A very long season came to an end on Saturday for Ballyclare Rugby Club 4th XV with yet another victory at the grounds of Randalstown R.F.C.-a rather strange venue for the final of the Ravenhill Cup which is played for by the winners of the four Ulster Minor Leagues. In the semi finals Ballyclare 4ths had beaten Armoy and Cookstown had beaten Ballymena 5ths so Saturday`s final was Ballyclare 4ths v Cookstown and the Clare veterans came out as 23-15 winners after a hard fought tussle. This meant that the Ballyclare team remained unbeaten all year with 27 victories in cup and league to do an amazing treble-the Minor East 2 league title,McCambley Cup and the Ravenhill Cup. At club level this has to be a new record and one wonders if it is also a record at Ulster level ?
CLICK HERE for action shots 100+ courtesy of Gleno Photo
It is particularly noteworthy that the trophy won by the 4th Xv on Saturday was the very first Ulster Branch Cup collected by a Ballyclare team -away back in 1969 the 3A XV led by Willie Harson was successful in the final-at that time it was known as the Fourth Division trophy and one of the winning team members was Davy Logan whose son Bruce was on saturday`s victorious side very much a veteran !In fact a good number of the present 4th s team are well past the 40 mark and may consider this great year to be their swansong-hopefully not. Many of them have been involved in renowned Clare sides from the past and if any boots are to be decommissioned this may be the time following a most memorable season.The 4ths have had the excellent former Ireland and British Lions forward Ronnie Lamont as their mentor,coach and adviser over the past seasons and after the win on Saturday he made the decision to finally complete no less than forty years at the Clare club- he was the first coach who helped to build the foundations for the club`s success from the early seventies. Ronnie`s unstinting work at the club was recognised in 1992 when he was elected as a Life Member of Ballyclare R.F.C. He has been a wonderful supporter of Clare rugby on and off the field at all levels for all those decades and his son Nial is a past 1st XV captain and was a key centre for the Fourths in the past amazing season.
BALLYCLARE 4THS 23 COOKSTOWN 1STS 15
The final at Randalstown was played on a firm surface in good weather conditions and an early surge by Gaston took the Clare well into the opposite half but Cookstown countered to force Wasson to clear. Out half Artie Campbell was injured so John McDonald replaced him and soon had his back line moving.Again Wasson cleared following another Cookstown attack but play was held up for an injury to Reynolds.Good work from McDonald forced the Tyrone men off side and the reliable Wasson slotted over the kick to go 3-0 ahead. Two minutes later Cookstown were again penalised for an intentional knock on and Wasson gave his team a 6-0 lead with a well struck penalty. The Clare scrum was very strong and lineouts were evenly contested though following attacking play Cookstown were given a penalty which Paul O`Neill kicked to cut the lead to 6-3. Then a tackle by Reynolds halted another attack but the `Town kicked deep and when the Clare were penalised at a ruck O`Neill slotted over another penalty to level the score. Immediately Ballyclare were penalised but though O`Neill was wide his team took a 9-6 lead as fly half Ciaran Currie put over a drop goal. The Clare boys responded with a good back movement started by scrum half Watson and ended with winger Clarke going in at the corner ,conversion just wide so it was 11-9 at the interval after a very closely contested half.
An early penalty to the Tyrone team in the second half for off side enabled O`Neill to give his side a 12-11 lead in whwt had become an absorbing affair.For the Clare McDonald had a drop goal attempt go well wide but asuperb break from half way by Wasson ended with the irrerepressible Gaston driving over on the right corner just as he had done the previous week in the McCambley Cup final at Ravenhill and though Wasson was agonisingly close with the touchline conversion effort Ballyclare now had a deserved 16-12 lead. But the Town hit back as McDonald had a kick charged down inside his own 22 and only strong Clare tackling prevented theopposition from breaching their line with Lamont,Gaston,Logan and Montgomery all conspicuous.Watson eventually relieved this period of pressure and when Cookstown were penalised at a lkineout Wasson was just wide with the kick. Another attacking drive by the Tyrone pack looked ominous as Lamont was injured and replaced by McCartney. Further pressure by the Cookstown backs was not rewarded but the Clare were deemed to be off side and again O`Neill slotted over the kick to narrow the lead to 16-15. But they now had their out half man in the sin bin and Gaston broke away in midfield with the Clare backs moving the ball at pace for full back Wasson to get in at the right corner for his team`s third try. To compound the issue he converted his own try from close to the touch line and Ballyclare had a vital 23-15 lead. Wason was just wide with another penalty and once more the Tyrone side countered as Clare prop Moore was sin binned. But the East Antrim team held out for a victory in another tightly contested final just like at Ravenhill the previous week. The trophy was presented by David Anderson representing the Ulster Branch to Ballyclare`s captain Neil Reynolds and the celebrations began for the second time in just over a week. There was a nice touch when the team returned to Ballyclare-a group of the senior players plus skipper Reynolds took both the Ravenhill and McCambley cups to Hamilton House Nursing Home to show them to Ballyclare founder member Jackie “Oul Hand” Coulter who has been a patient there for the past year-a gesture which he appreciated .
Ballyclare 4ths (The Legends)-John Wasson;Neil Reynolds,Nial Lamont (Gareth McCartney),Stuart Barnett,Trevor Clarke(Gareth Smyth);Artie Campbell(John McDonald),Cavan Watson;Terry Moore,Jonny Barnett,Darren Montgomery;Trevor Fletcher,Steven Wright;Harry Gaston,Bruce Logan,Lyle Andrew (Noel Smith),(Stevie Crawford)
