Braidmen suffer relegation shock

John Andrews' side Ballymena travelled to Ballynahinch for a match which Ballymena had to win to ensure their survival in the AIB AIL 1B but they failed miserably and went down by 35 points to 20.

The other teams in the relegation battle, Buccaneers and Dungannon, won their matches and so Ballymena and Ballynahinch will be plying their trade in the AIB AIL division 2 next season.

It was a sickening end to a day which Ballymena had started fully in control of their own destiny. A positive result would have ended any question marks but instead, all the other parts of the equation duly occurred, leaving Ballymena in the drop zone, along with 'Hinch.

For a change this match was played in bright sunshine on a firm pitch; a diagonal wind favoured Ballynahinch in the first half.

In the first half neither side was able to establish superiority and with the interval score 18 points to 14 for Ballynahinch the match was finely balanced.

Ballymena had an early chance in the eighth minute with a penalty but it was missed. The home side took the lead three minutes later when Ryan Bramby got a penalty chance in front of the posts.

Right from the kick off Ballymena got possession and made good ground into home territory and after a prolonged period of pressure and good phases the ball was recycled to the backs and Tommy Seymour ended a good passing move scoring in the corner. From wide on the left Rory Drysdale put over a superb kick to make the score seven points to three for the visitors.

Ballynahinch got possession from the kick off and they had a good spell of play in Ballymena territory which ended when David Nicholson scored in the corner to put the home side one point ahead.

They went further ahead in the 24th minute when Michael Graham got the first of his three tries and Ryan Bramby converted. Ballymena got on top a bit as the interval approached and Tommy Seymour got another try and Drysdale again converted.

With only four points separating the teams it was all to play for in the second half and the match could have gone either way.

Ballymena got the first score when Drysdale put over a penalty in the 44th minute. They seemed to settle better in the second half and the backs were running the ball and on one occasion only a desperate tackle took Tommy Seymour into touch when he looked certain to score.

However the most Ballymena would get from this good period of pressure was another penalty to put them in the lead by 20 points to 18 with a quarter of the match remaining.

They continued to take the game to the home side and play, which Ballymena were dominating was just in the Ballynahinch half. Ballymena were keeping the ball well and making it difficult for the home side until a Ballymena player decided to kick the ball. It went straight up in the air and gave possession away.

Ballynahinch came back and forced a penalty. Although kickable, they decided to put it in the corner. From the line-out they got possession resulting in another seven points from Graham and Bramby to make the score 25 points to 20.

With just over 10 minutes to go Ballynahinch could sense victory and they really came at Ballymena. As has been proved in recent matches against Queens and Dungannon, Ballymena struggle against straight running attackers and yet again it proved to be their downfall.

The Hinch threw everything at Ballymena and they had no answer. Further tries from Stuart Morrow and Graham - completing his hat-trick - made the final score 35 points to 20.

Unfortunately for both clubs the outcome of other matches meant that they were both relegated.

Ballymena: P Budina; R McBurney, A Frazer, S Castle, T Seymour; R Drysdale, D O'Hara; J Carson (A Ferguson 63), R Fisher (J Taggart 47), S Shawe, D O'Kane (A Graham 69), B Young, A Kerr, M Entwistle (R Hackney 62), S McKinney.