Ards Ladies won their first game in the Ards colours on Saturday 27th Sept, when they beat Belfast Harlequins Ladies 15 – 5 at a 7s Tournament in Belfast.
The girls came 3rd overall and considering 5 of the squad had never actually played before, this was a truly amazing achievement.
Well done to everybody involved on the day and here’s to more of the same.
The ladies are always looking for new recruits, so if you fancy a run out, just grab your boots and come along to training on Mondays at 7pm.
For more information, please contact Ian Caughey, or Tim McCandless.
CLICK HERE For Pictures of the Ladies in action –
CLICK HERE FOR III XV v Ballymena In Pictures
Ballymena 74 v 3 Ards
ARDS OUTGUNNED BY BRAIDMEN
Last Saturday Ards travelled to Ballymena for their second Ulster Senior League match against the Braidmen. As the scoreline suggests, in terms of points this was a one sided affair, but there were positives for the young and somewhat understrength Ards side to take out of the game. Missing a number of key players Ards battled all the way to the final whistle, but ultimately could not deal with a very strong Ballymena team featuring a large number of Acadamy and Ulster Ravens players.
The Ardsmen will learn valuable lessons from this encounter not least of which is to reduce the number of errors early in the game which hand the initiative to the opposition. Ballymena were at their clinical best, with considerable pace and power in their backline and took every opportunity that came their way.
The Ards cause was not helped by an early injury to Alan Crawford, who was replaced by Mark McClean, and later in the half Jonny Wylie had to leave the field too with Andrew Foster taking his place in the front row. Both replacements performed admirably, having already played a full match for the seconds. Paul Cox was successful with a penalty for Ards in the 24th minute, but this was the only reward for the team’s endevours as Ballymena moved the ball wide, stretching the Ards defence frequently and scoring tries out wide. Jamie Stinson, who had an excellent game with his backrow partners of Minis and Harrison, was harshly yellow carded in the 39th minute, with the referree having failed to see the off the ball activities of a Ballymena player, leaving Ards to face the first 9 minutes of the second half with 14 men.
Ballymena took advantage of their extra numbers to score two further converted tries ealy in the second half. Whilst the game was over as a contest Ards did not let their heads drop and the forwards in particular deserve credit for their refusal to lie down. The Ards scummaging throughout the game more than held it’s own and when the pack retained the ball Ards were able to enjoy periods of territorial advantage. Ballymena continued to exploit any defensive weakness however and their ability to pass out of the tackle and come onto the ball at pace was notewothy. Further tries were run in as the half progressed and the home side thoroughly deserved this comprehensive victory.
The Ards squad for the match was; Wylie, Piper, McMenamin, Dowey, Calvert, Stinson, Minis, Harrison, Agnew, Cox, Crawford Young ( Capt ) Millar, Wilson, Banford, Foster, Chivers, Dawson,
McClean, Robinson.
This Saturday Ards return to the Orchard County to play Armagh in the first round of the Senior Cup.
I XV playing Armagh in senior
3rds playing away in the league to Clogher Valley
Good luck to all our teams on Saturday, please support them where you can.
