Ballynahinch Firsts scrape through against Young Munster
AIL Division 1A,
Ballynahinch 35 Young Munster 33.
Ballynahinch survived a late scare to take maximum points from their opening AIL fixture at Ballymacarn Park. The home side had an almost full-strength squad available but coach Adam Craig and his backroom staff had legitimate concerns that the early-season opposition hadn’t provided any real test writes James Kirk.
The off season project to revamp the changing rooms saw Ballynahinch emerge from a brand new building and for the first half an hour of the match they matched their new surrounds with immaculate clinical rugby as they scored four converted tries to lead by 28 points with a bonus point victory seemingly a formality.
The talismanic Bradley Luney opened the scoring and captain Claytan Milligan went over from close range to open up a lead.
Mark Best then scored to finish a long period of pressure and when Matthew Booth picked an excellent line to score under the posts after Luney and Declan Horrox started a counter attack from deep in their own half Young Munster looked well beaten.
They were second best in every department but were given a lifeline just before the half when Ballynahinch fell off a couple of tackles to allow tricky winger Hubert Gilvarry to score.
The second half was then dominated by the away side as they capitalised on an ill-disciplined and disjointed Ballynahinch performance to chip away at the deficit.
Gilvarry was also involved as they scored through Shay McCarthy and Ballynahinch nerves were really jangling when Christian Foley reduced the arrears to less than ten points with half an hour still to play.
Irish U-20 prop Tom McCallister steadied the ship with another converted try to rebuild the lead but Young Munster continued to dominate possession and territory, scoring two more converted tries through Gilvarry and Paul Allen to move just two points behind with ten minutes remaining.
When the Limerick were awarded a very kickable penalty in the dying embers of the match the Ballynahinch faithful thought history was to repeat itself after Young Munster stole the points in similar fashion two seasons previously.
Luckily Kelvin Langan’s kick was off target and Ballynahinch kicked off their season with a full complement of five match points. They travel to newly promoted Old Belvedere next Saturday. All support welcome.
Ballynahinch 1-20
Matthew Burke, Claytan Milligan (Capt), Tom McAllister, Declan Horrox, Bradley Luney, Marcus Rea, Zack McCall, Bryn Ward, Chris Gibson, Paul Kerr, Aaron Sexton, Mark Best, Matthew Booth, Ethan Graham, Conor Rankin, Josh Hanlon, Joe Mawhinney, Ryan Connolly, Peter Heasley, James Humphreys, Pierce Crowe.
Ballynahinch RFC Round-up for 27 9 2025
Club Notes
Ballynahinch Women continued their league campaign with a heavy defeat at Clogher Valley. They will be hopeful of a better showing against derby rivals Banbridge in two weeks.
The 2nd XV passed their first big test of the season with a seven try demolition of Armagh to cement their position at the top of the 2nd XV League. They are back at home against rivals Instonians on Saturday.
The 4th and 5th XV made it a clean sweep of wins for the senior men on Saturday with league victories over Omagh and Armagh respectively.
Youth teams were all in action at the weekend with excellent wins for the boys and promising performances from the girls.
The next AIL home fixture is against UCD on 11th October.
To book your place at the pre-match lunch contact James Kirk on 07966143184.
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 Johnny Cullen for details on 07595651901.
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 Kenny Morton – Mini Convenor on 07813157614,
or email [email protected].
Results for 27 9 2025
Ballynahinch 35 Young Munster 33 (AIL Division 1A)
Clogher Valley 43 Ballynahinch 0 (Women’s Premiership)
Armagh 2 0 Ballynahinch 2 43 (2nd XV League)
Ballynahinch 4 42 Omagh 4 5 (Provincial South)
Armagh 4 24 Ballynahinch 5 43 (Regional South).
