RUGBY: Down but not out

It was a hard fought encounter on Friday evening at Kilraughts Road, the scores even on ten-all at the break, but Ballymoney came back strongly in the second half to take a 23-15 victory, their third win of the season against the Bannsiders. Coleraine had their opportunities but disallowed tries and some determined defence by the home side saw their efforts come to no avail.

On Saturday came the news that City of Derry and Portadown now face a play off to determine who plays All-Ireland AIB League Division 3 next season and who plays in the Kukri Qualifying League. That will be sorted out in the next few weeks but the net result is that only one Ulster junior team is due for relegation from the league for next season.

A run of recent form saw Coleraine claw their way off the bottom rung of the league with wins against Dromore and Clogher Valley, overtaking Enniskillen who now face the drop. A win against Ballymoney on Friday would have taken Coleraine clear of Bangor as well and out of the potential relegation zone, but the City of Derry result against Richmond at the weekend means a play off between them and Portadown and, crucially for the Coleraine, that only one team is going down.

Speaking to Times Sport, Coleraine coach Richard Kernohan said: "We had a strong performance against Ballymoney but we didn't get the result we wanted. A couple of apparently good tries were disallowed and in the final phases of the game we just could not get past the Ballymoney defence.

"The boys were disappointed, naturally, but we came away without significant injury. Everyone showed a lot of determination and effort and the work rate was immense.

"Now that we have survived the season without being relegated, which seemed a real possibility at a time, we can spend the off season looking at our plans for next season, out tactics and our squad. We will have to work hard to make sure we are ready for a strong campaign in the autumn.

"I want to thank the many players who have contributed so much to the squad through what can be only described as a difficult season. We faced a catalogue of injuries and a lot of people stood up to the mark when we really needed it and their efforts have to be recognised."

On Friday evening the match was played in front of a large crowd at Ballymoney. The visitors started off very strongly and within five minutes they were almost in the points

A confident Coleraine attack from the centre of the park saw Nial Irwin receive the ball at speed on the wing. He seemed to have scored but the linesman indicated a foot had been in touch just as he crossed the line to touch down.

Coleraine continued the pressure and Michael Griffith claimed three points from a 35 metre penalty two minutes later. With 11 minutes gone he was just wide with another attempt.

Ballymoney did not lie down and with 13 minutes on the clock their attack yielded a penalty. They also claimed three points.

The home side pressed their advantage and with 18 minutes gone created a potent overlap to score a fine try. The conversion was on target.

As the half drew to close, Coleraine turned defence into attack when Paul Roxborough gathered a probing Ballymoney kick into Coleraine territory. He sliced through the Ballymoney lines, popped the ball to Paul Shiels who sprinted to the line and scored under the posts. Griffith slotted over the conversion to leave the half time score 10-10.

Ten minutes into the second half the Ballymoney No4 was sin binned and Coleraine opted to go for touch with the penalty. Working from the five metre throw in Coleraine produced a mighty forward push, only to give away a penalty and relieve the pressure on the home side.

Ballymoney scored again from a penalty after 20 minutes but in a follow up attack right to the try line, Coleraine were again held out.

A few minutes later Ballymoney took full advantage of a misjudged clearance kick by Coleraine and charged the ball down. They gathered possession and broke away to score a converted try under the posts.

With half an hour gone Coleraine scored after a solid attack culminated in Nigel Hall breaking through much of the home defence, feeding the ball to Darren Smyth to score. Griffith was just off target with the conversion.

A short time later Ballymoney claimed the final points of the match with another penalty kick. Coleraine dominated proceeding in the latter stages of the game but the stout Ballymoney defence kept them out.

The final score was Ballymoney 23 Coleraine 15.

In other matches the results were Coleraine Seconds 44 Enniskillen Seconds 5 and Portadown Thirds 38 Coleraine Thirds 7

Coleraine First XV: L George, M Hunter (S Bartlett), S Jefferson, B Butugan, J Gault, J Cromie, S Dickey, D Taylor, P Roxborough, M Griffith, N Irwin, S Patterson, N Hall, D Smyth, P Shiels (C Barber). Subs: C Barber, S Bartlett.