Yellow Fever Hits 2’s Cup Run
John Dickson report and pictures from Stevenson Park.
Ballynahinch 2’s went into this game as firm favourites having defeated Gannon in their previous meetings this season. It was a strong Hinch side that took to the field with the welcome return to action for Adam Craig at fullback, and Ulster U19 hooker Logan McCallum making his first appearance for the club in adult rugby. James Simpson partnered John Gunson in the second row with David Harris and Jonny Coen continuing their partnership in the midfield.
It was a bitterly cold afternoon at Stevenson Park, the pitch was in good condition and with little wind to bother the teams the County Down men kicked off playing towards the road. Hinch started well, running the ball they began to make good ground into the Gannon half. In the 5th minute they squandered a great chance to score when Adam Craig burst clear down the right wing passing outside to James Simpson in close support. As Simpson headed into the home 22 he had Mark McCormick on his outside and just the fullback Neil Patterson to beat. It was a simple 2 v 1 situation but instead of using the advantage, Simpson tried to run over Patterson but the Gannon man put is a tremendous tackle to empty the Hinch man and prevent a certain try.
The Hinch kept the pressure on the home side and when James McBriar missed a simple penalty in the 16th minute you just began to wonder was this going to be the Hinch’s day.
Richard Orr was next to go close in the 19th minute after he took a neat pop pass from John Gunson in front of the Gannon posts and headed for the line only to be stopped by a last gasp tackle from Gannon winger Anas Smaali and he fell just inches short of the whitewash.
McBriar finally put some points on the board when he converted a penalty goal in the 24th minute after referee Mark Patton pinged Gannon for holding onto the ball on the ground.
Gannon skipper Scott Browne missed an opportunity to tie the scores in the 28th minute after McBriar had infringed but the Gannon out half pushed his effort wide of the posts. However, he made amends in the 35th minute when he threw a beautiful pass to put fullback Neil Patterson who always looked dangerous when he came into the line. The Gannon fullback made good ground before passing outside to his winger Anas Smaali who sprinted in for the opening try. Browne added the extras to take the home side into the lead 7-3 against the run of play.
It was important for the Hinch to get back into the game immediately and in the 38th minute they quickly took play deep into the Gannon 22 where they won a penalty. Instead of going for the posts the ball was kicked into the corner to set up a catch and drive. Gannon managed to hold out the first Hinch surge but after a series of pick and drives Hinch second row John Gunson smashed his way over just left of the posts.
McBriar failed to convert; he didn’t take the ball back far enough from the line, and was too slow with his run up, allowing Smaali to charge his kick down, so the teams turned round at halftime, the County Down men just leading by a single point 7-8.
When the second half got underway Garvin Morton’s men made the perfect start when John Gunson raced over in the left hand corner for his second try of the afternoon with just one minute played. McBriar failed to convert leaving the Hinch with a narrow 7-13 lead.
McBriar hadn’t brought his kicking boots with him and he missed another kickable penalty in the 51st minute then things looked to have swung in favour of the visitors in the 53rd minute when the referee sent Gannon second row Declan Treanor to the bench for 10 minutes after he was caught slowing play down at a ruck.
Now with an extra man advantage the Hinch pushed the home side into their 22, but the game took a dramatic twist a minute later when John Gunson was yellow carded after he was involved in a dust up with Gannon replacement Oisin Hennessey.
Two minutes later the Hinch were reduced to 13 men when the referee brandished the yellow card again. David Harris was amazed when he saw the card, he had tackled Ethan Allen in the midfield, and while on his feet had tried to wrestle the ball from the Gannon man who was clearly holding on. It was a harsh decision but worse was to follow. John Gunson had no sooner returned to the field when the referee flashed the yellow card for the fourth time. Joshua Donaldson was the victim on this occasion, in a repeat of the Harris incident, Donaldson had tackled his man stayed on his feet, and tried to win the ball being held on the ground.
It was disappointing to see great individual skills and play being penalized in this way, but the Hinch had to get on with it, one down to 14 men for the next 10 minutes. Gannon never looked like scoring by as the Hinch struggled to cover the open spaces they were caught off side in the 70th minute and Browne converted to close the score to 10-13.
Momentum was now swinging in the favour of the home side as they began to sense an upset could be on the cards. The Gannon pack stepped up a gear and started to threaten the Hinch line for the first time. The visitors looked to be struggling and when they strayed off side in front of their posts in the 74th minute Browne slotted the penalty to tie the score at 13 points apiece.
Gannon II v Hinch II Pictures.
From the restart McBriar kicked deep into the Gannon 22, but the ball was not caught cleanly by Timmy Smith and he knocked it forward a couple of metres. A retreating Gannon forward instinctively picked the ball up from an off side position but the referee failed to apply the law correctly and awarded the Hinch a scrum on the edge of the Gannon 22 and not the penalty.
As the game entered the final minutes Gannon took play back into the Hinch half. The home side set up a number of well controlled drives and then Browne delivered the killer blow when he dropped a goal to clinch a dramatic victory.
This result was very disappointing; there will be no Easter Monday trip to Ravenhill for the Hinch this season. The 2’s know this was a game they should have won, they were clear favorites, they had enough ball to win it twice over and although the referee did make a few mistakes during the game, the Hinch have only themselves to blame as they contrived to hand victory to Gannon on a plate.
