Ballynahinch RFC U14’s Enjoy Win Over Donaghadee.
Donaghadee U14 12 Ballynahinch U14 55.
After defeat to Carrick in their last league outing the U14s entered the playoffs with a point to prove and were given an early jolt when Donaghadee broke through a big hole in midfield to score under the posts reports Colin Donaldson.
The locals responded instantly with a great breakdown turnover allowing prop Daniel Kinchin to rumble over the line from a neat Callum McCargo offload.
After a scrappy period of play centre James Graham created space for himself deep in opposition territory with some excellent footwork. He was stopped short but quick ball from Ethan Donaldson released Adam Blain for a try. An great team try followed with a scrum against the head and an excellent Joshua Woods crosskick taking Sam Hamilton close to the line.
Tiernan McCann was on hand to finish from close range and a rampant Ballynahinch outfit then all but sealed the game with a fourth first half try when the dangerous McCann was stopped just short of the line following fast hands from the backs. Ethan McMullan was there to blast over from the ensuing ruck and take the score to 26-7.
To their credit the home side came back hard before half time and Ballynahinch had to show plenty of resilience in defence as Donaghadee camped in their 22. Great line speed and textbook tackle technique eventually forced the turnover and Donaldson put the ball out of play to end the half.
Early in the second period Graham made another break and fed McMullan for his second score and the two centres combined to put McCann in again and secure the result. Despite a Donaghadee try the Ballynahinch outfit showed no mercy with Adam Blain scoring his second and then producing a great turnover which led to McMullan grabbing his hat trick score. Joshua Woods was imperious off the tee throughout the match and finished with seven conversions from eight tries scored to stretch the final score out to 54-12.
Dungannon provide the opposition in the next round and Ballynahinch will hope to recreate this kind of performance and progress further in the competition.
Ballynahinch RFC Round Up for 8th January 2022.
Club Notes
Ballynahinch opened their quest to break the Armagh stranglehold on the Senior Cup with a nine try demolition of Bangor at Upritchard Park.
Nine different players crossed the line as the gulf in class between AIL 1A and 2C was on display. Tommy Donnan managed a rare try to open the floodgates. Scores from John Dickson Jnr, Yasser Omar, Ronan Patterson, Thomas Martin and skipper Zac McCall gave the Ballymacarn men a 34 point half time lead.
Josh Hanlon, fresh from Ireland U20 action, was the next to go over. Although Bangor managed a consolation score normal service was swiftly resumed as Conor McCauley and Rory Butler added further scores to take the score out to 55-5 and send Ballynahinch into the quarter-final draw. They travel to Lansdowne this weekend as the AIL resumes after the Christmas break.
The 2nd XV warmed up for their Towns Cup opener this weekend against Banbridge with a comfortable 24-12 league victory over the same opposition and will hope for a similar result on Saturday.
Unfortunately the 4ths were unable to progress in the Forster Cup as they went down to a strong Ballymena 3rd XV.
Youth Training continues at 7pm on a Monday night. All players U12/U14/U16/U18 welcome and no experience necessary. Contact Michael Preston for details on 07702050192.
Mini rugby continues on Saturday mornings from 9.30-11am. Boys and girls from P1 – Yr8 are all welcome, with training run for each age group in their school year. Mini rugby news is posted weekly on the club Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/ballynahinchrfcofficial.
For more details contact David Martin – Mini Convenor on 07837944892 or email hinchminis@gmail.com.
Details of how to purchase tickets for the First XV matches and a full selection of Hinch merchandise can be found on our social media outlets and on the club app.
AIL pre-match lunches are back in full swing with Terenure the visitors on January 22nd 2022. Contact James Shaw 07740308051, Erin Hodgen 07540706564 or David George 07951610151
Results 08/01/2022
Bangor 5 Ballynahinch 55 (Senior Cup)
Banbridge 2 12 Ballynahinch 2 24 (Premiership 2nd XV)
Ballynahinch 4 3 Ballymena 3 20 (Forster Cup)
Donaghadee U14 12 Ballynahinch U14 54 (League Playoffs)
Fixtures 15/01/2022
Lansdowne vs Ballynahinch (AIL 1A)
Ballynahinch 2 vs Banbridge 2 (Towns Cup)
Ballyclare 2 vs Ballynahinch 3 (Provincial Premiership 1)
Ballynahinch 4 vs Harlequins 3 (Provincial East)
Ballynahinch 5 vs Newry 2 (Regional South)
Carrick Women vs Ballynahinch Women (Championship)
(All photos courtesy of David Barr.)
