In what was billed as the top game of the day in Ulster, both teams lived up to the occasion, playing an open and exciting game of running rugby. The Hinch side took the field minus the services of Adam D’Arcy, Nevin Spence, Ian Whitten, Paddy McAllister and Willie Faloon who all played for Ulster the night before in the 6-16 defeat against Munster at Ravenhill. Jerry Cronin also played in that game coming off the bench he featured in the last 28 minutes winning his first Magners League cap.
Jerry was allowed to play a half in this top of the table clash so he took the field for the first 40 minutes, the County Down men playing towards the town and into a slight breeze in the first half. The Hinch signalled their intentions early on when they opted to go for the corner to attack the line rather than take the 3 points on offer. The Ballymena defence proved to be well organised and they managed to hold the visitors at bay. As the home side struggled to clear their line the Hinch pack took a couple of scrums against the head but again the scrambling Ballymena defence held firm.
In contrast Ballymena took the lead when, in their first serious attack, David O’Hara opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a penalty goal after the Hinch were caught offside in front of their posts.
The County Down men levelled the scores in the 17th minute following good work by Chris Stevenson who turned over the ball on halfway, then Hinch skipper Neil Hanna led the charge deep into the home 22 where Ballymena infringed in front of their posts. Ryan Bambry added the penalty to make it 3 points apiece.
The Hinch dominated first phase possession for the next ten minutes and should have scored on two occasions, the ball being knocked on in the final pass. During this period the visitors lost the services of their influential outhalf Ryan Bambry who had to retire with a hip injury, Harry McAleese replaced him at outhalf.
As the first half drew to a close Ballymena started to gain the upper hand in the loose and with just 3 minutes of normal time remaining Blane McIlroy took a quick tap penalty in the Hinch 22 and moving play wide with neat hands from Ballymena they created room for flanker Paul Pritchard to cross for an unconverted try in the right hand corner.
Hinch looked stunned by this score, and two minutes later they failed to react to a breakaway maul 5 metres out, appealing to the referee for an infringement play continued and prop James Carson was driven over beside the posts with the Hinch pack watching on. It was a soft score and O’Hara converted to give the home side a 15-3 lead.
Hinch had the final say at the end of the first half when another promising phase of play was brought to an abrupt halt by an illegal Ballymena hand in front of the posts, McAleese converting the penalty to leave the Hinch trailing at halftime 15-6.
As the second half got underway Jonny Simpson replaced Cronin at tight head. Now with the slight breeze at their backs the visitors declined to use this advantage opting to run everything in the second half denying the dangerous Ballymena back three any ball to counter attack with and eventually this tactic paid off. With the ball being moved at pace Ballymena eventually infringed at the breakdown in the 52nd minute. David Drake took a quick tap but he was deliberately impeded gaining the Hinch an extra 10 metres. The ball was kicked into the corner where the Hinch secured possession from the lineout. Play was moved through a number of phases across the pitch then when quick ball was moved left replacement prop Jonny Simpson did really well to smash his way over for the score. McAleese missed the conversion leaving the score 15-11.
The County Down men never gave up and with 8 minutes remaining they again attacked the Ballymena 22 winning a scrum in front of the posts 5 metres out. The home pack had been under pressure all afternoon and the Hinch eight knew they had the upper hand and attacked the line. Ballymena deliberately collapsed as they were sent into reverse and after the third penalty infringement referee Eanna O’Dowd awarded a penalty try which was converted by McAleese to give the Hinch the lead 15-18.
In a power packed final few minutes both teams threw the ball around but this time McAleese put his boot to ball with a couple of beautifully judged kicks into the corner to keep the Braid men playing the rugby deep within their half of the field and the Hinch side managed to hang on the claim the vital 4 AIL points, they remain unbeaten and stay top of the Division 2.
This weekend another massive challenge waits with the Hinch travelling to Judges Road to play the inform City of Derry in the Semi Final of the First Trust Ulster Senior Cup. This will be another real test for Derek Suffern and Charlie McAleese’s men, the Derry men have won all their Ulster League fixtures with ease so far with the notable scalp of Dungannon on the way. They like to run the ball and have racked up a high try tally thus far, it is certain to be another intriguing contest.
Ballymena
15 Roger McBurney, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Jonny Shiels, 12 Ali Fraser, 11 David O’Hara, 10 Martin Irwin, 9 Blane McIlroy, 8 Ross Hackney, 7 Paul Pritchard, 6 Andrew Kerr, 5 David Whann, 4 Darrell O’Kane (C), 3 Andrew Warwick, 2 James Taggart, 1 James Carson
Replacements: 16 Adrian Kirkpatrick, 17 Chris Allen, 18 Chris Smith, 19 Willie McKay, 20 John Nicholl
Ballynahinch
15 Jonny Cullen, 14 Robin Harte, 13 Stuart Morrow, 12 James Thompson, 11 Aaron Ferris, 10Ryan Bambry, 9 David Drake, 8 Michael Graham, 7 Josh Donaldson, 6 Jonny Graham, 5 James Simpson, 4 Chris Napier, 3 Jerry Cronin, 2 Neil Hanna (C), 1 Chris Stevenson.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Nelson, 17 Niall McBriar, 18 Gary Crowe, 19 Harry McAleese, 20 Jonny Simpson
