Despite the very wet conditions Banbridge U 19s scored some thrilling tries to progress to next week’s Nutty Krust Tournament Final where they will face host club Portadown.
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Banbridge dominated the game from the outset apart from the opening minutes of the second half. A dominant pack, with locks Stuart Walker & Kyle Mc Connell & open side flanker Richard Graham particularly prominent, ensured good quality possession which was well used by quality half backs Jason Gribben & Macauley Little, kept Ballynahinch pinned into their own half for the opening 30 minutes. Hinch’s scrambled defence saved them on numerous occasions but after a succession of pick and drives by the Bann pack scrum half Gribben broke blind and fed wing Kenny Wiltshire who scored in the left hand corner. Little missed the conversion leaving Bann with a 5-0 lead. Even the loss to injury of centre Glen Rowan, who was replaced by Alan Thompson on 29 minutes, failed to halt Banbridge’s attacking verve. Following another series of forward drives a penetrating break by scrum half Gribben took play close to the Ballynahinch goal line. Further forward pressure saw Bann flanker Ryan Dennison touch down for his side’s second try in the right hand corner. Little added the extra two points with an excellent conversion giving Bann a 12-0 half time lead
Ballynahinch reacted to their half time team talk and came out with a renewed belief and fresh energy. However despite all of their efforts Banbridge’s well organised defence stood firm and thwarted every Hinch attack. The Hinch centres, Matthrew Mc Clelland & Owen Jarvie both made line breaks well supported by hard working openside Corey Potts but unfortunately for Hinch they were unable to capitalise on these. On 15 minutes, Banbridge who freshened up their team with replacements Peter Cromie, Thomas Carlisle & Josh Coyle coming on for Tim Savage, Lee Geddis & Ben Cross were soon encamped on the Hinch line once again and following a series of forward drives Gribben darted over close to the posts to score. Little added the points to extend Bann’s lead to 19-0. Adam Doherty, one of a number of Bann players with AIL Senior experience was introduced in place of opening try scorer Wiltshire, and he soon made his presence pay as he latched on the a neat grubber by Little to score. Little, who was striking the ball of the tee beautifully added the points to extend Bann’s lead to 26-0.
Hinch introduced a number of replacements to try to stem the Banbridge attacks but despite their valiant effort there was no stopping Doherty who scored a splendid individual try to the right of the posts to complete the scoring thus leaving Banbridge as 31-0 winners on the night.
Both sides and their coaches are to be congratulated on the efforts to play open rugby on a miserable night and on their discipline during a game played in the right spirit despite the fact that a place in the final was up for grabs. There were a number of outstanding candidates for the Man of the Match award but in the end the winner was Banbridge’s Richard Graham who was at the heart of everything that was good about Banbridge’s play.
Tonight’s result sets up a local derby, with Banbridge facing Portadown in next Tuesday’s Nutty Krust Final which kicks off at 19.45 at Chambers Park
