as kicking was difficult in the wind. The Scrum half and Outhalf partnership of Nevin and Campbell controlled the game well. The forwards which include the Bellingham treble of Captain John and wing forwards Garvin and James were carrying the ball well.
The rucks were competed for at every opportunity and the young Toon forwards were maybe guilty of being over eager and gave away a few silly penalties. However Carrick kick at goal went wide and when Ballymoney had a penalty they keep it in the hands and moved the Carrick team about. The first points came when the Toon number 8 stopped a gap at a ruck. His break was supported by Garvin Bellingham and No5 Michael Allen. The pass to Allen beat the last defender and although the second row was persuaded the raced in below the posts from 30metres out. Outhalf Campbell added the kick to give Ballymoney a 0-7 lead.
The rest of the half saw Ballymoney defend well limiting the larger Carrick forward to make ground. This resulted in no clear scoring but penalties at the breakdown let them have easy position, with resulted in Ballymoney having a forward sent to the bin with 30minutes played. However Carrick could not take advantage and the half ended 0-7 to the visitors.
Now back to full strength and with the win at their backs the Toon 2nd’s pilled the pressure onto the Carrick fullback and wings. Excellent kicks from the Nevin brothers gave Ballymoney good field position. On two occasions Ballymoney were held up over the line from quickly taken penalties. From a scrum the back line showed what they could do and from set move Chris Clarke came close to scoring. Playing against the win Carrick found it hard to clear their lines and with penalties inside halfway Campbell had a shoot at posts. On his 3rd attempt he was successful and after 20minutes Ballymoney lead 0-10.
Although a small lead Ballymoney never now looked in danger of conceding two scores. The game was affected ended when the Toon back row combined to see an off load go into the arms of Man of the Match James Bellingham. His angle and pace saw in glide through the Carrick defence and he scored just wide of the posts. The conversion went wide but with a 0-15 lead and only 10mintes left Ballymoney showed good experience to play out the match in the Carrick 22
The 3rds also continued their good run of form with another win away on road to Academy 2’s and the 4th XV completed a good day for the club when John Waide scored the try that set them on their way to another league win this time against CIYMS 3’s.
4th XV record another league win
19 December 2011
On Saturday past Ballymoney travelled to Belfast to play CIYMS seconds in the league. On a very cold day and poor playing surface the fourths struggled to find their devastating form of earlier in the season. Indeed it was not until late in the second half that they finally finished off the CIYMS challenge with two late scores.
It was three weeks since the fourths last game and lack of match time was clearly evident with a number of mistakes hindering any flow to the game in the opening period. The only highlight to the first half was a Ballymoney try. A good line out win was quickly fed out the backs. After a couple of phases and good fast ball, a maul was formed by the Ballymoney pack and they powered their way over the try line from just outside the opponents 22. John Wade adding to his tally for the season, with the touch down and Bjorn O’Brien, converting.
Ballymoney scored two further tries in the second half one from Ian Johnston and a final score from James Reid after a very unselfish pass from Wallace Gregg. The final score line maybe slightly flattering for Ballymoney, however in fairness CIYMS never threaten the strong Ballymoney defence line.
This was another good performance from the fourths who had to work hard against a tough side with would not allow the Ballymoney team to play their normal attacking open rugby. Darren Smyth had a good game at out half and looked dangerous when he ran the ball, however everyone agreed with his own nomination and gave the modest Wallace Gregg the man of the match award.
With no game next Saturday the fourths, now enter 2012 sitting proudly on top of the league.
The 5th XV was cancelled on Saturday and the 1st XV had no fixture.
The next match see’s the 1st XV play Coleraine under floodlights this Thursday 22 Dec at 7.30pm Kickoff. Before the main match Ballymoney U13 will also play Coleraine U13 so come down early and give your support.
Congratulations to Irwin and Carson
Ballymoney RFC would like to congratulate neighbours Ballymena for winning the Senior Cup Final 17-11 against Bannbridge last Wednesday night. Special mention goes to former Ballymoney Players James Carson and Martin Irwin who played a large part in the victory.
