Pic, Dave Pettard
Randalstown 1st XV 17 Coleraine 1st XV 15
Randalstown completed a league double against Saturday afternoon’s opponents, just edging out Coleraine in a keenly contested game thanks to a last kick of the match penalty from Dan McGlade. Despite the win , and despite the fact that they have won 1 more game, ‘Town remain just behind today’s opposition in 5th place by virtue of the fact that their opponents have amassed 9 bonus points to date, while ‘Town have only secured 2.
‘Town were the better side in the first half , with outhalf Ryan Bailie finding a load of space and time to run at the Coleraine defence. The home side however failed to turn possession into points, and nearly lived to regret this as Coleraine came back strongly in the second period. . This is surely an area Randalstown will focus on in the coming weeks as it is not the first time they have been thwarted by opposition defences, despite having the lion’s share of possession for long periods, which is of course reflected in the scant bonus point tally.
With a quarter of an hour played Emmet Crawford ran strongly on the right wing before being stopped on the visitor’s 10 metre line. ‘Town recycled the ball quickly and Bailey on the loop stepped inside two defenders out wide and was about to touch down when he was clothes-lined by a Coleraine defender. The referee rightly awarded a penalty try which was converted by McGlade. The offending Coleraine player was duly despatched for a 10 minute period of reflection.
Before ‘Town could take advantage of the extra man Emmet Crawford had to retire from action following a heavy blow to the mouth, and the backline was rejigged with the versatile David Smyth slotting in on the wing. The transition was smooth however and ‘town continued to dominate, particularly in the scrums, driving the visitors off several balls. Wilson and Ian Hume had a purple patch as the forwards drove hard for the line hoping to increase the lead, but they couldn’t add to their tally as half time approached.
Despite Coleraine looking as though they were struggling towards the end of the first half they came back revitalised in the second half and an early penalty opened their account. They continued to get on top as the home team struggled for any worthwhile possession in the visitors territory. ‘Town were hanging in there grimly, with Goodrich and David Smyth in particular putting in last ditch tackles to save tries. Goodrich in fact had to retire injured in the process, leaving two flankers now in the centre for ‘town in the shape of David Smyth and Ian Hume. Matty Mawhinney took over on the wing.
Coleraine persisted and eventually broke the ‘Town resistance running in two tries in quick succession having stretched the home defence to create space in the corner. The second try was converted and suddenly the visitors had an eight point advantage. ‘Town support was nervous at this stage with about twenty minutes remaining and urged their team on. It took another ten minutes for the home side to make their first serious venture into the visitor’s half. Bailey broke blind from a scrum and the recycled ball found McGlade in midfield. He broke through the Coleraine defence and released David Smyth who was held up just short in front of the posts. Old hands John O’Kane and Johnny Adair then combined as O’Kane slipped the ball to Adair and the big prop was able to crash over. McGlade added the extras to bring ‘Town within a point.
As the clock ticked down Coleraine were awarded a penalty just inside the ‘Town half which, obviously conscious of the time remaining, they elected to kick. It fell just short however and O’Kane was fit to gather and run back at them. ‘Town then showed some masterful ball retention skills and went through a dozen phases, with Chris Allen gaining good yards until eventually Coleraine conceded a penalty. In a reverse scenario of the corresponding fixture at Coleraine McGlade was left to kick for victory. Under normal circumstances it would have been a straightforward kick, but the pressure was definitely on and McGlade showed a cool head to slot the ball home and claim the win.
This was a spirited if not sparkling performance against a Coleraine side who seemed to be expecting to come to Neillsbrook and take the full quota of points available. Alistair Strange, in full charge on the afternoon in the absence of head coach Longwell, saw the victory as a major boost, coming as it did off the back of a couple of disappointing performances. The Hume brothers, the Smith brothers, Ryan Bailie and David Goodrich caught the eye with solid performances and credit to the whole team for coping well with several rearrangements throughout the game.
Next Saturday sees the first XV travel to Omagh who are currently unbeaten so it promises to be another stern test. The following week Grosvenor will be the visitors to Neillsbrook and there is a pre-match lunch. Anyone wishing to attend should contact Adie Johnston.
Randalstown 2nds pulled further away from nearest rivals Carrick without having to grace the pitch, as Coleraine 3rds conceded the game. Manager Sloane was disappointed not to get some much needed game time under their belts as they have no game next Saturday then must travel to Carrickfergus and Donaghadee in the league.
Larne 3rd XV 35 Randalstown 3rd XV 26
Meanwhile the 3rd XV set sail for Larne in what always promised to be a tough encounter. It was a bitterly cold day, however the underfoot conditions were good and contributed to an entertaining game of rugby.
Randalstown got off to a bad start conceding an early try as they failed to stop the strong running Larne number 8 barrelling over in the first few minutes. They then added a penalty to their score shortly after.
The ‘ town’ responded well to this set back and some good pressure on the Larne out half caused him to fumble. Phil Clyde was on hand to hack through and touch down to bring Randalstown back into the game. Soon after Tommy Shannon made a great break from the centre of the field before off loading to Peter McCann who went over in the corner. McCann, returning after a long layoff, displayed his customary accuracy with the boot as he then duly converted his own try.
Having moved into the lead it seemed that Randalstown were in control of the game but some sloppy play saw them pinned in their 22′ and ended in an inevitable score for the Larne no 8 again, which was followed by another Larne try in similar circumstances.
Yet again Randalstown responded, Tommy Shannon picked a great line from the centre of the park to elude the home defence and this time chose to go all the way himself to score a fine try.
Unfortunately at this stage Randalstown lost 2 men in quick succession with both Adam Service and David Asquith having to retire injured reducing them to 14 men. Larne made their numerical advantage count scoring 2 tries in the corner to stretch their lead and put the game beyond the reach of Randalstown, Despite this the away team kept attacking and after some good approach work by the away pack, Conor Ferry in the unfamiliar role of centre picked a great line to score unopposed under the posts.
Despite the defeat this was a good performance by the thirds against a strong Larne side. There were many positives in attack but the defence ultimately was their downfall. There were notable first outings of the season for David Asquith and Peter McCann ( wearing coach Aaron Murray’s boots, maybe bring your own next time peter!) and a welcome return to Randalstown colours for Mark Millar . Tommy Shannon was the pick of the backs with his strong running and Dave Harris and Phil Clyde put in great shifts in the back row
Next Saturday the thirds travel to Malone 5s in what will be another tough encounter.
