Last season Ballyclare Rugby Club`s Fourths wrote themselves into the history books with a truly recording making year which is very unlikely ever to be repeated certainly at club level and indeed even within Ulster rugby. The team which has been together in the Minor League for a few seasons were captained by Neil Reynolds and in 2011-12 showed more determination to achieve something tangible by welcoming back a few seasoned,experienced but aging players mainly in the forwards. The fact that they went through the year without losing a game was in itself tremendous even though other clubs and teams at that level were not particularly happy-but one can remember a team from a club not too far away playing with similar success but not moving to a higher level. The Clare 4ths played 20 matches in Minor League East and won 20-scoring 1014 points with only 104 conceded. Naturally they won the title and now have been promoted up to Junior 6. Unfortunately last season was very much a one-off as around half of the team will not be continuing as regular players in the incoming season due to various factors-mainly injury and also the aging process. But it was not just the winning of the league title that took the so called “Invincibles” into the record books- for the first ever time they brought the prestigious McCambley Cup back to the Cloughan following wins in a series of tricky ties against Armoy 25-10; Holders Ballymena 5ths 6-0;Cookstown 15-11 and a bye in the semi final before a nerve tangling final at Ravenhill against a strong Belfast Harlequins 26-22-a wonderful advertisement for the game at this or any level. Then in the closing days of a season that had to be extended the Fourths beat Armoy 21-5 in the semi final of the Ravenhill Cup (played by the winners of each Minor league section) and in the final played at Randalstown R.F.C. came outon top 23-15 against Cookstown. This brought the curtain down to a fantastic year-fittingly on the night of the club`s Annual Dinner.But the team didnot forget one man who is associated with Ballyclare R.F.C. as one of only two remaining founder members from away back in 1949. He is Jack “Ould Hand” Coulter who has not been in the best of health and has been in Hamilton House Nursing Home for well over a year. He was really pleased when the winning team arrived at the Home and handed him the two trophies-when in good health Jack never missed a game both at home and away.For the record the leading try scorer was wing or centre Trevor Clarke with a whopping total of 30 tries and the leading points as usual came from the indistructable full back John Wasson. Certainly no other team in Ulster last season could compare with this record and it is believed that there was not a side in the other Provinces with such a record-all that remains is for some local bard to put all of this into either song or poem!
TRAINING WELL UNDER WAY-The 1st Xv coach Bob Young has training well started-now into the third week at the Cloughan. Training is at 7-00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as saturdays for the 1st/2nd XV panel and so far there have been 25-28 out each night under new club captain prop Mo Finlay. There are a number of new faces but anyone who is interested in playing will be made welcome at the Cloughan on any of the training nights. Futher details will appear in next weeks edition.
No virus found in this message.
