Hinch Firsts Beaten By Top Of League St Mary’s
AIL Division 1,
Venue: Ballymacarn Park, Saturday 6th December 2025,
Final Score: Ballynahinch 0 St.Mary’s 14.,
James Kirk reports.
League leaders St.Mary’s were the visitors to a soggy Ballymacarn Park on Saturday and were in no mood to join in the Christmas cheer being enjoyed in the clubhouse as supporters sat down to a festive feast.
They travelled with a settled side untroubled by the vagaries of the club versus province horse trading behind the scenes and ground out a victory which underlined their credentials as bona fide title contenders.
Adam Craig has seen his plans decimated by injury to key personnel over the past few weeks and Bradley Luney was the latest withdrawal on the eve of the match after confirmation that he has a significant knee injury and will be out until well into the New Year.
There was however good news with the return of Reuben Crothers in the back row while in the backs Paul Kerr moved to centre in the absence of the injured Mark Best and James Humphreys continued at outhalf.
Ballynahinch played into the elements in the first half and showed superb defensive resilience as despite being pinned inside their own 22 for large parts of the opening quarter they made a succession of goal line stands to keep their Dublin opponents out.
However they failed to keep the ball on their rare forays upfield and were under significant pressure at the set piece.
The deadlock was broken when a missed tackle in midfield allowed hard-carrying number 8 Ronan Watters to surge towards the posts and over the line with the help of his team mates.
The rest of the half remained scoreless and the home side turned around knowing that the points were within their grasp given the conditions.
However their set piece continued to misfire and they failed to kick themselves into good field position, allowing St.Mary’s to apply pressure and when the league leaders gained a foothold near the Ballynahinch line they turned their scrum supremacy into a pushover try from Watters, despite the strong suggestion of a knock-on as the ball flew out of the scrum.
A fourteen point deficit was always going to be difficult to overcome in wet conditions and as the game drew to a close St.Mary’s looked the more likely side to score as they maintained their place at the top of the table.
There is no respite for this battered and bruised Ballynahinch outfit as they travel to Clontarf next week for a Bateman Cup/AIL double header as the league reached its half way stage.
Kickoff is at 4pm and a large travelling support would be most welcome.
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Ballynahinch RFC Round-up 06 12 2025
Club Notes
The Bateman Cup Final will be away to Clontarf on Saturday 13th December. The match will be a double header with AIL points also on the line. Kick off is at 4pm.
The 2nd XV continued their unbeaten season with a 64-0 drubbing of Clogher Valley to maintain their position at the top of the league.
Mike Evans and his band of 4th XV warriors finished the first phase of their league campaign top of the pile with a big win over Dungannon.
The Women’s Junior Cup semi-final and all youth fixtures fell foul of the weather.
The next AIL home fixture is against Clontarf on 10th January. 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 06/12/2025
Ballynahinch 0 St.Mary’s 14 (AIL Division 1A)
Ballynahinch 2 64 Clogher Valley 0 (2nd XV league)
Dungannon 3 0 Ballynahinch 4 49 (Provincial South).
