Bad weather made game against Young Munster a pantomime
AIL League 1A,
Venue: Ballymacarn Park,
Ballynahinch 13 Young Munster 16.
In the midst of pantomime season Ballynahinch fluffed their lines at the end of an awful match played in horrendous conditions against a team who had already beaten them in bad weather this season writes James Kirk.
The local side had a strong team out and were favourites to win but failed to deliver in the second half.
Young Munster took the lead early on with a close range score and Ballynahinch equalised through one of the few passages of cohesive back play in the match.
Mark Best set Conor Rankin free on the outside and he put Aaron Sexton in space to kick ahead and score under the posts. Rankin exchanged penalties with Shane O’Leary to leave the match finely poised at half time.
The scene was set for Ballynahinch to turn round and play towards the clubhouse knowing the margins would be fine in deteriorating weather but Young Munster controlled possession in the second half and the home side came away from a couple of visits to the opposition 22 scoreless.
They did take the lead with a Rankin penalty but Young Munster finished strongly and Ballynahinch failed to manage the end of the match well enough to close out the result, giving penalties away in the 74th and 85th minutes for O’leary to calmly steal the points.
This was a significant result in the race for an elusive playoff place and Adam Craig and his troops will have to recover quickly as they travel to Armagh for a massive local derby this weekend.
All support welcome.
Ballynahinch 1-21: Kyke McCall (Capt), Claytan Milligan, James French, Bradley Luney, Cormac Izuchukwu, Greg Jones, Zack McCall. Bryn Ward, Chris Gibson, Jack Milligan, Aaron Sexton, Mark Best, Ben Carson, Paul Kerr, Conor Rankin, Conor Piper, John Dickson, Declan Horrox, Callum Irvine, Arthur Johnston, Dominic Clapcott.
Ballynahinch RFC Round-up 09/12/2023
Club Notes
The appalling recent weather led to the postponement of the 2nd and 3rd team fixtures on Saturday as well as the youth and mini matches but the 5ths maintained their grip on the McCambley Cup with an excellent away win over Omagh 4ths.
The Club shop is well stocked with merchandise for Christmas. See social media for opening hours.
Pre-match lunches are filling up fast. Armagh on 13th January is now SOLD OUT. There is a bonus lunch on 23rd December for the Senior Cup fixture vs Instonians for those who missed out. To book a place contact James Shaw on 07740308051
Youth Training continues on Mondays at 7pm for boys and Wednesdays at 7pm for girls. All players U12/U14/U16/U18 welcome and no experience necessary. Contact Clifton Quinn for details on 07501228045.
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:
Results 9th December 2023
Ballynahinch 13 Young Munster 16 (AIL Division 1A)
Omagh 4 11 Ballynahinch 5 18 (McCambley Cup)
Fixtures 16/12/2023
City of Armagh vs Ballynahinch (AIL Division 1A)
Omagh vs Ballynahinch (Womens Premiership)
City of Armagh 2 vs Ballynahinch 2 (2nd XV League)1pm
Carrick 2 vs Ballynahinch 3 (Provincial Prem 1)
Ballynahinch/Cooke U18 vs Ophir U18 (Shaws Bridge)
