Ballymoney Fourts clinch league title at Rainey

ON Saturday Ballymoney 4's travelled to play Rainey 4thxv in their latest league fixture which they duly won by 6 - 0 to ultimately secure the Minor League North title with a few games to spare.

This performance was very much a case of after the Lord Mayor's show with their semi final victory last week in the McCambley Cup. In what turned out to be a bad tempered game with numerous of fthe ball incidents detracting from the main focus of playing rugby, it was Ballymoney who made the initial early incursions into the home 22.

From one of these sorties Ballymoney were awarded a penalty when a home forward was penalised underneath the posts for holding on at the breakdown which left J.Trainor the task of converting this simple penalty opportunity.

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The remainder of this ill disciplined half was largely played in the Rainey half with D.Smyth putting in some telling tackles and generally taking the game to the opposition as his back can testify by the stud marks visible after the game.

Strong words at halftime seemed to have had the desired effect on the visitors as they immediately started the 2nd half with a bang. From a lineout on the home 22 the 4's took a clean catch and proceeded to rumble the ball close to the homeline were they were thwarted from scoring the opening try.

However they did continue to turn the screw and it was not long before the homeside had to infringe again at the breakdown to ensure that the boys from the 'Toon did not cross their whitewash. Again the reliable Trainor converted the penalty to extend the lead. The 4's were now beginning to play the way they knew they could and after several phases of possession it looked certain a J.McPhearson was going to score in the corner only to be prevented by a high tackle.

This seemed to single for a return to the 1st half shanigans as mayhem returned and the remainder of the match was played under these conditions to leave the final score at 6 - 0

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The Ballymoney lads were understandably proud to have secured the League title but were left feeling a little flat as they know this was not a performance of their usual standard.

However they know that to win when not playing to their full potential is a sign of a strong team. The oncoming weeks are vital as they look to use their final league games to build up a head of steam

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