The second semi final of this years Nutty Krust u19 floodlit tournament was played Wednesday night at Chambers Park with Malone playing Larne for a place in this years final against Dungannon,
On a dry evening with firm underfoot conditions and a slight wind Larne started the game with the wind at there backs , with 6mins on the board Malone no 7 Brendan Kearney after a strong run took play into the Larne 22 and from a free kick no 13 Vittorio Angelone ran into to open the scoring , conversion attempt missed. 5-0 to Malone.
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Malone continued to press forward and follwing good interplay by Tom Murphy , Euan Carson and Ryan Beck Malone were awarded a pen near the Larne line , Malone elected for a scrum but good defence and a resultant penalty awarded to Larne saw them clear there line. 25 mins played saw Larne’s real first attack of the half and they took play up to the Malone line but from the lineout Malone cleared there line. After 32 mins Malone increased there lead when Ryan beck went on a run and was stopped short of the line but the ball was recycled and scrum half Chris Halliday went over to score and convert his own score 12-0 to Malone. . From the restart kick Malone attacked and another strong side stepping run saw Ryan Beck score under the posts with Chris Halliday adding the conversion 19-0
Half Time score Malone 19 Larne 0
From the kick off at the start of the second half Malone were reduced to 14 players when Greg Wilson was yellow carded for an offence from the kick off , Larne made a tactical change when full back Jordan Burns was moved into midfield. An excellent break by Larne took play into the Malone 22 were they were awarded a penalty in front of the posts which was converted by Stuart Andrews. Malone restored to full strength laid siege to the Larne line and after some good recycling of the ball no 13 Vittorio Angelone scored in the corner. Con version missed . From the re start kick no 6 Ben Halliday had a barnstorming run and took play into the Larne 22 were he off loaded to Euan Carson to score again conversion missed. 29-3 Malone. 25 mins played Larne no 15 Jordan Burns ran the full length of the pitch to score an excellent try and extra point added 29-10 to Malone. On 30 mins played Ryan Beck breached the Larne defence were he passed to Greg Wilson to run in to score for Malone, conversion missed. The final score of the evening went to Malone as they continued to run the ball and chris Halliday rounded off the move to score and convert his own try leaving the score 41-10 to Malone.
Final score Malone 41 Larne 10
Malone are through to the final were they will play Dungannon on April 30th , .both teams are to be praised on the commitment and the spirit in which the game was played and to Larne who continued to fight and never lay down even though they were on the wrong end of tonight’s score line.
Man of the Match award was presented in the Clubhouse after the game by Portadown President Niall Collen and this went to Malone’s no 12 Ryan Beck .
Next Match is the Final Malone v Dungannon Wednesday 30th April ko 7.45pm
