Coleraine 2XV……….37
Ballymoney 2XV…….15
Coleraine seconds produced another stellar performance last Saturday with a five try victory over local rivals Ballymoney at Kilraughts Road. Played on a glorious spring day on the big pitch, conditions were perfect for handling and good running rugby for both teams, but in the end, superior discipline, intensity and skill by the Coleraine team paved the way for well-deserved win.
Coleraine began the game with a bang, and within seconds had taken the lead with possibly the fastest try seen all season. Ballymoney received the kick-off and from the resulting ruck, flying prop Paul Brown reacted fastest to a charged-down kick, outpacing the non-existent defence and diving in the corner for the opening score. Paul Shiels missed the conversion but he made no mistake 5 minutes later when Ballymoney got penalised for hands in the ruck right on the middle of their ’22 to extend the lead to 8-0. Coleraine then went down to 14 men for 10 minutes, when the ref took exception to a tackle by centre John McClelland when he smashed the Ballymoney out-half into the ground close to the Coleraine try line. Coleraine defended well but conceded 3 points during this period after a converted penalty kick. Back to a full complement of players, Coleraine pressed hard and extended the score again after Ballymoney conceded a penalty which Shiels converted to leave the half time score 11-3.
Playing into a slight breeze for the second half, Coleraine couldn’t kick for position as much, but the forwards held onto the ball well before releasing the backs to punch holes in the Ballymoney defence. This enabled a number of line breaks, and eventually the Ballymoney defence wilted when No. 8 Alex Gourley took a pop pass off Chris Gowland to stroll in untouched from 20 yards out. Gowland had a great game at out-half, controlling play well, kicking when needed and making a number of incisive breaks himelf. Ballymoney didn’t lie down easily though, and after battering away at the Coleraine line for a while, they closed the gap when their big full-back crashed over in the corner for an unconverted try. The Coleraine confidence was not hit though, and within minutes extended their lead when swift handling through the three-quarters released winger Stevie Callaghan who sprinted down the touchline for a converted score. Coleraine went straight on the attack again, playing positive rugby, and veteran centre Stevie Patterson was held up just short of the line. The entire Ballymoney team got sucked into the ensuing ruck, giving the Coleraine backs a massive overlap. However, the forwards took it on and scrum-half Scott Caithness sneaked over from close range. Ballymoney then got some reasonable possession and territory for a bit and got a try themselves under the posts to get the score back to 30-15 in Coleraine’s favour. Coleraine weren’t finished yet and scored their fifth try with 5 minutes left in the game. Good interchange up the left wing between wing Ray Naea and John McClelland carved play deep into Ballymoney ’22 before recycled ball made its way into the hands of the ever-present Alex Gourley who strolled over the whitewash from 5 yards out.
Well, another five star performance from the seconds, who controlled the game up front and threw the ball about in the backs with good effect to rack up the points. Next weekend is a rest week before the cup semi-final in Omagh. Confidence will be high, having scored 90 points in the last 2 games, but Omagh will no doubt have a big pack waiting for them and it will be a mighty tussle to see who can come out on top to make that Ravenhilll final.
Coleraine 2XV: P Shiels, S Callaghan, J McClelland, S Patterson, R Naea, C Gowland, S Caithness, A Stirling, S Evans, P Brown, M Hunt, R Caskey, H Tate, G Neely, A Gourley
