Following their recent 32-8 defeat in the Ulster League at the hands of Instonians the loyal Armagh supporters were naturally apprehensive as Ballymena kicked off for the evening game on Wednesday at the Palace grounds.
The home side, however, had instilled an attitude from the training pitch, which meant that they feared no side. This attitude was tested after only seven minutes when the visiting fullback, Nicholl, scored and converted! Armagh replied with young recruit, Mark Riddell, scoring his inaugural try. The Ballymena response was to score in the left corner when a defensive mix-up let the winger in. This brought the half time score to 12-5 with Armagh still in touch and not beaten by any means..
Whatever coach, Andy Hughes, said to his team at the break certainly appeared to do the business. From the kick-off right winger, Morton, had a try disallowed when the referee judged a Ballymena hand had got under the touch down. From the restart centre, Ethan Allen, burst through and scored under the posts. McBriar’s conversion put the scores even at 12-12. Game on!
Ten minutes later saw Ballymena penalised for ‘holding on’ but the kick went wide. Undaunted, McBriar, landed a tricky penalty five minutes later to put Armagh ahead 15-12. The home side were then forced to defend as Ballymena launched a series of mauls in the Armagh five-metre zone for what seemed an age! The dogged defence of the home team eventually succumbed when the Ballymena hooker forced his way through and scored at the posts. The conversion put the visitors ahead 15-19.
Armagh were not intimidated but replied with resolution seldom seen before at the Palace Grounds.
The young, light pack repeatedly turned over rucks and won two scrums ‘against the head’. This served to tire the Ballymena team and a storming break through the centre by Colin Atkinson almost resulted in a try but after he off-loaded a handling error saved the day for the visitors.
As the final whistle blew the relief on the Ballymena faces was obvious. The Armagh team, on the other hand, can feel proud that they can muster an attitude, which makes them able to compete positively with the best of senior teams even if they do lose the match. But a losing bonus point is always better than no points!
