Randalstown 1st XV 48 Belfast High School 5
Having been well fed and entertained in the clubhouse prior to the match it was a sizeable home support, together with guests from High School and Dungannon, who lined the Simpson stand at Neillsbrook to view the main business of the afternoon.
On an day where water wings would not have looked out of place at times there were some nerves amongst the home support that the ‘Town team would be hampered to a greater degree than their opponents by the conditions underfoot, and these nerves were compounded when High School ran in the opening score shortly after the kick off courtesy of their right wing.
High school kept up the pressure and threatened the line again shortly afterwards, only stopped by a super tackle from full back Coulter. With the ball sticking fast in the muddy conditions the lines were not effectively cleared and only another robust tackle, from Goodrich this time, halted High School. The ball was turned over in that tackle and Ryan McGarry pounced and sprinted home from well inside his own half. The conversion was added by Daryl McGarry and ‘Town had their nose in front.
They now decided that the best place to play rugby was inside the opposition half and from a scrum near the 22 McWhirter picked up from the base and spotted a gap which he neatly jinked through.
Shortly before half time from a lineout just inside their own half Finlay found Henry and the ball was quickly back to Laverty who wisely kicked low up the park. Dan Wilson lost no time gathering the loose ball and powering over to widen the gap to 17 – 5.
High School were further hampered by the loss of a player injured and Randalstown courtesy of Ryan McGarry, who was set up by a great counter attack from full back Coulter, and assisted by brother Daryl, were a converted try and a penalty to the good shortly after the restart.
Daryl then crossed the line and converted his own try after the first of a series of scrums awarded to the home side. It was from another scrum that Laverty was able to pick up and burst over the line leaving a fairly straightforward conversion for McGarry.
The unfortunate High School were now reduced to 12 men as 2 more of their players left the field injured and Randalstown were able to stretch the visiting defence beyond breaking point. Blayne McGarry cut loose again with brother Ryan in support and he was able to cross relatively unhindered. Daryl slotted over the conversion to take ‘Town into what now looked like an unassailable lead.
Before play could continue further another High School player was injured so the ref finished events a little ahead of schedule.
This win keeps Randalstown well and truly in the title hunt and coach Stevenson was naturally very pleased with the afternoon shift. Despite the very heavy conditions underfoot the ‘Town back-line did put together some nice running rugby and Laverty kicked intelligently all afternoon to keep his team going forward. As is usually the case it was difficult to select a man of the match but this week Laverty got the nod for a very solid all round performance.
Young McWhirter deputising at scrum half in John O’Kane’s absence also had a fine game showing pace and awareness and the pack stuck to their task securing good possession all afternoon.
Team: Coulter, Goodrich, D McGarry, B McGarry, R McGarry, Laverty, McWhirter, Adair, Finlay, Foster (Capt), D Millar, Henry, Hume, J Millar, Wilson.
Randalstown 2nd XV 0 Dungannon 4th XV 14 (Forster Cup)
Randalstown 2nds took on a strong Dungannon 4s on the other pitch in the Forster cup and in atrocious conditions went down 14 – 0.
Fielding a strong side despite the absence of the normal front row, ‘Town fancied their chances of causing an upset but they soon found they were in for a ‘backs to the wall’ game as the Dungannon team, and particularly their pack got on top early.
The home side rarely got their hands on any worthwhile possession and as a result were pinned in their own half for the majority of the first period. There was however some heroic defending from the ‘Town men, in particular the back row of Ings, Harris and Goodrich, and they managed to prevent the visitors from crossing the line, limiting them to 3 penalties.
The second half continued with more of the same and the home side weren’t helped by the loss of a man to the sin bin for 10 minutes as the referee tired of players going off their feet in an attempt to slow down opposition ball. A series of quick penalties in favour of the visitors saw them crash over for a deserved try.
In the final quarter of the game ‘town eventually gained some territory and threatened the Dungannon line on a couple of occasions only to come up against a visiting defence that held strong and kept their line intact to progress to the next round.
Conditions didn’t allow for any flowing rugby and ‘Town came up against a stronger, well drilled unit in the Dungannon pack. It was a superb defensive display from the ‘Town men which held the visitors to a creditable 14 point margin and they should take heart from that.
Team: P McCann, Fleck, Johnston, Moon, Morriss, Turner, Maguire, T McCann, Sloane Loughlin, Hyndman(Capt), McConnon, Harris, Goodrich, Ings.
Randalstown Rugby Club would like to thank all those who supported the pre-match lunch and hope you had an enjoyable afternoon.
Next week both the 1st and 2nd XV entertain their Newry counterparts at Neillsbrook at 2.30 and as always all support is very welcome. The few remaining league games are must win for the 1st XV as they continue the quest for league supremacy and they are always appreciative of the support they receive.
