RUGBY: Deserved win for Coleraine Thirds

IT was a return to winning ways for Coleraine Thirds on Saturday as they entertained a Lisburn side with a strong Fijian influence.

After the previous weekend's heavy defeat at the hands of Grosvenor Seconds the home team were keen to make amends.

It was Coleraine who were out of the traps the quickest, strong running from David Ferguson and Andy Gilchrist making inroads into the opposition defence.

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Keen to move the big, physical Lisburn pack around, the home side moved the ball quickly through the hands and a searing break and offload from the Coleraine outhalf saw winger Micheal Mullan go in under the posts after just five minutes.

Moments later it was No.8 Andrew Hutchinson getting in on the act, as he ploughed over from close in.

The successful conversion left it 14-0 with merely ten minutes on the clock and a penalty from Young saw the scoreline extended soon after.

The travelling Fijians were finding the local boys to be more than plucky battlers!

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The tries kept coming for the home side, centre Graham Scobie the next to cross the whitewash, scoring as fine a try as will be seen at the club all season.

Under pressure from an opposition lineout on their own 22, second row Andy McIntosh rose to steal possession and provide superb ball for Gilchrist to charge downfield before showing deft hands with a subtle offload to the supporting Hutchinson.

The burly No.8 ran over one defender then drew another and sent Scobie in under the posts from fully 30 yards out.

The second half saw more of the same, Scobie grabbing his hatrick until Lisburn retaliated with two tries of their own. But it was to be Coleraine's day, McIntosh's surging try and a super finish from Johnny Lowe sealing a deserved 49-12 win for the home side.

Credit must go to the pack, lead superbly throughout by the towering John Boyd. Such victories dont come about in the absence of strong foundations.

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