Clogher Valley 22 – Ballymena 26
Ballymena 2nds advanced to the next round of the Junior Cup by beating Clogher Valley 26-22 at the Cran
In a match played in unseasonably mild conditions a blustery wind was also to have a significant impact on the match. The distinguishing feature of the first quarter was the referee’s whistle and a series of blow-ups for knock ons and forward passes as both sides struggled with the wind with play concentrated in the middle third of the pitch. A good run from Sharkey (in at No.8 for the unavailable Ryan Wilson), after a Valley took a ball against the head at scrumtime, saw Primrose in support for the home team to threaten the Ballymena 22 on 23 minutes. A series of attacks were repelled by Ballymena until the referee signalled an infringement against the visitors on 25 minutes. Armstrong (deputising for the unavailable Holme at out half) missed the difficult penalty.
The Valley tails were up at this stage and they started to put some edge into their attacks. A series of plays between backs and forwards in the Ballymena 22 saw Best eventually switch the direction of the attack to the short side. Treanor, Armstrong and Sharkey made inroads towards the visitors’ line before Clarke (in at flanker for BJ Wilson) was an hand to score his second try in two games in a Clogher Valley jersey on 29 minutes. The difficult conversion was missed and Clarke had to leave the pitch shortly after through injury.
The tempo of the game increased with Valley increasingly dynamic in the loose. Ballymena continued to try and put their stamp on the game and gained some reward on 33 minutes when they secured a penalty on the Valley 22. The penalty was however missed by the Ballymena out half, Small.
As half time approach an excellent touchfinder from Armstrong put Valley deep into the Ballymena. A good lineout take by Sharkey was driven on by a Valley pack and Cobane made the decisive dive for the home team’s second try. A good conversion by Armstrong gave Valley a 12-0 lead on half-time.
The second half started brightly for the away team and Small kicked an excellent penalty from just inside the Valley half on 43 minutes to leave the score at 12-3. Two minutes later Ballymena were awarded another penalty from the same range and Small again hit a well-struck kick to further reduce the deficit to 12-6.
This was a the start of a good spell of the match for Ballymena and, coupled with the increasingly dominant impact of the referee, the visitors were to score 20 further unanswered points in the third quarter. First the Valley No.8 Sharkey was yellow carded on 50 minutes. Two minutes later Falconer was also sent to the sin bin to reduce the Valley team to 13 men. The resulting penalty kicked by Small reduced the deficit to 12-9. With the Valley team on the back foot and Ballymena in the ascendancy a further penalty by Small drew the teams level on 57 minutes.
Two minutes later, with the Valley defence stretched Ballymena scored its first try, with Small adding the conversion, to leave the visitors leading 19-12. With Sharkey and then Falconer restored Valley sought to play catch up rugby, With the clock running down Valley were guilty of bad decision-making after a poor clearance from the home team’s 22 gifted possession back to Ballymena. As the ball bounced into the Valley 22 it was Ballymena’s winger, Smith, who was a hand to score a well taken try under the posts. Small added the extra to leave Ballymena leading 26-12 on 70 minutes.
The last ten minutes saw the Valley camped in the Ballymena 22. The Ballymena cause was not helped when the referee produced a further yellow card, this time to the visitors, on 73 minutes. Good interplay by the Valley backs and forwards created the space for Dunlop (playing out of position at full back) to score a well-taken try on 76 minutes. The conversion was missed to leave Valley trailing 26-17. A grandstand finish beckoned 3 minutes later when Moore rumbled over after the Valley pack had put the Ballymena pack on the back foot. The conversion was missed to leave Valley trailing 26-22, and the clock ran down to give the County Antrim men victory.
