Ophir 1st XV 0 Randalstown 1st XV 26
Randalstown 1sts kept their hopes of a qualifying 3 place next season on track with a fine win over near neighbours Ophir on Saturday afternoon.
The firm playing surface should always on paper have suited the pacier Randalstown back line but Ophir true to form didn’t make it easy for the visitors. It took ten minutes for ‘Town to open their account courtesy of Ryan McGarry. Craig Coulter made an excellent clearance from deep inside his own half right up to the Ophir 22. The unfortunate defender fielding chose to take the quick throw to himself and must have been distracted by the sight of Coulter and McGarry bearing rapidly down on him as he dropped the ball and handed possession straight back to ‘Town. Coulter was able to gather and pop to McGarry who crossed the line at a mere canter.
Five minutes later a long punt upfield from Laverty was chased again by McGarry and having won the race against his opposite number to the line judged nudged the ball forward at the touchdown.
The game continued nip and tuck and ‘Town were lucky not to have their 5 point cushion eroded when Ophir missed a kickable opportunity.
The loss of influential flanker Dan Wilson with an ankle injury just past the half hour mark seemed to galvanise ‘Town and after good work by Fleck and O’Kane to turn over Ophir ball it was the turn of Blayne McGarry to add points on the board as he sprinted in from just on halfway. Wilson slotted over the tricky conversion to give Randalstown a 12 point cushion at half time.
It was 20 minutes into the second half before the scoreboard was troubled again. Ophir had ‘Town under pressure on the their own line trying to capitalise on the man advantage but the defence held strong and ‘Town eventually cleared their lines. James Millar, who had a very busy afternoon all over the park, stole the Ophir lineout and the pack took their turn to batter the home defence, then great work by Mark Millar and Liam Hurrell was rewarded with a penalty. Laverty spotted a gap, took a quick tap and barged over which went some way to settling the nerves of the travelling support. Wilson, who had a great afternoon with the boot, obliged again with the conversion.
Ophir weren’t beaten yet though and they used some of their bulk to made inroads up the middle of the park. Again ‘Town defended heroically under serious pressure from the home side. Davy Millar returning from injury, and Alex Fleck caught the eye with a high tackle count between them, but Ophir eventually found a hole via their 2nd row. It just wasn’t to be their day though as having done all the hard work to breach a determined ‘town defence the ball was dropped at the crucial moment. John O’Kane was ever alert and able to pick up quickly and pop to Ryan McGarry. McGarry took off the length of the field to score again with seconds remaining on the clock. Wilson added the extras with a tricky conversion from out wide.
This was a pleasing victory for Randalstown especially as they were reduced to 14 men before the end of the first half. The pack to a man were superb as they tackled themselves to a standstill. Ryan Wilson had a good day at the office in the outhalf berth and capped of a great all round performance with three conversions. Hopefully this good form will continue with only a few games remaining.
Team: Coulter B McGarry Laverty Montgomery R McGarry R Wilson O’Kane D Millar Finlay Foster (Capt) M Millar J Millar D Wilson Fleck Hurrell.
Randalstown 2nd XV 21 Grosvenor 3rd XV 32
With Manager Ivan Richardson away on a girlie weekend the 2nd XV were mentored in his absence by the very able Logue and Simpson for the afternoon. It was a disappointing reverse for the Randalstown second string as they had previously beaten today’s opposition on their home turf, and undoubtedly a game they should have won.
A little slow out of the blocks ‘Town found themselves on the wrong end of a 12-0 scoreline barely 10 minutes into the game. Grosvenor initially took advantage from a scrum 10 metres out to nip in for their first try and this was quickly followed by a 2nd converted try when ‘Town were caught offside at a maul and the visitors spread the ball quickly along their pacy backline.
The experienced Goodfellow settled things down when he set up an attack where good linking between forwards and backs freed Adie Johnston to run for the line. He was tackled just on the try line but a penalty try was awarded as Grosvenor were adjudged to have deliberately killed the ball. McCann converted.
The Grosvenor backline however continued to stretch the home defence and they were soon in for a further score to extend their lead. It seemed for a period of time that ‘Town’s defence was struggling and Grosvenor took full advantage running in again, this time from half way.
Harris then had an opportunity to redress the balance slightly but suffered a rush of blood to the head and ended up over the dead ball line. Luckily sparing his blushes his team mates were able to take advantage from the 22 drop out and Fleck made no mistake as he cut through brilliantly to score under the posts. Again McCann obliged with the extras.
Randalstown started the second half well, the pack in particular in the ascendancy and managing to take a couple of scrums against the head. This gave them a good platform to work from and from a lineout on the visitor’s 5 m line debutant scrum half McWhirter threaded his way through for a converted score to cut the deficit to a single point.
Then frustratingly within a minute the home side conceded another penalty, one of several given away on the afternoon, and Grosvenor were glad to opt for the kick to put a bit of daylight between them again.
With about 15 minutes left on the clock Randalstown’s effort wasn’t helped when experienced prop Loughlin was awarded a ten minute rest by the ref for obstruction. During his absence ‘Town were tiring inside their own 22, and messed up a clearance opportunity, with McCann then being caught in possession. His supporting teammate couldn’t attempted to clear but the kick was charged down and the visitors were quick to pouce on the loose ball from which they ran in a further converted try.
PSNI 2nd XV 16 Randalstown 3rd XV 22
The motley crew from Randalstown 3s were bolstered this week by the introduction of a number of the under 19 squad and they turned out to be the catalyst to a fine away win to PSNI 2s. The opening 10 minutes saw play moving from end to end as both sides attempted to play a fast open game. The visitors tried to utilise the youth in the side by moving the ball at every opportunity. Ian Hume and Joel Mulholland, together with the centre pairing of McClenaghan and Smyth (who are more usually found in the under 19 pack) were particularly prominent.
Randalstown opened the scoring from a pinpoint accurate lineout on the opposition 22. Veteran Tommy Devlin back pedalled at the tail to secure the throw and popped the ball to Hodges. The rangy 2nd row used his pace to get through the gaping hole in the PSNI defence and run in unchallenged.
The home side came back strongly and immediately put Town under a lot of pressure with their physical pack really trying to take the game to the visitors. Having been awarded a penalty they took a quick tap and crashed over for a converted try. They continued to dominate but failed to cross the line again in the first half and had to be content with 2 penalties as reward for their possession taking the half time score to 13 – 5 in their favour.
‘Town were out of the traps quickly in the second half, and in the opening minutes had gained good position in the PSNI 22. A steady scrum enabled them to get the ball quickly to the abrasive McClenaghan in the centre. He burst through the home midfield and was eventually held up just short, but was able to offload to his centre partner Smyth who stretched over for the score.
A rare excursion in the second half into the Randalstown 22 yielded another penalty for PSNI before the visitors edged in front again. Enjoying another period of sustained pressure in PSNIs 22 and running several penalties ‘Town were well held out by the home defence. Then Gleave, straying in off his wing, found himself at the base of a ruck close to the line from where he picked up and drove over for a deserved try. Cathcart added the extras.
With their tails up the young ‘town side were willing to run from anywhere at this stage. From a penalty awarded inside their own half Cathcart tapped to Turner who combined with Smyth to release McClenaghan on another powerful run up the touchline. The big centre was denied a deserved score just short of the line but again had the presence of mind to offload to young flier Andy Sloane on his shoulder and Sloane dived over for a fine team try.
With 10 minutes remaining Town lost Dave Asquith for an enforced rest but the remaining 14 defended heroically as PSNI threw everything at them and they held out till the final whistle for a well deserved win.
Skipper Curly Hamilton, who led by example on the park, praised the influence and energy of the young players, with Hume and McClenaghan having outstanding games. Donkey Reeves was also singled out for yet another solid game in the pack, steadying a scrum which struggled in the opening encounters.
Team: Morriss Kennedy McClenaghan Smyth A Sloane Turner Cathcart Hamilton (Capt) G Sloane Reeves Devlin Hodges D Asquith Hume Mulholland Replacements M Asquith Gleave
Next Saturday only the seconds are in action away to Ophir.
