It was a disappointing afternoon for Randalstown seniors as the 1sts lost narrowly at home in their first league encounter of the season, and the 2nds and 3rds came up short against their Carrick counterparts.
Randalstown 1st XV 20 v Academy 1st XV 23
Randalstown kicked off their league season with a home match against a strong Academy 1st XV on a day suited for open rugby.
Randalstown had the better of the earlier exchanges and had it not been for good defence by the visitors and a few last passes going astray the home side should have been in the lead. However as Academy settled into their game they began to put pressure on the hosts at the scrums and lineouts. Under pressure ‘Town conceded two penalties in a ten minute period to give the visitors a 6-0 lead after 25 minutes.
Some great work by the forwards brought them back into the game and saw them exert pressure in turn on the Academy line. The ball was moved to Daryl McGarry who beat his opposing winger and went clean through the home defence from thirty metres to touch down in the corner. Bailey fell just short with the conversion to leave the score 6-5 in favour of Academy at half time
Early pressure by the Randalstown pack at the start of the second half allowed the backline room and Blayne McGarry sprinted over to take the lead for ‘Town.
With the score 10-6 and Randalstown in control an injury to Darryl McGarry reduced the home side to fourteen men. A few minutes later an injury to Liam Hurrell left the home side two men down and this was enough to let the visitors back into the game. A lapse in the Randalstown defence allowed the visitor’s experienced number 8 to score in the corner from a well taken penalty.
Academy were awarded a penalty try and a few minutes later to leave the home side trailing by 10-20. The return of Hurrell to the field brought more a renewed confidence to the home side and it came as no surprise when Blayne McGarry got his second try to bring Randalstown back into the game.
With the score 15-20 in favour of Academy a penalty for the visitors seemed to put the game beyond Randalstown. However when the Academy hooker was sin binned the home side scored a superb when Dan Wilson touched down. Time was running out and Randalstown threw everything into attack but bad luck and some good defence gave Academy a victory which even by their own admission was a not deserved.
Coach Longwell was pleased by the team’s performance despite the result and will over the next two weeks have time to prepare for their next game against Grosvenor in the Junior Cup.
Carrickfergus 3rd XV 27 Randalstown 2nd XV 22
Randalstown 2nds lost for the first time this season in an entertaining encounter away to the league pacesetters – Carrickfergus 3rds.
The home side started at a cracking pace leaving the ‘Town team at times chasing shadows as they struggled to get to grips with the experienced Carrick outfit. The result was an early penalty to Carrick to put them ahead. They continued to press and a neat chip from the outhalf following a scrum on the ‘town 10m line took out the ‘Town defence and Carrick were able to chase down the ball for a converted try.
Minutes later the home side moved the ball from deep and stretched ‘Town’s defence from side to side in a fine display of fluid rugby, before creating a massive overlap to stroll in for another converted score. It was beginning to look ominous for Randalstown as they struggled to get a foothold in the game, but after some stern words behind the posts from Hyndman and manager Sloane they started to settle down and string together some decent phases of play. The first foray into Carrick territory was rewarded with a penalty which McCann converted.
Carrick hit straight back however and within a couple of minutes had added another try as they stole line out ball on the ‘Town 5 metre line and strolled over in the corner.
Turner and McCann inspired their team mates as they upped the tempo and began taking the game to their hosts. From deep in their own half 2 quick penalties by Turner and Ryan McGarry saw ‘town advance into the Carrick 22. Winning a further penalty they elected to run and Turner made a decisive breach of the Carrick defence, creating space on the wing for McCann to squeeze over in the corner. This brought the score to 22-8 at the break.
It was a different Randalstown team that came out in the second half, with their defence much stronger which spoiled Carrick’s stream of possession. ‘Town also began to attack more frequently using their pace and the wide pitch to stretch the home defence. It was still a while before the scoreboard was troubled again, by which stage both sides were reduced to 14 men while Turner and the Carrick centre took 10 minutes as the result of some over enthusiastic exchanges between them.
After a fine lineout take by Allen, who was outstanding all afternoon in the set piece, Burnett and Thom broke through the Carrick defence before sending the impressive D Smith away. The number 8 covered a lot of ground before his inside pass on the 5 metre line went to ground. Fortunately McGarry was on hand to gather and stroll over under the posts. McCann added the extras.
22-15 put a much better complexion on things as far as ‘Town were concerned and they were now very much in control, and were the side playing the fluid rugby. They were rewarded with another try with 8 minutes remaining. From a scrum on the home 5 metre line Smith broke and off loaded to tireless flanker Goodrich who touched down – again under the posts, leaving a straightforward conversion for McCann to level the scores.
Carrick however broke Randalstown hearts in the dying minutes. A series of drives were held out before they moved 2nd phase ball and the outhalf went round the last ‘Town defender to score in the corner.
This was a much improved performance from the seconds, leaving aside a fairly dire opening 20 minutes. The set pieces were massively improved from the previous week with the whole pack deserving credit. Simon Adams was a proverbial thorn in the side to his opposite number all afternoon and David Smith returning from injury, while not out of the blocks too quickly, defended soundly for the majority of the game and was a constant attacking threat.
It was a great team performance in the end and manager Sloane found it difficult to pick out individuals as a result. He did however concede that Peter McCann produced a top drawer performance along with the aforementioned Smith. Skipper Hyndman was delighted with the team response to his half time rallying call.
Special thanks to Alex Park who stepped into the breach at scrum half after 3 years away and put in a sterling performance despite taking an early blow to the ribs.
Again manager Sloane appealed to the team to make every effort to attend training on Tuesday and Thursday to try to iron out the slow starts which have become something of a trademark with the 2nd XV.
Team: P McCann, W Fleck, D Burnett, V Thom, R McGarry, M Turner, A Park, S Adams, J Millar, R Loughlin, S Hyndman, M Allen, C Ferry, S Goodrich, D Smith.
Randalstown 3rd XV 5 Carrick 4s 41
The 3rd XV went down 41-5 against an experienced Carrick 4s although Manager Devlin was quick to point out that the scoreline wasn’t a reflection of the game in many ways as his side put in a vastly improved performance. There will be renewed confidence in the ranks for the next league encounter in 2 weeks time against Ards 4s. Bolstered by the return of some more experienced players ‘town were unlucky not to trouble the scoreboard further on this occasion with Martin Asquith the sole scorer.
There are no matches next week in the senior section. The following week sees the 1st XV back in Junior Cup action against Grosvenor while the 2nds travel to Dungannon and the 3rds entertain Ards 4s at Neillsbrook. As usual all support is welcomed.
This Friday night is the big night out at the dogs. All ticket money should have been paid by now and bus times and pick up points will be allocated in due course this week. Please ensure that you are at your pick up point in good time on Friday night. The buses WILL NOT WAIT. The first race at Drumbo is at 7.40 pm sharp so buses must be able to get there in time to allow everyone to be seated and order their meal prior to this.
