A squad of 10 players from Randalstown blew the cobwebs off with their first piece of contact rugby at the traditional season opener – the Ophir 7s. Played this year at the valley playing fields, the players were glad to be playing in slightly cooler temperatures than originally predicted in the 12 minute games.
The opening encounter turned out to be a fairly comfortable romp against Academy, whose players had obviously forgotten to pack their water bottles and instead raided the local off-licence for some light refreshments. ‘Town ran out easy winners by 7 tries to 1, with scores from Morriss, Bailey, Turner and Smith.
The second match saw ‘town leak 4 first half tries against Ards, with only a fine solo effort from David Frew in response. After the turn around ‘Town were more competitive and Smith and Morriss crossed the line to pull them back into the game. Ards however held out and fnished the game with another score to win by 5 tries to 3.
Randalstown then faced a well organised Dungannon outfit and despite a spirited first half performance the Neillsbrook men were soundly beaten by 6 tries to nil.
The final group game was against local rivals Antrim and was not really a spectacle for lovers of free flowing 7s rugby. A feisty encounter saw both sides looking for contact rather than space, and a flurry of cards resulted in reduced numbers on both sides for periods of the encounter. For the record ‘Town ran out winners by 4 tries to 1. Turner and Fleck both touched down and Bailey helped himself to another brace.
Despite not reaching the final stages the young Randalstown side showed some good speed and fitness and managed to avoid any serious injuries. This set the players up nicely for a couple of warm up games prior to the Randalstown 15 a side Tournament which will take place on 25th August, kicking off at 1 pm sharp.
Bailey, Turner, Paine and Smith all caught the eye with their performances, some in their first senior outings, while Frew, returning to rugby after some years, showed good hands and a useful turn of pace, all of which augers well for the forthcoming season.
Randalstown Squad: D Smith M Paine I Hume S Adams M Savage M Turner R Bailey P Morriss W Fleck D Frew.
