BALLYCLARE MADE TO STRUGGLE BY GUTSY LARNE SIDE
Ballyclare 1st XV travelled the short distance to the Glynn on saturday as Qual.2 leaders to face bottom side and old rivals Larne. On the day that the home club was celebrating their centenary with their biggest crowd of the season Ballyclare failed to show the form of the previous week against Grosvenor and came away with a narrow 15-11 win so failed to get the expected bonus point. They had been forced to make four changes which on the day did not seem to help against Larne team which was well served by Garrett,Milliken,McKinty and Hunter.
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The visitors made a purposeful start forcing Milliken to clear and put his team into a good position. Ballyclare`s poor handling enabled Larne to press forward but full back Byers managed to counter attack effectively. But further Clare errors gave Larne the advantage and Milliken slotted over a penalty for a 3-0 lead. The Clare`s Lawther then kicked to the home 22 but a knock on in mid field spoiled a useful attacking move. But the Clare pack made ground well into Larne territory and hooker Wallace was well placed to go in for a try that Byers could not convert and edge 5-3 up. Larne hit back with a strong run by McKinty forcing Lawther to clear his lines. After making good progress the visitors were penalised at a ruck but Logan took play back into the Larne 22 but lacked support. Despite continuous errors in midfield Jackson retrieved the situation with a searing break from his own half to go in for a solo try which Byers converted for a 12-3 lead. Larne hit back as Ballyclare failed to deal with the restart kick and the veteran home full back Marshall got in at the corner to leave it all to play for at the break on 12-8 to the Clare.
The home side made the early running in the second half to force Byers to clear under pressure. They kept up this pressure to get a five metre scrum an area where they made the Clare eight struggle for a change.This led to a penalty which Milliken kicked to reduce the lead to 12-11. The Clare backs responded with a decent attacking move and a break by Lawther set up an opening but Loughlin failed to take a pass with the line beckoning.The same winger was under pressure as Larne countered and for the home team Garrett made a lot of ground up the left side . Ballyclare`s Mark Weatherup was binned for unfairly halting a home attacker. The visitors did break out to the opposite half but once more handling errors allowed Larne to counter and really Milliken could have scored . Ballyclare cleared this home attacking move and were awarded a penalty that was slotted over by Byers to give his side some breathing spsce at 15-11. The Clare pack at last got the measure of Larne in the set scrums and dominated this area in the closing minutes to grind out a narrow victory against very game opponents who did not look like a side without a win to date.Clare coach Bob Young will be hoping that most of his injured players will be available for a very hectic and vital december run of games. On Saturday there were wins for all the other front runners -Bangor,Enniskillen and Grosvenor in Qualifying 2.
Ballyclare -G.Byers;M.Weatherup,J,Jackson,D.Clarke,N.Loughlin;
N.Lawther,C.Morrow;A.Boyd,C.Wallace,C.McCartney;
R.Boyd,G.McKinstry;G.Weatherup,M.Rainey,W.Logan
CLARE SECONDS LOSE AT HOME
Ballyclare 2nds 7 Ballymoney 2nds 15
After the excellent away win last week at Clogher Valley it was unfortunate that Seconds coach Gareth Johnston had to make changes for a tricky home game with Ballymoney 2nds in Junior 1.The team started well and won a fair share of ball from both set and loose play.Ballymoney had wind advantage and tried to kick to make ground. Unfortunately handling errors from the home side mewant that they were unable to make use of strong field positions at times. Play overall was quite even and as there were few outright scoring chances to either side it was still 0-0 at half time.
After only seven minutes of the second half the `Money pack drove deep from a lineout and managed to get over for atry that was also converted to go 7-0 ahead. But the home side replied almost immediately by running the ball from well out and Reid went in for a score which was converted by Smith to level the scores. But after this Ballymoney began to dominate more in the loose and edged ahead 10-7 from a successful penalty. Again the Clare boys hit back and threatened the opposition line only for the visitors full back to steal possession and race the length of the field to score a fortunate try near the corner and put his team into a more comfortable 15-7 lead.The Seconds finished strongly and Moore was held up near the line but it was Ballymoney who just held on for the win. There were fine performances from Nigel Moore and Matt Irvine up front along with Ricky McAdam and Luke Baillie in the backs.
Ballyclare 4ths 46 Cookstown 5
The Clare Fourths, unbeaten last year are now promoted up to Junior 6 and after being unable to start in their first league game have now gone on to win all six of their following games. Last year Cookstown proved one of their few tough opponents in the Cup but sadly the Tyrone team has lost a hatful of vital players and this was the first time that they were able to fulfil an away fixture. On the day according to manager Joe Kelly and skipper Breen they always had too much power for a rather inexperienced Cookstown team and dominated totally.The tries came from flanker A. Breen,prop Darren Montgomery,Ian Holmes,Out half Ivor Baine,centre trevor Clarke,Centre gareth Smith and two from prop Stevie Crawford who keeps going well despite his age. There were three conversions from another of the ageing veterans john Wasson in this good win.
Youth Results -The three youngest Youth teams were all at home to Newry with the following results –Under 13 Xv won 36-7;Under 15 Xv won 17-15; Under 17 XV lost22-10. In the Under 19 league the Clare team was away to Dungannon and lost 27-12.
SATURDAYS FIXTURES -1st XV have no game this week end. 2nd Xv v Carrick 2nds (away); 3rd Xv v Harlequins 3rds (home)
