Round eight of the Ulster Senior League this weekend. With three league games remaining it has come down to a two horse race between league leaders Ballymena with reigning champions Ballynahinch sitting one point behind. The meeting of the two sides at Ballymacarn on the 22nd February 2014 will ultimately decide the destination of the Stevenson Shield with Rainey and Malone a further ten points behind in third and fourth place. Ulster sides Ballynahinch, Belfast Harlequins, Dungannon and Malone will resume their All Ireland league campaign in Division 1A and 1B the following weekend. The remaining Ulster sides in Division 2A and 2B will have a weekend off before they recommence AIL action on the 11th January 2014. Both Ballynahinch and Malone have used the USL fixtures to record two wins after a difficult campaign in the AIL with Quins winning at home to City of Derry and losing away to Malone. The difficulties of the County Tyrone side Dungannon continue with two defeats in the USL. Their task will be made no easier with a visit to title chasing Ballynahinch at Ballymacarn Park this weekend. On the 4th January Dungannon and Belfast Harlequins meet in a crucial AIL game at Stevenson Park.
Ards v Malone
The faithful at Hamilton Park have suffered two fifty point defeats at Ballymena and Armagh in the last two weeks. Injuries along with a flu bug has depleted the playing resources available to coaches Stewart Porter and Gerry Flynn. The only encouraging side to their performances has been a strong first half performance at Ballymena and a early 10 – 0 lead at Armagh. Malone have used the window to give game time to squad players with back row forward Ben McDonald hoping to press for a regular start after scoring several tries. Coaches Jacque Benade and Gareth Fry have looked at several new combinations in the forwards and backs with the half back pairing one position to be resolved. With a daunting AIL trip to Galway to face promotion chasing Corinthians the coaches will look for a strong performance from the side this Saturday. Malone to win
Belfast Harlequins v Banbridge
Quins coach Adam Larkin will want an improvement from his forwards who played second fiddle to a dominant Malone pack at Gibson Park last Saturday. The Deramore Park side have already beaten the Bann 19 – 0 in a pre season friendly. Their forwards will come up against a strong Banbridge forward unit who will make it very difficult for them at the set pieces. Despite conceding five tries in the first half at City of Derry, Bann put in a strong second half performance to end up losing 35 – 24. Quins Captain Neil Simpson will want a win from this game to take into the AIL game at Dungannon the following week. Quins to win
City of Derry v Rainey
The North West side continue to impress this season, with coaches Mark Nicholl and Ashley Blair using the opportunity to strengthen their AIL squad for the second half of their AIL programme. Different combinations have been used in the forwards and backs to give the two coaches difficult decisions for selecting their first xv. With the seconds commencing their defence of the Towns Cup at Bangor on the 4th January the players will have every opportunity to press for a starting place. Players such as Jack Caithness, Mark Robinson, Andrew Semple and Neil Burns have demonstrated their versatility in the backs. In the absence of Richard McCarter, Neil Burns has taken over the kicking duties with aplomb. Derry have already recorded wins over Rainey in the Senior Cup 48 – 8 and the AIL 42 – 21 this season. Rainey coach Richard Boyd will look for an improved performance from his side after five straight losses in the AIL and the USL. Injuries have depleted his playing resources as he strives to strengthen his senior squad. Second row Michael Shiels remains very much the inform player for the Magherfelt side as they look to turn their season around. City of Derry to win
Ballynahinch v Dungannon
Coach Derek Suffern will have been pleased by the performances of several of his Junior Cup winning side who stepped up to the first xv on Sat for their hard earned 29 – 7 bonus point win at the Dub. With injuries depleting his second row options he will have been pleased with the performances of Matty McKeown and Andy Simpson in recent weeks. Injuries have reduced his options with Michael Graham, James Simpson, John Donnan, David McGuigan hoping to resume playing in January. Ex Instonian Kenny Morton now player coach at Ophir has been helping out the County Down side in their AIL games. Dungannon coach Paddy Johns will have been disappointed by their 6 – 0 defeat to Division 2B side Instonians at Shawsbridge last Saturday. Again injuries and Ulster commitments have reduced the playing resources available to him. He will be looking for an improvement from his side to arrest their five game losing run in the AIL and the USL. The task will be made no easier at Ballymacarn by the title chasing men in green. The Hich side will want a strong performance before they travel to UCD for their opening AIL game in 2014. Ballynahinch to win.
Instonians v Ballymena
The Eaton Park side will show no mercy as they look to strengthen their grip on the Ulster Senior League when they visit Shawsbridge on Saturday. Such is the strength in depth within the first xv squad coach Andy Graham knows his players are looking to impress as they push for a starting place in the AIL side. In recent weeks they have found their try scoring form again with fourteen tries against Ards and Rainey. With the seconds commencing their Towns Cup campaign at Portadown the following Saturday the players will use this game with the firsts having no game on this date to again press their claim. The Braid side want silverware at Eaton Park this season and both the firsts and seconds will aim to deliver. Exciting times for the County Antrim side. Instonians will have been bouyed by their 6 – 0 win over Division 1B side Dungannon last Saturday. For coach William Leacock this win will have boosted the confidence of his young talented playing squad. Expect his side to provide stiff resistance in this fixture. Ballymena to win
Queens v Armagh
Students coach Patrick Armstrong has had to dig deep in his playing resources to allow players the opportunity to recover from their AIL and Senior Cup exploits. USL defeats to Banbridge and Ballynahinch have demonstrated the need for strength in depth to compete on several fronts. With the AIL and the All Ireland Cup looming in the coming weeks Robbie Moore and his management team have much work to do. Armagh coach Andy Hughes will want an away win to show his players that they can match their strong home form in the AIL and USL to mount a serious promotion campaign in 2014. Disappointing AIL defeats away to Richmond and Navan have not matched their performances at the Palace grounds. Captain and out half Richard Reaney put in an impeccable kicking display converting all seven conversions in their seven try rout of Ards last Saturday. Armagh to win.
