It was a good day at the office for all 3 senior Randalstown teams and also the Under 19s as they returned wins in the worst conditions they have had to endure so far this season.
The afternoon kicked off with a pre-match lunch and a welcome to our sponsors. The match ball was kindly sponsored by Neillsbrook Community Development group, while Kerr Insurance and Randalstown Pharmacies have taken advantage of the pitchside advertising opportunity. The club are keen to acknowledge this support and in turn members are urged to support our sponsors whenever possible.
Randalstown 1st XV 41 Limavady 8
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This result leaves Randalstown mid table in Qualifying 2 with a couple of games in hand. Ballyclare seem to be the current league pace setters but apart from that results to date suggest that the competition is evenly matched so it would have been a brave man to bet on the eventual outcome of this tie on Saturday afternoon.
‘Town started strongly picking up a poor kick off and making inroads into the visiting defence before Bailey hoisted a high ball putting them under further pressure and resulting in a penalty. The long range effort was narrowly missed.
An exchange of penalties followed, firstly with the visitors then using the opportunity to go deep into Randalstown territory. A further infringement by ‘Town gave away a scrum but the home pack were immense and pushed Limavady back several yards gaining possession and getting straight back up the field. Barron converted a penalty to give ‘Town a slender lead.
As the rain got heavier there were several fumbles in midfield until Limavady managed to secure possession and kick deep. A mix up between Barron and McGarry gave them an opportunity to gather the ball at close range and crash over for an unconverted try.
It was a short lived advantage as Randalstown broke straight up the middle from the restart and won a penalty on the 22. Barron was accurate again to retake the lead.
The Randalstown pack put in a powerful display pushing the visitors back several times and the endeavour was rewarded by a try with about half an hour on the clock.
Just after half time another penalty increased the ‘town lead to 14-5. In difficult conditions a further penalty apiece kept the scoreboard ticking over. Randalstown were continually making inroads into the visiting defence for scant reward but after a good period of possession James Millar was alert to a loose ball from a Limavady lineout at close range and he was able to crash over the line.
Not long after number 8 Chris Allen showed his power as he cut through to touch down. Barron added the extras. Almost immediately from the restart Goodrich burst through to touch down under the posts.
The final 15 minutes of the game was all Randalstown and they stretched the Limavady defence running from all over the park. The pressure was eventually rewarded with a converted try to seal the match with a bonus point at 41-8. To run in 5 tries in the conditions was a very pleasing effort by the team, and that fact that the forwards featured heavily on the score sheet was a fair reflection on the huge effort by the pack.
Captain Foster, playing his last game for the next few months as he undergoes surgery to repair an old ankle injury, was delighted to sign off with a win and it would be remiss not to acknowledge his personal contribution to the first XV over the last couple of seasons. Hopefully he will make a speedy recovery and be back in harness sooner rather than later.
Next Saturday the 1sts travel to Enniskillen in the league.
UUC 2nd XV 17 Randalstown 2nd XV 22
Randalstown 2s picked up 2 more points from their travels as they won against UUC 2s. In a game which, for the first half, was played in horrible conditions ‘Town were always in control although they did give a stubborn home side too many opportunities to keep themselves in the game.
After a good start ‘Town fell behind when they allowed UUC’s useful number 13 to run from halfway stepping through a number of tackle attempts. He then sent his winger away for an unconverted score. Randalstown dominated the remainder of the half without really threatening the UUC line. They were however putting the home side under enough pressure to cough up 5 penalty opportunities for Peter McCann, who duly converted them to give ‘Town a 15-5 lead at half time.
The front row of Adams, Loughlin and Conceicao were well on top in the scrum against two former colleagues in Scott and Karl Stevenson . The back row of Boyd, Ferry and Smith were all action in attack and defense while Hyndman and McConnon were carrying the ball well and breaking the defensive line at will.
The first 20 minutes of the second half saw a reversal in fortune for the visitors however. Despite still putting in an impressive defensive shift ‘Town were kicking away possession, giving the students ample ball to run back at them. A flurry of yellow cards saw the home side reduced to 14 men and Randalstown at one stage to 13 as Smith and Loughlin had a ten minute rest. It was during this period that UUC reduced the deficit with a converted try, having previously missed two kickable penalties.
Fully restored to 15 men ‘Town gradually took control with the forwards stamping their authority on the game and giving the back line some ball to work with. McGlade at 9 was always a threat, while Turner after struggling to hold onto the ball at the start efficiently fed his back line. Crawford, and in particular Thom were always making inroads into opposition territory and the back 3 of McGarry, Winter and McCann looked sharp in possession.
With 15 minutes left on the clock McGarry got the ball on the left wing after good work from his forwards and he scythed through the student defence to score. McCann kept up his 100% record from an acute angle as he added the extras.
As the clock counted down ‘Town looked the more likely to add to their total but it was former ‘Town man Scott Stevenson who had the final say squeezing over in the corner.
This was a deserved win for Randalstown but again they tended to make heavy weather of it at times, and should have run out more convincing winners.
Team: McCann Winter Crawford Thom R McGarry Turner C McGlade Adams Loughlin Conceicao Hyndman McConnan Ferry Boyd D Smith.
The seconds have no game next Saturday.
Randalstown 3rd XV 13 Ophir 2nd XV 5
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Randalstown entertained a strong Ophir XV at Neillsbrook and hopes were high for a win after recent promising performances. It was Ophir however who began brightly and the gale force wind propelled their pack deep into the Randalstown half and drew first blood with a try.
The ‘town’ lads tried to claw back into the game with Ryan’Silver Fox’Mc Auley calling the shots at outhalf, but a deluge of near Biblical proportions ensured stalemate around centre field much to the frustration of the supporters seeking whatever shelter they could find.
During this spell Ben Joyce excelled suggesting him to be something of a water sports specialist. At the flick of a switch the wind died and the sun appeared and new life was sparked into the Randalstown attack, David Frew releasing Scott Snow for the equalising try to leave the score tied at five apiece at half time.
In the second half one’ Silver Fox’ gave way to another as Adie johnston entered the fray and pressure told on the Ophir defence who began conceding penalties one of which was adeptly put away by Sean ‘Snowy’ McVeigh one of two Snowys on the park.
The town lads pushed to kill off the game and David Frew who had a great game at scrumhalf pounced on an Ophir mistake to seal a superb win 13-5
.Dave Harris with his high work rate, Shaun Mc Crory at fullback, Alan Spiers with yet another solid game at prop, and flanker Hugh Bishop all had great games contributing to this victory, but it has to go down as a great all round team performance.
Team A Spiers ,R Adair ,M McCullough, T McCloskey, M Hamilton, H Bishop, A Service, R McCauley, S Snow, S McVeigh, P Morriss, B Joyce, S McCrory ,A Johnston T Devlin D Harris D Frew.
The 3rd XV travel to CIYMS 4s next Saturday.
Randalstown Under 19s 20 Malone Under 19s 0
The Under 19s welcomed a very strong Malone team to Neillsbrook on Saturday afternoon. The home team kicked off playing away from the clubhouse and immediately set up camp inside the Malone half. Powerful drives by the ‘Town forwards and strong running by centres Orr and Gourley continually probed for weaknesses in the opposition defensive line. The first score came midway through the half when captain Joe Cross broke from the base of a scrum on the Malone 22 and outstripped the cover defence. Conor Murray converted from a tricky angle. The out half, who was having his best game of the season so far, added two further penalties to take ‘town into a 13-0 lead at half time.
The second half started with Malone enjoying large periods of possession, however they were met with resolute disciplined defending by the home side. Tackle of the day came from full back Josh McClelland who stopped a rampaging Malone forward (who was easily three times his size) and prevented a certain score.
As the game progressed Malone were disrupted at the base of their scrum and quick thinking by ‘Town allowed Murray to slide in for a second try which he duly converted.
With victory now guaranteed Randalstown were determined to keep a clean sheet in the final few minutes. The referee’s whistle signalled joyous celebrations for the lads and rightly so as this was the first victory for Randalstown over Malone at under 19 level. They hope that this signals their intent for the season in the under 19 league.
Coaches were reluctant to single out a man of the match as all 15 men performed heroically. The set piece is proving to be a real asset for the team and has been coupled by some excellent decision making in the backline. The 8,9, 10 axis of Cross, McSwiggan and Murray looked sharp, as did the disciplined Randalstown defence which, on the afternoon, never looked like being breached.
The Under 19s have a break next Saturday before travelling to Limavady on 9th November. All support will be very welcome.
