Threes back to winning ways

Davy Johnson’s men were keen to get onto the pitch on Saturday and make amends for a recent dip in form, which saw them go under the previous week to a poor Instonians side.

With a few changes in the ranks, notably statistician Markey at full back who like Reid the previous week was bedridden, the team sheet had a slightly new feel to it.

Monsieur Dunlop was also returning from his grande vacation for an aprs-midi of rugby.

Having won the toss, the toon received the opening kick, and from the off found themselves under the cosh from a confident High School outfit.

They were determined to put their mark on the game straight away.

Some early fumbling by the Toon forwards helped their cause, and as the ball was poorly cleared, the High School out half calmly slotted over a fine drop goal. 3 nil to the home side in the opening 5 minutes.

The Toon were not amused and shrugged off the opening score by setting about regaining possession from the kick off.

Bryan ‘Slippy’ Lyons was all over the receiver at the restart, and almost caused an instant turnover.

However, some slight of foot in the home side back line enabled them to clear their lines.

High School then set about their game plan of running hard in the backs, feeding their speedy men on the wings.

High balls also rained down on the Toon full back, however, Davidson was more than a match for anything thrown at him, frequently beating 2 or 3 players as he counterattacked with style.

He was ably assisted by McCauley on the wing whose pace was causing real concern in the home ranks.

Although the Toon were holding their own, all the pressure was coming from the home side and this eventually told as an overlap was created after several phases of play.

High School crossed over the whitewash for a fine try. The conversion was added. 10 nil to the home side, but crucially their final score of the match.

Ballymoney did have a couple of chances to narrow the high school lead soon after, however Armstrong had not found his range and the kicks slid wide of the up rights.

The hard running all round the park was being met with some ferocious tackling on both sides.

The Toon back row of Reid, Skelton and Campbell were exceptional all day, forcing turn over after turn over.

The Toon scrums were immense also, causing real concern in the home ranks.

Ballymoney had turned the game in their favour.

There was a real sense of anticipation in the air. The Toon must surely score soon!

Well surprising as it may seem, that’s exactly what did happen.

Sandy McCauley from the wing kicked through and robbed his opposite number at the tackle.

Putting to bed the myths about the front row, Thomas took the ball at pace, yes pace and sprinted his way towards the try line. As the covering tackler came across to cut him off, the loose head had the nerve and audacity to side step him.

Well it looked more like a goose step than a side step. Anyhow, the prop rounded the last man, and finished off by scoring under the posts.

A mighty score from the 21st prop, exactly what was needed, and the real turning point in the game. Armstrong added the conversion. 10-7 as the half drew to a close.

Johnson was a much happier captain at half time.

We had weathered the storm and had to push on now, taking the game to the home side.

They did not like our brand of rugby.

Score first and their heads would be down. And as it happened, that’s exactly what the Toon did in the second half. Battering runs from Johnson showed us the way.

The defence was solid and Armstrong was now finding his range with the boot. Several kicks would pin the opposition back three into their half. The toon lineouts were immense.

The returning brawn of Hezlett was doing damage to the home line, taking several against the head, causing disruption and mayhem wherever he went. Such was the Toon pressure that the referee had no choice but to penalise the home outfit.

Up stepped Timmy to kick the Toon level, 10 minutes into the half.

High School did not know what had hit them! Score – 10 each.

The Toon were calm under the restart.

Campbell received and drove forward to set up the ruck. A fine kick pinned the high school into their half.

The Toon pinched the resultant lineout and set up a series of drives, rucks and mauls that had the home team scrambling in defence. Quick hands in the backline eventually found that powerhouse Hezlett, who barged his way through several would be tacklers to cross over the whitewash.

A cracking score by the Toon that typified their dominance in the second half.

The conversion was missed. The score was 10-15 to the visitors.