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Pics (c) Steve Haslett
Limavady v Ballymoney
Saturday 16th March 2019
After the disappointment of losing in the final minute last week against Randalstown, Limavady were keen to get back into action this week, their opponents being near neighbours Ballymoney. Because of the torrential rain which fell over the last few days the pitches at the John Hunter Memorial grounds were unplayable and Ballymoney kindly agreed to move this game to the all weather pitch at the Meadowbank Centre in Magherafelt.
The game started well for Limavady as they found themselves 14.0 up within the first ten minutes. The first points on the score board came when referee, Alan Clarke, had no alternative but to award a penalty try following a series of scrum infringements just short of the Ballymoney line. A few minutes later, John Purcell, returning to the side, was on hand to run in try number two which was converted by Peter Wilson. At this point Ballymoney started to get a bit of a foothold on the game and were rewarded with a fine try from their full back when he was able to glide through a gap in the Limavady defence. The game for the rest of the half was fairly even stevens with the only adjustment to the score board being a penalty right on the stroke of half time, converted by Peter Wilson to leave the score at the break Limavady 17 Ballymoney 5
Ballymoney started the second half the stronger and again managed to get points on the board when their full back again ran in from his own half evading several attempts at tackles from the Limavady defenders. Limavady succeeded in slowing things up when they were awarded another penalty which Peter Wilson again converted. With the memory of last week when they threw away a substantial lead, Limavady managed to show resolve and their nerves were settled somewhat when scrum half Peter Wilson managed to nip in to score under the posts. He added the extras to give his side some breathing space. The ultimate desire on the day was the extra bonus point and this was achieved right in the last minute when the referee again awarded a penalty try for a similar offence as occurred in the first minute.
Final score: Limavady 34 Ballymoney 10
This result returns Limavady back to the top of the table. With only two games left this is now set up for an exciting finale with four teams still in with a chance of achieving the one automatic promotion spot.
