Larne Win In Titanic Battle Against Holywood
by Stephen Johnston
AMNEXDAY sponsored Larne 1st XV entertained Holywood on Sat at the Glynn in the last of their pool games of the Gordon West Cup.
There was a pre match function before the game kindly sponsored by Danske Bank.
There were two changes to the Larne team from the previous week. Johnny McKinty came in to the pack with Ian McIlheron coming in to the backline.
The Larne men hoped that there recent good form would continue as they wanted to make amends of the heavy defeat they suffered to Holywood at the start of the season.
The game kicked off in glorious conditions. It was evident from the onset that the game was going to be a physical contest. The thumping hits put in by both sides were colossal with both teams wanting to stamp their authority early on. The visitors scrum dominated early on putting the Larne forward pack under pressure.
The men in red stuck at it and continued to attack. Matthew Agnew was unlucky with an early penalty attempt which just fell short of the posts. However, they pinned Holywood in their half for the first 20 minutes.
The pressure continued to mount and Larne were awarded a penalty in front of the Holywood posts that Agnew slotted over. It was at this stage that Holywood spurred in to action and began to dominate play.
They clamped themselves in the Larne half for 15 minutes. As they dominated at scrum time they had Larne under extreme pressure with a few scrums going backwards. Larne were penalised numerous times and the referee warned of repeated infringements.
Holywood never opted for the kickable penalty option and chose to scrum. As they continued to attack they were held up over the Larne line twice through heroic defence most notably by I McIlheron and McKinty.
Larne were able to clear their lines when it looked as if Holywood were going to be awarded a penalty try at scrum time, the visiting tight head pop was penalised for boring in.
This was a real game changer as Holywood had thrown everything at Larne and came away with no points.
At half time Larne led 3-0.
With the game evenly poised the weather began to deteriorate and the conditions under foot softened. Larnes game plan was to keep their opponents pinned in their 22.
The Larne scrum began to tighten and contested well. At line out time Crampsey was winning secure ball and allowing quick ball for scrum half McIlheron. Outhalf McBride was beginning to look a real threat breaking the Holywood line on numerous occasions however was unfortunate not to have any support.
However, the young outhalf was next on the score sheet with a beautifully struck drop goal to put Larne 6-0 ahead.
The visitors showed glimpses of danger when they spread the ball wide however last ditch defence by the Larne backline saved the day.
Around the fringes of the rucks Jamison and McAlister were proving to be a real handful spoiling ball. McBride and Garrett used their kicking game effectively and pinned the Holywood back three deep in their half.
As Larne mounted an attack Holywood influential no 8 was penalised and sent to the bin. Agnew had a shot at goal with the penalty attempt however was unlucky.
Failure to clear the ball in to touch saw the ball drop in to Rhys Thomas hands. The rampaging winger set off in to the heart of visitors defence taking numerous men to bring him down.
As the ball spread wide good hands by Hunter and Rea put Jordan Burns under the posts for a score. Agnew converted.
As the game become more physical injuries began to mount. The scrums became uncontested when the Holywood prop left the field through injury.
As Holywood ran everything they could they were smashed back by a sea of red. As the conditions worsened the Larne men didn’t look like conceding and ran out victors 13-0.
A fantastic team performance from 1-15. A real test of metal at the end of the first half when they were under severe pressure and did not concede any points. The young players in the team really fronted up in defence, most notably hooker Ryan McAlister who put a man of the match performance in.
The result sees the Larne men winning their pool and securing a home tie in their quarter final. However, the result boosts the Larne mens momentum and surely gives them confidence when they play Holywood again in March in the league.
Larne Team 1-15: C Gibson, R McAllister, C Rea, M Crampsey, J McKinty, J McCluggage (Capt), G Jamison, E Hunter, R McIlheron, A McBride, R Thomas, I McIlheron, J Burns, M Agnew, R Garrett
Sat 23rd Nov, 2:30pm. Larne 38 – 3 Ballymoney
Another strong performance for Larne 3’s
by Stephen Johnston
On Saturday 23rd November Larne 3s played host to Ballymoney and won 38-3.
Unlike last week Larne managed to find some real, live backs to play this time round. Ballymoney arrived with a sizeable pack and the game promised to be a physical one. Sure enough, Ballymoney tried the brute force tactic, attacking with their forwards but the Larne backs and forwards alike were solid in defence and stopped them ever crossing the try line. Ballymoney instead settled for 3 points from a penalty to open the scoring.
With the wet conditions hampering both sides Larne became frustrated with themselves for gaining the upper hand, but captain D. Lough offered some calming words and Larne refocused. Prop A. Ferguson, taking inspiration from last week’s forwards found himself receiving the ball out on the wing and proceeded to float butterfly-like past the Ballymoney winger to sting them for 5 points under the posts. P. Andrews added the conversion sending the ball high into one of the surrounding trees.
Larne scored again before the break, P. Andrews sending a grubber kick through the tightest of gaps for G. Knox to chase. As the ball crossed the whitewash Ballymoney in desperation took Knox out before he could reach it and the referee awarded the penalty try to Larne and a yellow card to Ballymoney.
Larne entered half time leading 14-3.
The halftime talk showed Larne where they needed to focus to improve their game and every single player took it onboard. The second half started more brightly for the home side as they tackled anything in blue that moved. Ballymoney couldn’t seem to find any gap to exploit.
P. Andrews started the scoring, as an homage to Ferguson’s try in the first half he dummied the Ballymoney back line and stepped inside to score under the posts and add the conversion. No doubt Ballymoney had Freddie Mercury singing Under Pressure in their ears as Larne pushed forward again, forcing them to try and clear their lines only for Larne to charge down the kick. P. Andrews duly recovered the ball and scored in the corner but failed to add the conversion.
Larne scored again from deep in their own half. A loose ball from Ballymoney was set upon by the back line who kicked it through- P. Andrews and S. McAllister combined to show off their footballing skills taking them all the way to the Ballymoney line for wing-prop A. Ferguson to eventually crash over in the corner again for his second try. Andrews added the conversion to take his personal tally to 18 points.
Having seen some great rugby skill and some decent football skill, two wingers tried to demonstrate some amateur boxing skill but the referee called it to a halt almost immediately and play resumed with both sides riled up.
The final score of the game fell to G. Rennix, who having watched Andrews and Ferguson slipping through the opposition line, decided to follow suit and improve his version by starting from the halfway line and running in the try under the posts.
Larne finished the game victorious, winning 38-3.
Line-up: D. Lough, S. Smyth, A. Ferguson, M. Gilbert, S. McDowell, L. Cameron, J. Cole, C. McKinty, S. Marshall, P. Andrews, S. McAllister, G. Knox, C. Moore, N. Kelso, G. Rennix, J. McNee, G. Wright, B. Meikle
