The U13s, U15s & U17s all enjoyed victories against near neighbours Ballymena at Neillsbrook on Saturday morning.
Randalstown U17 47 Ballymena U17 0
Randalstown U15 34 Ballymena U15 10
Randalstown U13 20 Ballymena U13 10
The U19s travelled to Larne and recorded their 2nd league victory 30 points to 17, and then the 1st and 2nd XVs enjoyed a good day at the office against Ophir 1st XV and Newry 2nd XV respectively.
Meanwhile the mini section attended a Mini Rugby Blitz at Ballymena and won 10 from 12 matches through the various age groups. This was the first competitive outing for Randalstown Mini Rugby section all looking resplendent in their new shirts kindly sponsored by Cookstown Meats. The section would like to thank Colin Glennon of Cookstown Meats for this invaluable level of support.
Randalstown 1st XV 17 Ophir 1st XV 3
Ophir returned to Neillsbrook again on Saturday afternoon, this time for a league date with Randalstown. Clearly they were determined that a repeat of the 1st 40 minutes the previous week was not on the agenda. Despite several good attacking chances for the home side it was Ophir who broke the deadlock after about 20 minutes with a penalty. ‘Town continued to be slightly at sixes and sevens and but for the sheer pace of Blayne McGarry on the left wing the deficit would almost certainly have been increased. The danger was averted with the resulting penalty and now apparently stung into action Randalstown progressed quickly into the Ophir 22 and were in turn awarded a penalty which Boyd converted to level the scores.
A further chance went begging just before half time when the ball was blown off the tee before Boyd had his kick cued up leaving it honours even.
The 2nd half continued pretty much as the first had ended with Randalstown unable to get the upper hand against a very determined Ophir side until Boyd plucked out a ball from the base of a ruck and shipped to Laverty coming at a fair pace. The experienced centre’s momentum was sufficient to carry him the remaining 30 yards to touch down between the posts and leave Boyd a straightforward conversion.
Ophir couldn’t gather their restart and the ball trundled unhindered into touch to hand the advantage back to Randalstown as Mark Allen was having a fine day in the lineout, and he duly obliged allowing flanker Fleck to break at pace and take the ball well back inside Ophir territory. Ophir turned the ball over at this point however as Fleck’s break seemed to take some of his team mates by surprise and thankfully Allen was on hand again to thwart the visitor’s attempt at a counter.
Encouraged to focus on the task in hand by coach Stevenson Randalstown were now starting to look the more lively with Blayne McGarry and William Montgomery in particular providing several attacking opportunities. Eventually Montgomery broke up the centre and Ryan Wilson was alert to the opportunity and able to finish the move, again between the posts, allowing Boyd to add the extras.
Ophir still didn’t want to sing from the same hymn sheet and went straight back on the attack. Only some heroic defending from ‘Town prevented them from adding to their tally and it was a relief when the final whistle sounded.
Randalstown always aspire to play good flowing rugby so they may be slightly disappointed with this afternoon’s performance. However this game could so easily have gone the other way and the players should take great heart in the way they knuckled down to the task and came away with a good solid win in the end, having shown tenacity and determination to close out the game.
Despite having attended Craig Coulter’s nuptials the previous day Alex Fleck proved an able deputy for the temporarily sidelined Dan Wilson and put in a worthy performance. Paul Laverty and Ryan Wilson also caught the eye with some good attacking play.
Team: McGlade B McGarry P Laverty W Montgomery R McGarry Boyd Wilson D Millar Finlay Foster (Capt) Allen M Millar Hume Fleck Hurrell.
Newry 2nd XV 0 Randalstown 2nd XV 10
Randalstown 2nds continued their topsy turvy season with a win away to a stubborn Newry 2nds. Despite playing the whole game with only 14 men due to the non-appearance of Dave Harris, who enjoyed his trip to Monaghan the previous week so much that he returned to the venue this week, they fought hard to run out 10 – 0 winners.
Starting with captain Gary Walker in the unaccustomed position of out-half, the visitors were finding it hard to secure any worthwhile possession. However when the skipper returned to his normal no 9 position they were a lot more secure at the breakdown and it was a long kick forward from Walker that set up the opening score. Ings and Fleck closed down the kick and the pressure they were able to exert led to Newry giving away a penalty. The ever alert Walker tapped quickly and fed Ryan Keating who bulldozed over the try line for the five pointer.
The remainder of the half saw town defend heroically with Newry trying to use their numerical advantage through the 10/12 channel. 2nd rowers Pollen & Millar were particularly noticeable in this aspect.
The 2nd half saw more of the same and the visitors were further hampered when prop Ricky Loughlin further damaged a shoulder injury he was already carrying. He battled manfully on and ‘Town held their own in the scrum and dominated the lineouts.
Midway through the half a long punt from defence by the ever reliable Adie Johnston relieved the pressure and good following up prevented Newry from gathering and clearing their lines. Walker got his hands on the ball but was held up short, but as ever Ryan Ings was in support on his shoulder to pick up and dive over for a second randalstown try.
Manager Richardson picked out Ings and Mulholland as his star men on a day when all 14 put in a mighty shift. He was also at pains for the absent Harris to return his sat nav to first aider Vernon Thom as it obviously requires some fine tuning.
Team: Darling Fleck Johnston Moon Mulholland Walker Winter Loughlin Stevenson Hamilton Pollen Millar Keating Ings.
Next Saturday the 1sts travel to Newry and the 3rds are at Civil Service. The 2nd XV have a welcome break.
The home entertainment will be provided by the Under 19s as they take on Larne at 12.00 noon. Please come along and support the under 19s as they strive to maintain their unbeaten league record this season.
Randalstown members were saddened to learn of the deaths of Philip and Sharon Hull at the weekend. We offer our condolences to our friends and neighbours at Antrim Rugby Club, and our deepest sympathy to the family circle at this very difficult time.
