Braidmen 'Bec' in winning groove

BALLYMENA grabbed a third straight bonus point win at Bective Rangers to set up a titanic top -of-the-table clash with Ballynahinch this Saturday.

John Andrews' side continued their flawless start to life in AIL Division Two with a free-scoring 37-23 win at Donnybrook.

Ballymena captain Darrell O'Kane was delighted with his side's ability to stick to the task, having been under the cosh in the opening exchanges.

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"We were a bit sluggish to begin with and Bective put us under a lot of pressure in the first 20 minutes - we allowed them to bully us out of it to an extent," O'Kane told Times Sport.

"Bective had a very big pack and they maybe ran out of steam a bit and we managed to pick ourselves up and finish strongly."

Once again, Ballymena were thankful for the mercurial talents of Luke Marshall, who scored two tries and also contributed hugely with the boot.

"It is really good to see Luke injury-free and playing regularly after last season which had so many knocks and setbacks for him.

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"He is fit and strong and is a massive positive influence on our squad, for a player as young as he is."

Ballymena trailed 15-13 at the break before a particularly curious turning point early in the second half tipped the game in their favour.

"It seems strange to say it but we only really livened up after Paul Pritchard was sin-binned.

"We realised at that point we had to pick ourselves up and we gradually began to play our way into the game and eventually got control of it."

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By that stage Bective had added to their lead but the visitors came roaring back with the impish Marshall and prop Andrew Warwick both crossing the try line.

Marshall converted both those and kicked a drop-goal before ful-back Roger McBurney added the icing on the cake with a last minute try to secure yet another bonus point.

"I have to give great credit to our back line, who are playing really well," said O'Kane.

"There is continuity in there - it's been more or less the same back line in the three AIl games we've played and that has helped.

"We maybe don't have the biggest pack in this league but we do know that if we can secure enough ball, we have a back line that will score tries," added Darrell.

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