Rainey and Ards both sent in reports for this one but, to the victors the spoils, we run with the Rainey report from James Barr. Thanks to Roy Lawton of Ards for the pictures.
Games between Rainey Old Boys and Ards have,over the years,usually been closely contested affairs.It was no different at Hatrick Park where Rainey,at one stage looking a good bet for a winning bonus point, hung on for an 18-14 victory which, at least, gives them bragging rights over their Ulster rivals for another year. Leading 13-0 ten minutes into the second half, they began to make life difficult for themselves and when scrum-half Paul was dismissed for reckless use of the boot after 67 minutes, the visitors started to smell an unlikely victory.Rainey had to make further switches as they gave their followers some anxious moments before referee O’Shea blew for full-time.
Rainey were without injury victims Martin,O’Kane and McCrea as they opened brightly in the sunshine. Lavery made a lovely break in midfield,only for his support to concede a stupid penalty at the ruck on the Ards’22’ and from a lineout,wing Campbell appeared in the centre,but,after a good run,his pass went to ground. Devlin pushed a 44yard shot at goal just wide as they continued to dictate,but acting captain Hawe had to look lively to cover back when Ards ran a quick penalty before kicking ahead.
Rainey finally made the breakthrough when a wave of attacks and a great piece of handling from second-row Stewart allowed them to use the numbers out wide and leave wing Devlin with the formality of opening the scoring. They continued to move the ball around in the ideal conditions and Mc Bride was released on the left where he made good ground before kicking ahead into the Ards’ 22′. But a promising field position was wasted with a forward pass in midfield, followed by dissent. Ards then began to threaten and broke clear down the left where a handling error let Rainey off the hook. They soon established another very promising position in the corner, but Rainey worked hard to hold them out and turned over ball to break into the visitors’ half.
Rainey then went right from a ruck and got nowhere when there was a clear overlap on the left and another good passage of play came to nothing when they conceded a penalty right in front of the Ards’ posts.Dawson,who worked well with back-row colleagues Hawe and Brennan throughout,again broke from a scrum to make good ground up the narrow side with his support taking play into the 22′.
Rainey made the ideal start to the second half by winning possession from the restart drop out and a Botha kick ahead and good chasing helped them to force a turnover which was followed by some good movement and handling. Centre Mc Bride,just home from Hong Kong where he played for an Overseas Old Boys side in a 10-a-side event during the annual Sevens Festival,worked a neat loop move with Devlin to go in unopposed. Devlin missed the relatively easy conversion, but after 49 minutes made no mistake from 48 yards to increase their lead to 13-0.
Rainey then began to make some unforced errors which were to prove costly.They made a mess of the restart to allow Ards to kick to the corner and surprisingly opted to use the tail of the lineout. But a wild throw over the top put them in trouble and Ards went through the phases before scrum-half Banford nipped in for a try which full-back Lawton converted. Rainey were clearly unsettled and made heavy weather of clearing their lines, but after 64 minutes Mc Bride got on the end of his audacious little chip over the Ards’ centres and evaded two tackles to score behind the posts.
Thoughts now turned to a fourth try and a bonus point,but the game was turned on its head three minutes later when referee O’Shea showed Paul the red card, presumably for the over zealous manner in which he went about extricating the ball from a ruck.
- Ards forwards show their delight for Stewart Paul’s try.
This was a very harsh decision in light of the very sporting manner in which the game was played. Ards opted for a scrum from which they drove forward to set up a try for veteran out-half Stewart Paul, Lawton adding the points. Rainey were reeling as they had to make switches and they now looked vulnerable as Ards sensed that they could snatch the winner.Rainey wisely chose to keep eight men in the scrum and eventually worked their way to the Ards’22’, but turned over ball and had to scramble back in desperation. Chances to put the ball behind the opposition were not taken, but Rainey held out for a deserved win which leaves them finishing in tenth place.
Ulster League points were also at stake here since their earlier fixture was a victim of the weather.
TEAM : R Paul, A Campbell, J Mc Bride, N Suiter, R Devlin, R Botha, S Paul, R Hill, S Sufferin, S Mc Dowell, C Lavery, P Stewart, C Brennan, D Dawson, S Hawe.
REPLACEMENTS : K Campton, N Lennox, K Irvine, C Donaghy, R Hall.
Ards:- J Millar, J Garrett, A Foster, J Dowey, K Heaslip, J Dawson, A Hassard, K McCombe, M Banford, S Paul, A Todd, S Young, T Devlin, M Lawton, C Agnew, J Wylie, C Piper, D Algie, T Ferguson, M Taylor
Other results in Division 3 : Banbridge 27-21 Navan, Barnhall 10-47 Queen’s, Connemara 13-23 Naas, Portadown 47-8 Co.Carlow, Sunday’s Well 32-14 Instonians, Suttonians 15-16 Midleton, Wanderers 21-23 Nenagh Ormond
