Randalstown 1st XV 32 U U C 1st XV 3
A bonus point win at Neillsbrook on Saturday afternoon saw Randalstown move up to mid table in Qualifying 2, snapping at the heels of Carrickfergus who’s result was not available at the time of writing. This is very satisfactory in what has been a slow start to the season for the ‘Town 1st string with only 5 games played to date in comparison to the ten played by the 3rd XV. They will hope however to continue winning ways next Saturday when Lisburn are the visitors to Neillsbrook. Coach Longwell should have the luxury of being able to select from an injury free group of players at this stage and this continuity will hopefully bring dividends.
Two early McGlade penalties saw ‘Town move quickly into a 6-0 lead but thereafter it was a considerable time before the scoreboard was troubled again. The game was pretty much contested in the middle of the park with UUC’s defence seemingly up to whatever tactic Randalstown tried against them. A bit of frustration then saw ‘Town concede a kickable opportunity with half time approaching. This was duly converted to narrow the gap.
Spurred into action by this lapse (and perhaps a little bit of encouragement from the touchline) ‘Town were quickly back up the field and made good ground with a penalty to the corner. Again having secured ball from the lineout the home side tried the crash ball, ball through the hands and various options in between only to come up against determined UUC defence. Eventually the pressure told on the visitors and they conceded a penalty at very close quarters. ‘Town spurned the very kickable opportunity electing to take the tap and Allen took crash ball gaining vital yards. With the support of the pack they rumbled over and Gary Hume was the man emerging with ball in hand. McGlade added the straightforward conversion and ‘Town went into the break 13-3 to the good.
The second half continued pretty much as the first half had played out with neither side able to penetrate effectively. After 20 minutes the strength of Chris Allen paid dividends as he barged through the visiting defence to touch down and again McGlade was accurate with the conversion.
Then came the high point of the game. From the re-start young David McWhirter gathered on his 22 and set off at pace down the right wing. He ran, dribbled, chipped and chased and despite some attention (judged illegal by the man in the middle) touched down and was awarded a penalty try making the conversion a formality for McGlade. This brought the sizeable crowd back to life and the ‘Town men were given plenty of encouragement as they played out the last few minutes since a bonus point was now not beyond the realms of possibility.
Now enjoying their purple patch ‘Town began to play the sort of rugby they are infinitely capable of and one of the UUC backline ran into some heavy defensive traffic in the form of Smith and Wilson as he tried to make ground up the touchline. The ball was passed back inside and smart play by Scott Stevenson enabled it to progress to the far touchline where McWhirter was on hand to speed away. Niall McGlade was up quickly in support and had the strength and pace to cross over out wide and seal the bonus point.
