Ballymena under-13s and 19s surge on

On the best Saturday morning for weeks the boys were eager to get into the match and it was not long before the backs showed their quality.

With Farrell ad Miskelly working hard at the breakdown the 13s turned defence into attack and freed top scorer Conor McNeill, who showed great awareness to sprint clear for his first of four tries.

With Ballymena being inspired by man of the match Kerr it was only a matter of time before they were again threatening the Ballyclare line. With O’Donnell providing quick ball from the base of a ruck the ball was moved to centre McNeill who crashed through for his second try.

The boys were quick to take advantage of a poor re-start and Tose took the ball strongly up the field before passing to Kerr who dived across the line for another score.

The second half followed in a similar vein with the Braid boys taking full advantage of their opponents' inability to make use of the ball. McNeill put the game beyond doubt with a further try before one of the scrum half Smyth scored the cheekiest try of the day.

Having won a five metre scrum Smyth realised that there was no cover on the blind side. He took the ball from the base of the scrum, faked a pass to the inside centre before darting unchallenged up the line for a superb try. The boys took a bit of a breather which allowed Ballyclare some hope conceding two late tries, before Fullerton completed the scoring with a fine individual try in a 40-10 win.

The Under 17s were very unlucky in their match against Ballyclare.

Having gone behind early on to two soft tries they fought their way back into the match with an excellent individual try from number 8 Davison. However despite relentless pressure where both McKee and Wilson were unlucky not to score they could not get the vital score. In a very tight and tense second half Ballyclare held out to win 10–5.

The boys, despite this result, are delighted to be back playing and are looking forward to next weeks clash against local rivals Randalstown.

Ballymena Under 19s resumed their post-Xmas campaign with a three hour bus journey to Donegal. Having not played or trained for a month the boys were a bit apprehensive given the strength of their opponents.

However the long journey did not dampen their enthusiasm and they continued their excellent form with a convincing 29-13 away win to put them top of the league.