Respectable season opener for Armoy against fitter Ballymena

It was ultimately the youth and fitness factors that bore fruit for the Braid men as Armoy had lead for three quarters of the match.

Despite tries by Jamie Liken and Enda Casey in the first half and Gareth Wright, Neil Porterfield and Micky McGaughey in the second half, the men from Lime Park lost the match 29-38 with Ballymena scoring most of their points in the last 20 minutes virtue of Armoy being reduced to 14 men for a 10 minute spell in which their very pacey backs exploited the space to run in three tries.

Despite the fixture being a friendly there were some very big tackles being made by both teams in a match played for the most part in a good spirit. Undoubtedly there were a few sore bodies on the Sunday.

After the match Captain Mark Donald praised his charges for what was on the whole a good performance but stressed that any inefficiencies need to be ironed out at training on Wednesday evening.

The match also saw another landmark in the history of Armoy RFC as Tom Christie took to the field for the 40th consecutive season.

Tom is the only player to have played in every season of the club’s history.

Going by the shift he put in on Saturday there won’t be too many people betting against him turning out for a few more years to come.

BALLYMONEY RUGBY NEWS

Ballymoney Ladies First XV training starts on Wednesday 27th august at 7pm. If anyone would like any further information please get in touch with Jen Murphy or any of the Toon ladies. Better still turn up and give it a go! The club hope to see some new faces on the pitch.

On Saturday, 3Oth August Ballymoney 1st XV first home match of the season against Clogher Valley will kick off 2.30pm. Come and support the team, stay for a barbecue, karaoke and 7pm happy hour.