Ballynahinch Firsts Come From Behind To Beat UCD

Ballynahinch Firsts enjoy sound win over UCD

Division 1A League Match,

Venue: Belfield,

Final Score: UCD 17 Ballynahinch 31.

Ballynahinch brought a full five-point haul home from Dublin after another last-minute bonus point try from Claytan Milligan sealed an excellent result at Belfield and cemented their position in fourth place writes James Kirk.

Ulster’s Greg Jones made his Hinch debut in the back row while his Kingspan colleagues Aaron Sexton, Ben Carson and James French also started for Adam Craig’s side while a strong bench including Conor McKee, Callum Irvine and John Dickson exemplified the depth required to compete at the business end of Division 1A.

The locals built a ten point lead as the first half neared a close with Jones picking an excellent line to power over from close range and the boot of the excellent Conor Rankin doing the rest.

They let the students back into the match in the final seconds of the half with a missed tackle allowing tight head Rory McGuire the chance to bulldoze his way towards the line and when the ball was recycled UCD went over from close range through loose head Hugo O’Malley.

The response from the Ballymacarn men in the second half was superb. They blasted ahead with a long range try from Bradley Luney after a brilliant short pass from Zack McCall drew the UCD defence and then put on a defensive masterclass to deny UCD the score their long spell of possession deserved.

Mark Best then made a superb break around the halfway line to get behind the students.

And when Jack Milligan threw a long pass wide Rankin was on hand to pick it up brilliantly on the bounce to deliver a perfect sucker punch and take his team fourteen points clear with ten minutes to go.

Ballynahinch protected this lead with relative comfort until a late UCD maul try threatened to give them a chance to snatch a draw.

However, an excellent drop out from Milligan forced UCD to box kick the possession away and when Dominic Clapcott fielded the kick superbly, Ballynahinch went through the phases and forced a penalty.

Best nailed his kick to the corner and the ever reliable combination of Milligan and Luney secured possession and the inevitable maul try.

Young Munster are the visitors next week at Ballymacarn Park as the County Down men attempt to stay in the top four conversation.

The pre-match lunch is sold out and all support is welcome on what promises to be a great festive occasion.

Ballynahinch 1-21: Kyle McCall (Capt), Claytan Milligan, James French, Bradley Luney, Tommy Donnan, Greg Jones, Zack McCall, Bryn Ward, Chris Gibson, Jack Milligan, Ethan Graham, Mark Best, Ben Carson, Aaron Sexton, Conor Rankin, John Dickson, Scott Connolly, Declan Horrox, Callum Irvine, Conor McKee, Dominic Clapcott.

***

Ballynahinch RFC Round-Up for 2nd December 2023.

Club Notes

Excellent wins for the 2nds, 3rds and 5ths kept them all at or near the top of their league sections with a great performance at Ballymena by the 2nds the pick of the results.

Ballynahinch Women suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of a strong Malone side but sit comfortably in fifth place in the table.

Pre-match lunches are filling up fast. Young Munster on 9^th December and Armagh on 13^th January are now SOLD OUT. There is a bonus lunch on 23^rd 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:

hinchminis@gmail.com.

Results 02/12/2023

UCD 17 Ballynahinch 31 (AIL Division 1A)

Malone 55 Ballynahinch 0 (Women’s Premiership)

Ballynahinch 3 39 Armagh 3 24 (Provincial Prem 1)

Ballymena 2 22 Ballynahinch 2 29 (2^nd XV league)

Ballynahinch 5 66 Cooke 3 5 (Regional South 1)

All youth matches postponed

Fixtures 09/12/2023

Ballynahinch vs Young Munster (AIL Division 1A)

Ballynahinch 2 vs Omagh 2 (2^nd XV League)

Ballyclare 2 vs Ballynahinch 3 (Provincial Prem 1)

Ballynahinch 5 vs Omagh 4 (McCambley Cup)