Hanna try puts Ballymoney on way to victory

Ballymoney RFC travelled to Dromore RFC on Saturday and after a close physical game came home 3-10 winners.

Injuries hit the squad again with Taggart and Surgneour not recovering from injuries sustained against CIYMS. David Watson was injured at training and McCartney was unavailable. This saw a return for Skelton to the wing, Peter Irvine start his first game after a 4 month lay off with a knee injury and Garvin Bellingham start at open-side for his first game for the 1st XV.

Ballymoney started in the ascendency and put pressure on the larger Dromore pack. The visitors kept the ball well and linked between forwards and backs, however some knock ons and the loss of the ball in contact on a few occasions allowed Dromore to clear their lines.

A good break from Watson took play into the Dromore 22 and the ball was moved towards the wing. However good work from the Dromore forwards turned it over at a ruck and they cleared their lines. From the line out Ballymoney attacked the try line, however they were penalised for an infringement at the maul and again Dromore were able to clear their line.

The pressure from the more mobile Toon side brought about two kickable penalties but unfortunately Captain James Cleland returning to his old club was off target.

The half remained a battle of defences as also Dromore missed with a long range penalty which means the score at the break was 0-0.

The second half started with play in the middle of the pitch. Ballymoney made some good breaks through strong running by wingers Skelton and Brace and fullback Strang and centre Watson.

However, again form the penalties Cleland pushed his kick wide, but made up for it on 60 minutes with a converted penalty to give Ballymoney an important but narrow lead of 0-3.

The Dromore team were using their larger pack to effect as they mauled form the lineout and picked at the rear of the ruck. However Ballymoney matched the Dromore side in defence and limited the yardage they made.

A Ballymoney forward was binned at a ruck for not rolling away which seemed to be a harsh decision given play was in the middle of the pitch however Dromore missed the opportunity and with a kick towards the corner launched a forwards attacked.

Great work from the Toon front 5 at both the scrum and fringes of the ruck limited the ground the Dromore pack made. Dromore moved the ball through the hands of their large prop forwards and Number 8 but again the Toon stood firm. Finally when the ball was moved out wide the rush defence from Cleland cased the knock on and Ballymoney were able to clear the lines and advert the try.

Dromore did land a penalty to draw the score to 3-3 just before the Ballymoney team returned to full strength. With only 5 minutes on the clock the Toon men kept the ball and through the forwards running well stretched the Dromore defence. Bartlett was taking over from where Bellingham had left off with some good work with the ball in hand.

Ballymoney however were awarded a scrum on the 5metre line and put pressure on the Dromore 8. The scrum was reset a number of times before the toon pack got the important shove on. As they headed towards the line, the scrum wheeled on the opened and Number 8 Jonny Hanna grabbed the opportunity as he crashed over the line for what was the winning score. Cleland added the conversion and with only a minute left Ballymoney had a 3-13 lead.

The final twist of the game saw Graham take the kick off and with the Dromore pack sleeping he cut a line through the middle of the pack and made a great 20metre run. He moved the ball to the back line where Ballymoney were awarded a penalty for a Dromore infringement. Cleland made no mistake and kicked the ball dead for the final whistle to blow and Ballymoney to take a hard fought 4 league points with a 3-13 win.

Team: Ramage, Irvine, Bellingham, Graham, Platt, Mullholland, G Bellingham, Hanna, Nelson, Skelton, Cleland, Watson, Brace, Strang, Bartlett, Gardener

Coaches Comments: “We had been working on our defence and it was again an improvement from last week. The big difference this week was our discipline. All the players who game into the squad today done an excellent job. Neal Mullholland, Andy Gardener and Garvin Bellingham in the pack were everywhere and have really thrown their hat in the ring as far as selection. It was good to get Irvine back in the team and great to see him come through the game ok. The whole team played well together and we were up against a very improved and well organised Dromore team so I am delighted with the away win. We have a week off before the next fixture which is Cooke at home on the 8 December. We will be pushing hard at training over the next two weeks to keep this momentum going.”

* Although there is no 1st XV fixture at home this week sees the POWER NI U19s take on City of Derry U19 so why not come out and support our future talent on Saturday. Kick off is at 2.30pm.