University of Ulster Coleraine 2nd XV came to Limepark on Saturday as unbeaten league leaders and were keen to maintain their fine start to the season.
However it was Armoy who set the pace in the early stages with some aggressive attacking which kept the visitors pinned in their own 22. But for all Armoy’s pressure the UUC defence held firm and managed to find the tackles to stop Armoy breaching their goal line. For all Armoy’s dominance in the opening 10 minutes the plucky students did very well to hold the home team to only 1 penalty goal which was well taken by full back Ryan McKinley.UUC then started to assert some pressure of their own and it was evident to all watching that this seasons crop of students are better drilled and have greater ability than teams of the past few seasons.They moved the ball very swiftly through their back line out to the wingers who on a number of occasions could have been over in the corners had it not been for some great defensive play from Armoy and particularly winger Mark McConnaghie who came from nowhere on one UUC attack to make a try saving tackle in the corner when it looked like a certain score for the speedy UUC winger.
However in their desparation to keep the students out Armoy conceded far too many penalties and were punished when UUC converted a penalty to level the score.
Half time 3-3
Into the second half and it was more of the same with both sides having good phases of possesion but not being able to convert their posssion into points. Armoy were lucky on a few occassions after giving away penalties which the UUC kicker failed to covert. Eventually Armoy were to put points on the board and again they came from the boot of Ryan McKinley via the side of the post and over the bar from a penalty.
With 70 minutes gone and the score at 6-3 it looked like the game was going to come to a nail biting conclusion. However via a pice of good fortune and some good skill from Armoy wing forward Daniel Ramage the home side manged to put the match to bed. From a UUC attack just iside their own half the ball was spilled only to be met by the boot of the on rushing Daniel Ramage he pursued the ball and should some good footballing skills to keep it under control. With UUC defenders in pursuit he ball bounced favourably into the hand of the Armoy man who crashed over the line despite the attempts of the last ditch tackler.
Converted by Ryan McKinley.
Final Score Armoy 13 UUC II 3
We would also like to thank all of those who turned up on a wet and miserable afternoon to cheer us on. Your support means a great deal to our wee club.
Armoy captain Gareth Christie thanked all the team for their superb efforts and stressed that there are still areas that need working on and hoped for another great turn out at training on Wednesday.
Also all the club would like to wish Damien McClafferty a speedy recovery after he received 5 stitches to a nasty gash above his eye which he managed to aquire in the early stages of the match.
Armoy Team;
R McKinley,M Walker,J Cassley,G McConnaghie,M McConnaghie,S McMullan,N McKelvie,D McClafferty,A Bartlett,D Linton,K Greenlaw,B Taggart,D Ramage,G Christie,I Caldwell, Subs N Porterfield,C McCamphill,M Donald
