Randalstown 1st XV 6 Larne 1st XV 3
Randalstown edged home 6-3 against Larne in a tense relegation play off and confirmed a continued spot in Qualifying 2 for next season on Saturday afternoon at Ballymena Rugby Club. Originally scheduled to be played at Ballyclare, the game had to be switched to Ballymena only a couple of hours before kick off as the Ballyclare pitches fell victim to the weather. The conditions at Ballymena were also poor and it was a dour battle with few scoring opportunities as both sides struggled to string much creative rugby together. Nevertheless it was watched intently by a sizeable crowd on both touchlines, a reflection of the importance of the fixture for both sides.
‘Town got off to the stronger start and opened the scoring 10 minutes in with a John O’Kane penalty after they had spurned a couple of earlier opportunities.
Larne were then reduced to 14 men following an injury to their wing forward, which hopefully isn’t too serious. Despite this they managed to level the scores with a successful penalty. Randalstown then attempted to exploit the numerical advantage and were awarded another penalty straight away after Larne killed the ball. O’Kane again converted and the ‘Town men had the slenderest of leads going into half time.
The second half started with Larne having the bulk of possession, but never really threatening the ‘Town line. With about an hour played Randalstown enjoyed their best spell of pressure. Craig Coulter, who had a great game at full back despite the conditions, was the instigator of the move which swept ‘Town from their own 22 up to the Larne line where they remained camped for a good few minutes. The Larne defence however held firm as a number of Randalstown forwards went agonisingly close.
David Goodrich was harshly sin-binned for a tackle and with both sides now reduced to 14 men Larne took advantage and got back on top. Again they were unable to make any significant break through. A penalty chance went begging with 5 minutes remaining and the ‘Town support let out a collective sigh of relief. Willing the clock to tick faster at this stage they had to withstand a further nerve wracking moment when the final play of the match was another penalty to Larne in a kickable position. Again the attempt dropped short and the welcome sound of the final whistle saw Randalstown run out winners.
Randalstown 1st XV have had one of those seasons where, were it not for bad luck they would have had no luck at all, or so it seemed at times with an ever lengthening injury list wreaking havoc with team selection and establishment of any continuity. That coupled with a few very marginal results and decisions saw Randalstown in the position of having to face this relegation play off. On the back of that this was a superb performance from the ‘Town 15, maybe not one of flair, but certainly of determination and spirit. Without a game since the middle of March to step back into competition for such a vital game, and in such atrocious conditions demonstrates the spirit in the squad, especially 4 players who were coming back from lengthy injury breaks. Liam Hurrell, John O’Kane, Steven Johnston and Daryl McGarry, all now recovered, slotted back in and put in sterling performances. The whole team was a credit to the coaching team of Mike Stevenson and Alistair Strange who will no doubt enjoy a well earned rest for a few weeks.
Randalstown 2nd XV 73 Newry 2nd XV 0
Randalstown 2nds rounded off their season the previous Saturday with a 73 point rout against Newry at Neillsbrook. It took only 4 minutes for the first score from Richie Fowler, created by David Smith, and it was Smith who added a second try shortly after. Straight from the kick off Crawford ran in try number 3 from the half way line. Four further scores were recorded before half time, 2 from Scott Snow and one apiece from Michael Smith and Ben Hamilton.
Newry rallied in the second half and enjoyed a spell of possession which they unfortunately couldn’t translate into points on the board. ‘Town ran in a further four tries before the referee called time with a good ten minutes remaining on the clock. Snow completed his 2nd hat-trick in only his second game for the 2nd XV 10 minutes into the half. Scott McClenaghan ran strongly for the next score and David Smith added his second of the game when he picked up from a scrum close to the line. Emmet Crawford, who was the team’s top try scorer for the season, fittingly finished off the scoring to take his tally to 10 for the season.
John O’Kane, making his return after a couple of months on the injury list, added 8 conversions and skipper Hyndman rounded off proceedings with the final conversion of the match.
The annual awards day was held on Saturday with the junior proceedings in the afternoon and the senior awards from 7pm. Congratulations to the following, all worthy winners on the night:
Young Player of the Year – Ian Hume. .
Most Improved Player – Scott McClenaghan
1st XV awards
Players’ Player of the year – Dan Wilson & Michael Smith jointly
Player of the year – David Millar & Johnny Adair jointly
2nd XV awards
Players’ Player of the Year – Dave Harris
Player of the Year – Emmet Crawford
3rd XV awards
Players’ Player of the Year – Adrian Johnston
Player of the Year – Nathan Hodge
