Carrick 1st XV 15 Randalstown 1st XV 25
Randalstown travelled to Woodlawn to face a strong Carrick side and after the narrow defeat at the hands of Academy RFC two weeks ago they were looking for a convincing victory to kick start their league campaign.
Unfortunately Carrick took a hold on the game right from the first whistle and it came as no surprise when after seven minutes they scored a well taken try when their forwards gained possession at a line out and forced their way over the Randalstown line. As the game moved into the second quarter the Randalstown team began to come into the game and when Carrick were penalised Jamie Barron slotted over a well taken penalty to narrow the gap to 5-3 in favour of the home side.
A few minutes later Carrick stretched their lead when the referee penalised the visitors for an infringement and the home side were back in control at 8-3. This seemed to be the point when Randalstown began to show what they are capable of with the forwards winning good ball and the backs showing their skills in attack. With ten minutes to half time Barron made a storming run through the centre of the Carrick defence and off loaded a good pass to Smith who touched down to give the visitors the lead for the first time. Barron managed to convert the try to make the score 10-8 to Randalstown.
The second half began with Randalstown setting up good ball from both set piece and loose play and continuing to exert pressure on the Carrick line. When one of the Carrick forwards was shown the yellow card Randalstown utilised their numerical advantage at the next scrum to allow the forwards to drive over the home sides goal line and and the No 8 Liam Hurell was left with a touch down for the second Randalstown try and a lead of 15-8. This lead was extended when a skilful chip ahead by Smith was gathered by McGlade who beat a couple of defenders to score Randalstown’s third try converted by Barron. With a lead of 14 points Randalstown seemed to relax and a mix up in their defence allowed Carrick to score a converted try with 10 minutes left. Some strong words from the Randalstown coaching staff helped raise the team to one final effort and with time running out Barron was able to score a penalty to make the game safe.
While pleased with the result Coach Longwell felt that overall there was room for improvement in a number of areas of the team’s performance and no doubt there will be a lot of hard work put in at this week’s training session before next Saturdays home league game against Limavady who may well prove a tougher challenge than this weeks opponents.
Randalstown 2nd XV 38 Lisburn 3rd XV 7
The seconds returned to winning ways with a comfortable 38-7 win at home against Lisburn. In sharp contrast to previous outings ‘Town settled quickly to the task and with the set piece showing considerable improvement they had a steady stream of possession from the off.
With 10 minutes played Mark Paine stole ball from the base of the Lisburn scrum. The ball having been secured was moved well creating an overlap for Ryan McGarry to sprint home and touch down in the corner. Minutes later Tony Boyd, making his debut, stole possession just inside the Lisburn half. The ball was taken on by Thom and Fleck before Peter McCann was released down the wing. The full back put in a neat grubber which bobbled up just short of the line and under pressure the last defender wasn’t able to control it, allowing McCann to gather and touch down. He added the touchline conversion.
Randalstown continued to dominate, particularly in the scrums, pushing the Lisburn pack off a number of balls, and the tenacious back row of Paine, Boyd and Smith were putting the visiting number 9 under severe pressure.
A 5 meter scrum saw Lisburn pushed off the ball again and David Smith picked up the loose ball. He had Paine in close support but didn’t need him in the end as he crashed over the line. McCann again added the conversion.
As half time approached Fleck, who had his best game to date this season, fielded a clearance on halfway and linked with Thom and Johnston to progress into the visitors’ 22. McCann then burst into the line before putting McGarry away for his 2nd try.
The second half saw Lisburn dominate possession although they only really threatened the ‘Town line towards the end of the game. Down to 14 men following an injury to the impressive Paine ‘Town defended resolutely, tackling themselves to a standstill.
They managed to add another try as Fleck burst through the Lisburn defence for a converted try. Then with about 10 minutes remaining Lisburn dropped the ball in midfield. Smith was first to react, kicking the ball long into space and with the Lisburn defence out of position Thom was first to the ball and again kicked it on to just short of the try line. His centre partner Johnston was on his shoulder to pick up and fall over the line for a final converted try.
Lisburn continued to press from the restart and their persistence paid off as they scored in the dying minutes of the game.
This was a satisfying 2 points against stubborn opponents and served to get the Randalstown 2nds season back on track. A good solid platform was laid down by the pack who scrimmaged hard, and the return of Loughlin at number 2 served to improve the line outs. The back row were impressive in defence and attack, with Tony Boyd outstanding in his first game of the season. The pacey backline always looked threatening and the evergreen Johnston again proved a valuable asset.
Next Saturday the 2nds travel to Coleraine (UUC).
Ballynahinch 7s 61 Randalstown 3rds 31
With a plethora of unavailability descending on this team it looked almost certain a fine and dreaded three points deduction was on the cards but again testament to our club a team was hastily put together to face the Ballynahinch ‘Evergreens’.
With two debutants and assistant manager Aaron Murray pulling on a shirt for the first time in many moons signs were not pointing towards a pleasurable experience but the beauty of sport is that every now and then when backs are up against the wall magical things can happen.
Forty minutes later and having amassed 31 points ,two excellent tries from Dave Harris,a try from flying centre Robin Adair and two from debutant Sean Mc Veigh both superbly executed to the glee of the town travelling support all two of them and had they boots they would have been playing. The town produced some great running rugby and earned the plaudits of the In Touch rugby rep.
McVeigh added two conversions one from the touchline to emulate uncle Peter Mc Cann. David Kerr had his first ever game of rugby at second row and after some intrepidation at the thumping early hits went on to give a good account, Chris Mowbray was superb with Paul Morriss also to the fore. Sean McVeigh had to get Player of the match but the forwards led by Dave Harris must take some of the accolades. This was grass roots rugby from days gone by before the money, prima donnas, win at all cost arrived. Even the bowl of stew and jug of beer was present. Fair play to the ‘Evergreens’ contributing so much to this occasion and testament to this they are organising a bus trip to the return fixture. Team- Alan Spiers ,Pedro Conceiaco, Michael Reeves,T ommy Devlin, David Kerr, Aaron Murray, Dave Harris, Chris Mowbray, Adam Service, Robin Adair, Sean Mc Veigh ,Paul Morriss, Ben Joyce
