(Pic credit Dave Pettard @ GDP Photography)
Randalstown 1st XV 18 Lisburn 1st XV 13
Another win keeps Randalstown 1sts mid table in qualifying 2 as they did just enough to dispatch Lisburn at Neillsbrook on Saturday afternoon.
The home team started well with a number of attacking forays into the Lisburn half. From one of these Scott Stevenson made a great break and off loaded to Dan Wilson who crashed over under the posts for an early try. Daniel McGlade converted to take ‘town into a 7-0 lead.
However the Randalstown side seemed to relax and allow the visitors into the game. From a penalty Lisburn managed to get on the score sheet. ‘Town were finding it difficult to establish continuity as the referee spurned any use of the advantage rule, preferring instead to blow up every infringement and resort to the appropriate set piece or penalty. Fortunately McGlade was again in good kicking form and a well struck penalty gave the home side a 10-3 lead after 20minutes.
A defensive lapse after 25 minutes saw Lisburn run in a try and a well taken conversion brought the scores level as half time approached.
The second half was similar to the first with Randalstown threatening to cross the visitors’ line but good defensive tackling and silly mistakes kept the score tied.
Another penalty gave the home side a slender 3 point lead but this was short lived as a mistake resulted in a penalty for Lisburn enabling them to draw level again.
With 15 minutes left it looked as though the game was heading for a draw however Daniel McGlade burst through the Lisburn defence to take the home side 5 points clear. The final few minutes of the game were tense with Lisburn throwing everything at the Randalstown line but good defence kept them at bay.
The final result 18-13 was a fair reflection of this game. As always the coaching team of Gary Longwell and Alistair Strange were reluctant to highlight any individual performance, but it was good to see Neil Foster returning to the side after a lengthy injury break.
The next game for the 1st XV is away to Grosvenor RFC on 6th December.
Ballyclare 3rd XV 8 Randalstown 2nd XV 39.
Played 8, won 8 makes good reading for the Randalstown second string in their first season in Junior 4. They won comfortably on Saturday afternoon against Ballyclare 3rds and are perched 2 points clear at the top of the league.
From the word go the young talented backline were moving the ball at will, stretching the home defence and a Conor Murray penalty put them ahead after 5 minutes.
The first try of the game came shortly after when Matty Turner weaved his way through the ‘Clare defence from just inside his own half. A neat off-load to a rampaging Mark Strange saw the flanker power over for a score which Murray converted.
Within 5 minutes ‘Town added a second try. After good work by the backline Mark Paine came into the line and ignoring an overlap cut back inside where he was stopped just short. Fortunately Pedro Conceicao was lurking on his shoulder and the hooker was fit to gather and touch down.
Next up on the half hour Dan Morgan crashed through a couple of tackles on the home 22. A cheeky offload put Chris Donnelly away and he sped in over the line. Murray again converted.
Towards the end of the half the home side edged into Randalstown territory and their outhalf was awarded a penalty which he knocked over to leave the half –time score 22-3 in the visitors favour.
The second half started with Ballyclare muscling their way back into the game. They dominated the first 15 minutes, using the pack to maul them close to the ‘Town line. The pressure eventually paid off as they rumbled over from a lineout.
Randalstown skipper Sammy Hyndman rallied his troops and they gradually worked their way back into the game. With about an hour on the clock the ever improving Matt McWhinney chipped through, followed it up, gathering and stepping past the last line of defence to notch up his first try.
‘Town were now well on top of a tiring Ballyclare side. After Strange and Morgan were both held up just short the resulting scrum saw a text book backs move which ended with Murray squeezing over in the corner.
With only a few minutes now remaining and the game opening up again for ‘Town Hyndman charged through the middle. Mawhinney in support took over and sliced through the depleted home defence for his second try of the afternoon. Murray completed the scoring with the straightforward conversion.
A competent performance from Randalstown 2nds, but again they failed to finish their opponents off in the first half when they were so dominant although it was a comfortable win in the end. Hopefully the next few weeks will see the team reach their full potential.
Manager Sloane was impressed by the big performances turned in by Mark Paine, Dan Morgan and Matt Mawhinney on the day.
Next Saturday the 2nds travel to Banbridge in the opening round of the Forster Cup while the 3rds travel to Armoy.
