CLICK HERE FOR Pictures Of LISBURN I XV V BANBRIDGE II XV – 16-17
CLICK HERE FOR Pictures Of LISBURN III XV V BALLYMONEY III XV – 77-7
Lisburn 1st XV 16 – 17 Banbridge 2nd XV
At Blaris last Saturday the Corus sponsored Lisburn 1st XV lost out by the narrowest of margins to visitors Banbridge 2s in the Conference League. While the result will not affect the Qualifying League table, nevertheless the loss and the fashion of it will disappoint the Lisburn management and support.
Lisburn, recovering from their long weather effected break in December and January, had conjured up a number of good performances in beating UUC two weeks ago and then losing rather heavily to Ballyclare last week, though the latter game reflected the loss of Number 8, Andy Hamilton, early in the second half following which the rampant Clare ran in the decisive scores. Hamilton, with a nasty rib injury and prop Phil Jefferson with an ankle injury will probably be out of the team for the next 4 to 6 weeks.
Lisburn started the game against Banbridge with Jamie Dickson back after injury and veteran Owen Crothers up from the 2nd XV and attacked the visitors through the backs from the start. However, despite all the possession and territory, they were unable to break through the solid Bann defence and all they had to show for their efforts were three penalties by centre Mark Crothers. It has to be said that they missed several try-scoring opportunities that they should have converted into points.
Banbridge came out a stronger team in the second half and began to put pressure on the home defence. Within ten minutes their efforts were rewarded with a converted try which narrowed the gap to two points but ten minutes later Lisburn restored the margin when Captain, Chris Kidd, took a fine lineout ball off the top and the subsequent movement saw winger Adam Melville come into the line from the wing to take the ball through for a score near the posts. The Crothers conversion gave Lisburn a deserved 16-7 lead. However, the final quarter saw Lisburn lose some of their sharpness and a number of the pack found the going more difficult as the visitors upped the pace of their game and continuing possession in the Lisburn half led to a penalty which they converted to bring the score to 16-10. This was now just one score away from an unexpected turnaround and just before the final whistle the inevitable happened. Defending on their own line, Lisburn failed to deal with a clearance properly and a fumbled ball allowed Banbridge to fall on it and score. They converted the try with the last kick of the game to win the match and leave Lisburn wondering where they had gone wrong.
Next Saturday Lisburn’s 1st XV travel to play Grosvenor 1st XV who out of the blue beat League Leaders Donaghadee last Saturday. So, despite beating Grosvenor comfortably at Blaris earlier in the season, they have been warned that this is going to be a hard battle for Qualifying League points. Many of the Club “Alicadoos” are heading to Edinburgh for the Scotland v Ireland international match while Lisburn’s 3rd XV are at home to Academy’s 2nd XV. Also, Lisburn’s 4th XV travel to the seaside to take on Bangor 3rds in the Minor League.
