Randalstown 2nd XV started the season brightly with a rout of Holywood 2nds at Neillsbrook on Saturday afternoon.
Barely 5 minutes into the game a knock on by Holywood on their own 22 led to the first of 9 nines for the home team. Having won possession in the set piece ‘Town came up against some solid Holywood tackling but they kept their heads, kept the pressure on and were able to spread the ball across the pacey backline allowing Neil Paul to touch down. McGlade added the conversion.
The forwards then gathered from the restart and Randalstown were quickly back into Holywood territory to add a 2nd try courtesy of Liam Hurrell. McGlade once again did the honours and added the extra 2 points.
The home side were beginning to get their tails well and truly in the air and a hapless Holywood seemed powerless to prevent ‘Town moving the ball at will between forwards and backs. A beautifully floated pass to Ryan McGarry gave the winger a chance to stretch his legs on his first outing of the season and run in from just inside the 22 for his first try of the afternoon. McGlade took his tally to 3 out of 3 giving Randalstown a 21 – 0 lead with just over 15 minutes played.
Randalstown were awarded a penalty on the restart which Holywood managed to turn over, and their experienced prop made good ground. Young Stevenson in pursuit missed the tackle, but managed to redeem himself with an interception and put ‘Town back on the attack. Again Randalstown showed tremendous composure and patience and McGlade crossed the line only to drop the ball forward as he went to touch down. Despite having the advantage of the scrum Holywood took some time to clear their lines with a high ball down towards halfway only to find Blayne McGarry waiting. McGarry missed the catch but improvised well with a tap back which was fielded by Stevenson who made some hard yards, and with the rest of the pack quick to support, ‘Town were able to judge the best time to spread the ball and full back Leslie timed his run well to run in at the corner. McGlade was on a roll at this stage and slotted over the conversion to keep his record at 100%.
The final try of the half started with the experienced Laverty in the centre, who having made good ground up the middle of the park, floated the ball to McGarry senior to allow him to sprint the last 30 yards home for his 2nd try of the afternoon, which McGlade converted.
The crowd were really starting to enjoy what was a fine display of rugby from the Randalstown 2nds. There was great interplay between forwards and backs, the rugby was disciplined, and of course the score line at the halfway stage couldn’t fail to please. Holywood couldn’t find a way through the ‘Town lines, or indeed out of their own half for much of the game and so it was no great surprise that the start of the 2nd half saw the home team within 5 yards of the Holywood line again. This time Blayne McGarry was stopped just short but ‘Town kept control and Ings was able to break loose from the scrum and touch down just to the left of the posts leaving the conversion a formality almost for McGlade.
A 2nd try then followed for Leslie out wide after Liam Hurrell made a break and floated a long pass out wide to find Stevenson waiting in the midfield. The burly hooker sensibly popped to Leslie whose superior pace saw him squeeze over in the corner. McGlade’s kicking boots deserted him on this occasion.
Randalstown took the collective foot of the gas for the following 15 minutes and allowed Holywood a bit of ball which resulted in a well worked drop goal for the visitors. After some encouragement from the crowd the home team picked up the pace again and Ryan McGarry completed his hat-trick. McGlade narrowly missed the difficult conversion from wide out on the right.
The final try of the afternoon fell deservedly to Paul Laverty after a good afternoon’s work in the centre berth.
This was a pleasing start for Randalstown 2nds now competing in section 5 of the Junior League and hopefully it augurs well for the season ahead. Manager Richardson was naturally delighted with his team’s result and couldn’t pin down a man of the match, such was the effort and performance from 1 through to 15 throughout the 80 minutes. A more impartial eye would perhaps have picked out Liam Hurrell in the pack for his pace and awareness, although Ryan Keating gave his usual solid performance, and Johnny Corbett’s experience added another dimension to the front row. The backline looked slick when the ball was moved wide and Ryan McGarry must get due credit for his hat-trick having left more than one Holywood player in his wake during the afternoon.
Team: E Leslie, B McGarry, P Laverty, N Paul, R McGarry, N McGlade, G Walker (Capt), J Corbett, S Stevenson, R Loughlin, M Millar, S Hyndman, L Hurrell, R Ings, R Keating
Randalstown 3rd XV 3 Malone 4th XV 27
A youthful Randalstown 3rds lost 27-3 to Malone 4ths on Saturday in the opening game of their league campaign. Tommy McCann’s side were always going to be up against it facing a big experienced Malone side, and this was bourne out as they struggled to gain any worthwhile ball to attack with. They did however put up a very dogged display and produced a fine defensive performance to restrict their opponents to only 4 tries despite their dominance.
The opening 20 minutes were all Malone and the scene was set for the afternoon as the home side were forced into a rearguard action led by old hands Devlin and Johnston, together with a determined back row of Savage, Pollen & McClenaghan. They managed to keep the visitors at bay for 15 minutes, when they eventually crashed through the line to open the scoring.
Randalstown responded with their best period of the game, pinning Malone in their own 22. Adam Service, who put in a satisfactory shift in the unaccustomed position of scrum half, missed one penalty opportunity before good work from the pack after the resulting drop out gave him another chance. This time Service made no mistake giving his side some encouragement.
This was however short-lived as Malone hit straight back and after going close on a couple of occasions their forward power eventually saw them squeeze over for a 2nd try to leave them 10- 3 in front at the break.
The 2nd half started badly for the home side as they conceded a converted try straight from the kick off. Malone kept up the pressure for the next half hour, which saw them camped in the ‘Town 22, but the home spirit was good and with centres Mulholland and Moon tackling like demons they kept the visitors at bay.
With 15 minutes remaining Randalstown had centre Moon yellow carded and then promptly lost Service through injury. With 2 subs already used they were down to 13 men and Malone immediately took advantage, the scrum half exploiting gaps in the home defence to coast home for a 3rd try. The visitors rounded off the scoring in the dying seconds as they stretched the tiring Randalstown side to run in a try in the corner.
Manager McCann , although disappointed with the result and a lack of scoring chances, was full of praise for the spirit in which his young side played the game. There were promising displays from Darling at full back when he entered the fray, and Moon in the centre, while sub Ferghal McConnell looked promising in his first ever game of rugby. McCann would encourage his side, and all the other players still to return to the fold to attend training on Tuesday & Thursday.
Team: N Hodges, N McGlade, M Mulholland, S Moon, R Duncan, A Johnston, A Service, M Hamilton, B Hamilton, J Pedlow, M Reeves, T Devlin, M Savage, K Pollen, A McClenaghan
Subs: S Darling E McConnell
Another successful evening followed in the clubhouse when the annual BBQ got underway. The next big night from Patterson Promotions will be Saturday 18th September, when Trinity will play live. Entry will be a bargain £5 and all players, members and friends are encouraged to turn out.
Next Saturday all 3 Randalstown senior teams are in action. The 1sts travel to Holywood, while the 2nds and 3rds entertain Ophir 2nds & 3rds at Neillsbrook. As usual all support will be warmly welcomed.
