Hinch 2s Take 2nd XV Title
The 2’s went into the game against second place Ballymena knowing that a win would see them secure the 2nd XV League Title; the fixture between these sides earlier in the year saw the Braidmen run out convincing winners, so Hinch knew they face a tough task. It was a youthful Hinch side that took the pitch with 8 players who where 20 or younger.
Hinch started brightly and early pressure saw Ballymena concede an early penalty, unfortunately McBriar’s long range attempt drifted wide. He soon made amends when he grabbed the first try of the game, a quick tap penalty by Ben McMullan caught the Ballymena defence off guard and he made 30m before passing to Greer who stepped the full back and managed to offload to McBriar who strolled in under the posts making the conversion a formality.
Hinch began to play with real confidence and ran the ball back at every opportunity with Greer making a number of big carries through the middle of the Ballymena defence and Grattan and Saunders causing problems out wide. Ballymena began to give penalties away and McBriar took advantage to put Hinch 10-0 ahead. The restart saw Hinch pinned back in their 22 but great hands saw the 2’s take advantage of an overlap moving play to near the half way line, when the ball was spun wide the Ballymena out half managed to intercept a pass and sprint in under the posts, he converted the try to leave the score 10-7.
Ballymena began to come into the game more and made a number of clean line breaks through the Hinch defence but great cover defence from Ben McMullan and Connor Saunders managed to keep the visitors out., whilst great turnover’s from Greer and Hamilton allowed McBriar to clear his lines and ease the pressure. McBriar added another penalty to push Hinch 13-7 ahead before on 20 minutes Hinch got their 2nd try of the match when a great line from Josh Donaldson created a hole in the Ballymena defence and McBriar passed the ball to Zack McCall who ran in for his first try in senior rugby, McBriar made no mistake from in front of the posts to leave the score at half time 20-7.
The second half saw Ballynahinch play some of their best rugby of the season and got on the score sheet early in the second half when Saunders beat a number of defenders and made a superb break, he was caught by the cover defence but he offloaded to Arneill who in turn managed to free his hands in contact and get the ball away for Jordan McMullan to pick up and dive over the line, McBriar struck an excellent conversion to put the 2’s 27-7 up. Ten minutes into the half Josh Donaldson injured his knee and had to leave the field meaning the 2’s had to see out the final 30 minutes with 14 men.
Ballymena made use of the extra man and began to come back into the game, great defence by Saunders led to Jordan McMullan making a key turn over and ease the pressure. Ballymena began to attack from deep and put their right wing away in space but Heatley managed to get across and make a superb tackle to bundle the player into touch. The 2’s started to get good go forward ball with Orr and Hamilton carrying well in midfield, this led to McMullan grabbing his second with McBriar once again adding the extras to put Hinch 34-7 up. Hinch began to pin Ballymena back and managed the game well with great kicking from McBriar, Heatley and Saunders ensuring the game was played in the Ballymena 22. Ballymena lost a player to injury which meant both sides were now down to 14 players.
Connor Saunders had an increasing influence on the game and he got the next try when McBriar produced a delicate chip over the onrushing defensive line and the ball sat up for Saunders to dive on the ball and grab the try, unfortunately McBriar was unsuccessful with the conversion. Ballymena then lost their second row to injury and forced them down to 13 men.
The scoring wasn’t finished yet as a great line break by Zack McCall saw him step the full back and go in to the left of the posts, McBriar made sure of the conversion to leave Hinch 46-7 winners and 2nd XV League winners.
This was a superb performance by the 2’s and it was nice to end a good season with some silverware. They showed themselves to be clinical in attack and their work rate in defence laid the foundations for a great result. We wish both Ballymena players that left the field injured a speedy recovery.
This has been a good year for the 2’s, they have played an expansive and enjoyable brand of rugby and a number of young players have proven they have the ability to go on and have successful 1st XV careers at the club. The side has developed well throughout the year and their attitude and commitment has been superb and securing the 2nd XV title was just reward for all the players efforts and hard work throughout the last 9 and a half months.
Final Score: Ballynahinch 46 – Ballymena 7
Team: C. Saunders, J. Grattan, M. Arneill, D. Harris, J. Heatley, J. McBriar, B. McMullan, Z. McCall, J. Donaldson, J. McMullan, R, Greer, M. McKeown, S. Orr, M. Nelson, K. Hamilton.
